so been advised by Shaw trust to disclose dyspraxia to collegues

[FLO]

i work in a care home i would literally rather hand in my notice then do this am i wrong in thinking i should just quit i have a second part time job and dont find getting new jobs too tricky keeping them is different anyone have any experience of disclosing it

[Tom fod]

Hi Flo

First of all welcome, Glad you've found us. Disclosure is always a tricky one as being dyspraxic and trying to explain dyspraxia are not easy and a frightening/terrifying prospect at best. I have moved this into our Work section but left a shadow in Chat

So what are your colleagues like and how would you rate the working relationship you have? Do you find them to be judgemental? Would they be supportive if you came out and said there's this condition called Dyspraxia and it's part of me or would some see it as some kind of excuse and deny that such a condition even exists?

We know you're having to put in 110% and you're more than just the label but to the un-initiated dyspraxia is a hard one to try and explain. Given you are receiving some level of support from the Shaw Trust, how has your difference been explained to your management? Would you prefer if they spoke for you to your peers or would you be confident in their willingness to back you up if required?

You could also ask your Shaw Trust Mentors for their thoughts about Disclosure. To my mind it is a process you probably want to control yourself. Could you disclose to more like-minded colleagues who you trust to cascade the information and speak up on your behalf?

If you search this Forum for disclosure of disclosing you should get plenty of examples (see link at end of para for one example). The experience may not necessarily be a negative one and you might actually be pleasantly surprised by your colleagues' reactions.
http://www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forum ... ure#p23809.

Feel free to question or challenge my thoughts on this.

[Jim]

Perhaps just casually mention it during supervision / appraisal?

[pixiewithdocs]

I would have hoped that in a care home the staff are informed enough to understand that even had they not heard of dyspraxia before they would entertain the idea of a 'differently abled' person being able to use their super-dyspraxic-skills whilst needing support for their difficulties. Have you ever had to set up a difficult conversation at work before that wasn't to do with yourself or your dyspraxia? there are a lot of commonalities between asking a manager for a private word about a resident in a care home and bringing up something about yourself- maybe try coming at the discussion the same way you would a resident's needs. If your manager can have compassion for the residents, they should be able to see you as a hardworking human who needs to talk about their needs in the workplace. Good luck!