A good service: 5 tips for working with people with disabilities

Disability support work is a rewarding albeit challenging profession. Each day can offer new hurdles that you and your patient have to overcome, and it’s important to be ready for these unforeseen challenges by educating yourself about the position.

There are many ways in which you can do this job with care and compassion, with the following tips a guide for doing just that.

If you are working towards providing disability support services in Melbourne, Sydney or beyond, here are five important tips for doing an awesome job with every visit.

1. Help them understand their value

Help your patient understand that they are every much a part of the world as other people. Telling people with a disability that they can’t do something or they need help to do a particular activity is damaging to their self-esteem and harmful for making progress. Discouragement only further isolates the disabled person and should be avoided where possible.

By making an effort to help them understand their value, you can help them make individual steps in regard to their lives.

2. Practise empathy

While disability support work can be incredibly rewarding, you might find it is not for you if you are unable to provide the empathy required for this sensitive position. You have to practise empathy to ensure you are able to be patient with the person and provide them the support they need to experience life to the best of their ability.

If you ever find yourself losing patience with the person, try putting yourself in their shoes. This way, you may be able to gain a small insight into their personal struggles and physical limitations.

3. Practise self-care

People who provide disability support are at risk of burning out. It can be a stressful job that, as we previously mentioned, can carry a range of unforeseen hurdles. These hurdles can not only be emotional for the disabled person, but for the carer as well. It’s important for support workers to practise self love, gratitude and care so that they don’t get weighed down by the gravity of the position.

There are many ways you can do this, including meditation and mindfulness practises, but the point remains the same: take care of yourself whilst taking care of others.

4. Understand your own degree of passion

Many people think it’s a really good idea to get into disability support work because it channels their empathetic streak in a professional environment. However, they often find their empathy is pushed to the limit through the challenges and demands of caring for someone with a disability.

You have to ask yourself: is this really the position that’s right for me? It’s wonderful that you want to be a disability support worker, but if you can see yourself losing patience with the role and a personal suffering a disability, perhaps it’s a good idea to reconsider your role in the industry.

5. Support them in communications

Many people go into disability support work thinking that it revolves solely around the disabled person. However, disabled people have families that they may or may not have a good relationship with. In cases where relations are strained it can be difficult for the person to communicate effectively with another family member, and you may be called upon to help facilitate these efforts.

Be patient, and help the person as best you can to get in contact with family when appropriate and possibly assist them in getting their message across.