Education Archives - Chronic Illness Inclusion

Chronic Illness and graduation

21 September 2017 Editorialteam Chronic Illness, Education, Employment, Energy Impairment, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness

Rebecca Boot tackles the painful subject of employment for the chronically ill.

I’m back at university, studying again after my body threw a fantastic tantrum the last time I tried it.

My university has a real focus on employment and one of the highest graduate employment rates in the country. That is great, everyone wants to be able to get a good job when they leave university right? Isn’t that the point of going?

Not really, not for me at least. I applied to Uni because I love learning and my brain likes to be busy.

But here’s the rub – I am not employable, not really, not as I am now. I have plenty of skills, I am smart, I’m a self-starter, I have a whole bunch of somewhat impressive things on my CV, I meet the person specification for a whole lot of jobs already. But I’m not employable.

Chronic illness and education

12 September 2017 Editorialteam Chronic Illness, Education, ME

Geoff Jones recalls his experiences of education as a child with severe chronic illness.

Access to education is often overlooked when considering chronic illness and social exclusion. Education is particularly relevant if those affected become ill during childhood. In today’s Britain, where a university education has arguably become the norm, those becoming chronically ill during childhood may find themselves placed at a significant disadvantage, adding to the societal exclusion already imposed through their physical disabilities.

I became ill aged 13 with glandular fever and was subsequently diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). Over the next three years various attempts were made to provide me with an education, either via home tutoring or part-time attendance at school. Eventually I was sent to a comprehensive with a special unit for those with various medical conditions. Unfortunately, due to a lack of understanding of my condition, I experienced a major relapse and, as I reached the age of 16 shortly afterwards, the educational authorities (probably with some relief) ended their attempts to educate me.

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One comment CFS, ELCI, Invisible Illness, ME, University

Accessing Support: A system geared toward physical impairments

13 June 2017 Editorialteam Brain Fog, Chronic Illness, Disability, DWP, DWP Benefits, Education, ELCI, Employment, Energy Impairment, Energy Limiting Chronic Illness, Social Care, Wheelchair

Sarah Campbell asks whether chronic illness needs its own set of responses to social security, employment and social care.

I have a combination of both a chronic illness and a progressive muscle condition, offering me insight into both “worlds” of invisible fluctuating illness and visible physical impairment. Some issues are extremely different while others are shared. But so far I’ve found that accessing support is often biased toward purely “traditional” physical impairments.

As a wheelchair user, there are many access barriers ranging from getting an adequate wheelchair in the first place, to housing, transport, social care etc. But the law is generally on our side, precisely because disabled people fought for those rights over the past decades.

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Leave a comment Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Illness, Disability, DWP, ELCI, Employment, Energy Impairment, Invisible Illness