A Dyspraxic Abroad Part 3- My second Holiday in Pefkos

The Purpose of this blog is to promote The Dyspraxia Foundation E book' "Dyspraxic Adults Surviving in a NonDyspraxic World" self help book for dyspraxic adults. All proceeds go to the Dyspraxia Foundation Adult support groups. Available on Amazon for £9.99

Yammas & La Chaim from Lindos

It has been a few weeks since I did my last blog. The novelty of not having to get up to work had worn off and I was feeling quite low so decided that there was nothing  worth blogging about. So I was really glad that I decided that following my redundancy not to cancel my second holiday in Pefkos (on October the 1^st). The Last one was in June

Firstly as I am the Adult Advisor for the Dyspraxia Foundation and this week from October 10^th to the 16^th it is dyspraxia awareness week I will first talk about how my dyspraxia affects me individually and the coping strategies I use as a Dyspraxic single traveller.

Somehow this makes people think I’m brave doing it on my own and as dyspraxia is a hidden disability some people think this makes me even braver. Now if I’d rescued one of the well fed & looked after Cats in Pefkos from a burning building I would consider myself brave and be deserving of a medal. However hidden disability or not there is nothing brave about stuffing my face with delicious Greek food, getting pleasantly squiffy on wine & cocktails and sunbathing on St Thomas  & Lee Beaches. I have a poor sense of direction but didn’t find it hard to get on the right plane or find my way round Pefkos & Lindos and seeing that I used to do travel training for a living Nor is wondering round the narrow cobbled streets of Lindos, on my own worthy of that kind of praise.

Delicious food of Pefkos

Going back onto the subject of dyspraxia and how it affects me individually I have difficulties with organisation, co-ordination and short term memory. So if I joined I n Greek dancing unless one knew what to look for, my un-co-ordinated attempts to dance the same as everyone else would give people the assumption I had been downing too much Metaxa and I’m a bit awkward with getting in & out of boats in a dignified manner.

 This time I nearly left the necklace I had to take at Manchester Airport security behind but the security man spotted it and unlike last time it was much more relaxing and less stressful as I checked in earlier this time just in case they changed the times again. Transferring to Pefkos went smoothly and The Marianthi studios were the first drop off point. There was a bit of confusion at reception about giving out apartment keys which but this was eventually sorted.

The apparent was typical of Greek apartments and similar to my last one bout in a much more central I found there was no kettle in my apartment but was given a brand new one quickly and when the cooker ring didn’t work when I wanted to boil some eggs for packed lunches later in the week to keep within my budget it was sorted very quickly. The plug sockets weren’t well planned. I had to use chairs to charge up my phone and boil a kettle. There was a toaster there but I had fruit 0 % fat yoghurt, granola and honey for breakfast so I didn’t have to do a risk assessment for making toast. The apartment walls were very thin and next door there was an extended Cockney family that could have been out of Eastenders, who had no self awareness about how loud they were, so I decided to use my music and headphones rather than falling out with them. It is just as well as I  chatted to loudest member of the family when he was on his balcony next to mine and he  turned out to be a nice person.

Although I’m disorganised I have developed strategies with packing by making a packing list and ticking everything off in my case. I had been to Pefkos in June so convinced myself that I didn’t need to refer to my list this time and I would defiantly pack less than in June as I took too much clothes last time. Now I don’t know if watching Shirley Valentine on my Kindle Fire on the outward flight, gave me a Friedan slip, but I realised I had forgot to pack my nightie. Never mind it could be worse at east I’d remembered my knickers. I ended up buying an extra large man’s -shirt as a nightie substitute as I have a thing about sleeping in the nuddy in case there is a fire. I also forgot my mascara and nail polish remover pads. I thought I’d left my jewellery at home but found them in my suitcase on my last night. I left my phone and sunhat on a boat trip but got them back before it drove off.

The weather was warm without being unbearable and I didn’t need a cardigan in the evening. The highlight of my holiday was when Captain Nickolas asked me if I wanted to go on his boat trip so I though why not. I know what you are all thinking! but he is nothing like Tom Conti he is a respectable family man, who’s family ran the Zig Zag cocktail bar. I met Anne who was also a solo traveller., We had the boat to ourselves. I can tell you that the boat trip was well worth the 20 Euros and we stopped at a tavern in St Pauls Bay and had deliciously fresh Calamari and grilled seabass. I met with Anne that evening to have a drink with her at Zig Zag,  that night but she was flying home the next day. and we may meet up next year as holiday buddies.

Captain Nikolas Boat Trip

I had a very special Rosh Ha Shanna (Jewish new year) New Year’s Eve in Pefkos so ate apple honey yogurt and honey rum to celebrate and I had dinner Lindos. I didn’t want to go away the next week during dyspraxia awareness week. It is just as well as some flights were cancelled due to the Greek Air traffic control strike. I was lucky that our Departure flight was only delayed by 45 minutes and it wasn’t affected by the strike.

 I felt really guilty about going on holiday when I was unemployed and wondered if going back to the same place was a good thing. I am very glad I did as I had an even better holiday on Pefkos than I did in June., and when I get a job and have saved enough money I will be back in 2017.

My experience of Salford Jobcentre Plus

he Purpose of this blog is to promote The Dyspraxia Foundation E book' "Dyspraxic Adults Surviving in a Non-Dyspraxic World" self help book for dyspraxic adults. All proceeds go to the Dyspraxia Foundation Adult support groups. Available on Amazon for £9.99

This year during dyspraxia Awareness week from October 9^th -16^th , the  Dyspraxia Foundation is Focusing on Employment for Adults so it is relevant that today’s blog is about my first few days of claiming Jobseekers Allowance and what kind of support is available for Dyspraxic Adults at Salford Job Centre Plus.

I was unsure which benefits I was entitled to. I went on the Government Welfare Benefits website to see if they had rolled out universal credit for single claimants in Salford yet.  They haven’t done this in my area. https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit   

 I knew that there was no point in applying for Employment Support Allowance. I had been thrown off it last time I was out of work and I haven’t’ been signed off sick. I had just held down 2 part time jobs and supported my Mum who has Dementia. So there is no way I would get that.

I was directed to Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). I was going to get help from the Unemployment Centres drop in in Eccles as I thought the online form would be very long and complicated like the old paper ones used to be with questions to catch you out. But I found it really easy and straightforward to fill in. Especially as I had my wage slip and bank statement details ready rather than searching high and low for them in the middle of filling in the application.

 I got a phone call and a text a few days later saying which day I had to go to the Job Centre Plus to complete the claim. The day before I received a reminder phone call and which was just as well as I just assumed it was a Bridge Street , but it had been moved to the Job centre near Salford Precinct which is much less institutional and intimidating as it is a smaller job centre.

I have been told all sorts of negative stuff from various people that isn’t true like:

.” Its all changed now it will be harder for you your expected to spend 35 hours a week looking for work”.

“There aren’t any jobs about for the likes of us so you might as well claim for Employment Support allowance”.

“ You’ve looked after your mum why not get a low paid job as a care assistant in an old peoples’ home? there are no jobs about at the moment.”

Well although I am not suffering from acute anxiety at the moment which is just as well :my anxiety levels were quite high my about current situation without hearing from Jobe’s comforters. 

So on Wednesday 17^th August I thought I was signing on. Some of the same staff that used to be on reception at the other job centre where I had signed on had been moved there. Things had changed technology wise in three years. You have to sign on on a small screen with an electronic pen. It took ages for me to sign a consistent signature  but the computer eventually said “ yes” and my signature matched up. Just in case I get someone else to wear a curly wig & glasses to impersonate me because I don’t feel like signing on.

I asked my Job Centre Plus Adviser if I was expected to spend 35 hours looking for work, she told me they had stopped doing that as they were getting a bad reputation and that employers were complaining because they were getting inundated by applications from people who didn’t have the skills or had no intention of really getting the job they were applying for. I’m supposed to show I have made 25 steps each week to show I have increased my chances of looking for work. I mentioned my disabilities and there were certain jobs I would find difficult to hold down, so she said I didn’t have to apply for those. I also told her I could only work up to 30 hours a week which she accepted. I was advised to use Universal Jobs Match website so she can see my progress. I told her that the type of Jobs that I apply for are on Salford CVs Jobs page, and the Guardian Charity Jobs. So it will look like I’m not looking for work, but she says I can still record other websites searches on there.

I thought I has signed on but that was just part of the process so I had to come back to sign on the next day.

The next day it was a different Adviser as mine was on leave. He seemed much more helpful and approachable than the last on but he didn’t advise me to make an appointment to see the Disability Employment Adviser (DEA). So I asked him to make me an appointment. I am the Adult Adviser for the Dyspraxia Foundation and wrote a chapter on Employment for the e book ‘"Dyspraxic Adults Surviving in a Non-Dyspraxic World". I know what services I’m entitled to but what about those who don’t? To be fair maybe I would have been referred eventually. I wanted my back to be covered in case after 3 months if I’m still out of work I won’t get mithered to look for unsuitable jobs.

 So the next week I saw my DEA. He was very keen to know the best way to communicate with me so I advised that if there were a list of things he wanted me to do due to Short tem memory issues he would need to write it down for me. He asked my how my Disability affects me as an Individual in the workplace and what support I needed. He was interested in me sending him some information in dyspraxia but not buying the e Book as they don’t get funding for that sort of thing. He also told me if there are problems with my signature they can override it.

He told me I only need to spend 3 days a week looking for work but I still have to make the 25 steps each week. This must be very triggering for anyone on JSA who has anxiety or other mental health issues. I can do up to 16 hours of Voluntary work so I’m not going to be punished for doing my dyspraxia work. He gave me suggestions about what a step can include such as networking while I’m doing my voluntary work with the DF. So I found out if there were any free exhibitions, conferences. Information days, consultations about health & social care in Salford or courses I could go on to network and put that I had looked for these as some of my steps. I have actually found a useful course on responsibilities for Trustees at Salford CVS but I doubt a job will materialise from it.

 My other ‘actions for getting work’ are:

• · Log into my Universal Jobsmatch Account to find & apply for jobs I can do. (very little in Community development) 3 times a week
• · Contact employers directly to ask and apply for Jobs I can do (easy enough) Weekly
• · Respond Promptly to contacts and notifications from employers and Jobsites.
• ·Continue to attend the Job Centre to provide evidence of my work search activities. Ongoin
• Go on at least 2 jobsites daily (but I was told I only need to look for work 3 days a week.
• Consider workchoice
• ·Maintain up-to-date profile on Linkedin ((never got me work up to now).

I was given the choice if I wanted to do Workchoice with Remploy. I have had mixed feedback from my Manchester Dyspraxic Adult support Group, most being positive. So If I haven’t got work after my Holiday in October. I have to go back to the DEA and get booked in with Remploy. So  my experience of  Workchoice & Remploy will be a topic for another blog..

So seeing this Year’s dyspraxia awareness week is focusing on Employment Please If you are currently an unemployed Dyspraxic adult on JSA, please let me know if your experience has been different, if you have received appropriate support at Job Centre Plus or you have access to a DEA. Or what type of support have you been given from workchoice?