> Programme Member Case Study
Royal Association for Deaf People - PreWork Skills
The Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD) is aiding deaf adults to rebuild confidence, gain training and find meaningful employment. Based in Chelmsford, RAD are reaching out to the deaf community and showing just what can be achieved for people, despite hearing disabilities. RAD is also trying to combat outdated views, attitudes and prejudices concerned with deaf people and employment.
Unemployment in the hearing community can lead to isolation; deaf people often find themselves isolated due to lack of communication between the hearing and the deaf, and so add unemployment into the equation. RAD therefore needs great role models like Susie, an employment advisor at RAD’s Chelmsford project, who, being deaf herself, can show others just what sort of work is possible.
Programme Members are visited at home and the type of work they would like is discussed. Members then meet at the projects ‘Job Clubs’ around the region and develop the groundwork to building up to employment.
The difficulties faced by deaf adults seeking employment, makes one Programme Member of RAD rather remarkable. Maria’s 3rd language is British Sign Language; her fourth, English. Therefore just filling in application forms in English was a real struggle, so RAD worked with Maria to aid her in completing several applications.
Maria also put herself forward for the Scope Diversity Works Fast Track scheme. This scheme works with prominent corporate organisations and focuses on getting disabled people into employment. The interview process was rather difficult however as it involved a workshop with over 100 people, speed-dating style interviews and presentations. All this, plus applicants were encouraged to compete with each other.
This would seem challenging to anyone, but is somewhat more difficult when an interpreter is required. However, with the help of RAD, Maria organised a presentation on deaf rights and disabled people, as this was a subject she could be passionate about. All the hard work was worth it when Maria was offered a position at Lehman Brothers International Bank at Canary Wharf in London. She began a year’s contract in September 2005.
