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5 tips for a long and enjoyable career in disability

InLife's Ally Brown shares her tips for building a long-standing career in the disability sector.

InLife's Ally Brown started working in disability support as a teen. She shares her five top tips for staying the distance and forging a career in disability support.

  1. Mix things up: Be open to working with a range of clients with different needs. We all need to keep things fresh and if you’re working with the same person day-in-and-day-out, you both run the risk of the relationship becoming stale. In the past, I worked in a fast-paced Supported Independent Living where many of the activities were high-energy and physical including games at the park and swimming. I struck a balance in my working life by also supporting clients from an older demographic who enjoyed more social outings such as dinners and the weekly RSL raffle. This meant I had more variety, new and fresh ideas to bring to the table and kept me from burning-out.

  2. Know your strengths (and weaknesses): In the disability sector everyone is different and has individual needs. Disabilities can range from physical to psycho-social and intellectual. Some people have multiple disabilities that require different approaches. Some support workers have been trained or have experience with clients with high medical needs whereas others have worked with clients with Behaviours of Concern. Personally, I started my career working with clients with autism. At the time I did not feel confident working with people with high medical needs until I received further training. If you feel out of your depth it’s OK to choose to work with clients with specific care needs or to seek further training if you want to broaden your horizons.

  3. Boundaries: Support work can be very demanding and if you don’t have boundaries you can burn out very easily. It’s important to be an empathetic support worker but that doesn't mean it’s your sole responsibility to fix everything. Share the load and know what resources are available if you’re feeling overwhelmed, not quite sure what to do next or how to support someone. And make sure you have your own hobbies and interests outside of work. Practice self-care and make time to ensure your needs are being met. For me, when I first started out I made sure I had at least one weekend free a month to catch up with friends and family. At the end of the day if you look after yourself you’re in a better position to support someone else.

  4. Take time off: Book in holidays and don’t put off taking time off until you’re totally spent. Even if you don't have anywhere to go, a staycation at home could be just the right medicine. It’s also important not to put in too many crazy hours. At InLife our support workers are limited to a maximum 45 hours a week. You can also limit the amount of hours you work so it fits in with your own needs. Perhaps, you only want to do a couple of shifts a week? Don’t be afraid to speak up.

  5. Keep growing: As a support worker you have lots of great skills, so don’t underestimate your own value. If you want to continue doing support work that’s wonderful, but also don’t be afraid to try different things. You might want to step up and take on more responsibility in your team. Or perhaps you’d like to sign up to training to work with different clients or broaden your skills. I got into support work as a teenager and found while working in Supported Independent Living that there was the potential to grow my career. I was able to fill in when the house supervisor was on leave and learn more leadership and management skills. Just remember there are lots of opportunities out there to keep the job interesting and working for you in the long term.

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