Hi, my name is Sophie911!

Sophie911

Hello!

My name is Sophie, I’m 20 years old and I come from Lincolnshire.

I was born with CMD (congenital muscular dystrophy.) and have been kicking its booty since Day one!

I’m a bi, witch, Buddhist and I use She/them pronouns.

I’m finding isolation extremely difficult and it’s taking a strong effect on my mental health. I’ve never had a job. I left college due to covid, I want to live my dream but have not got a clue what that dream is. Feeling very down about myself and life.

I hope I’ll be able to meet some nice people here and hopefully get the help and support I need but struggling to find.

Blessed be!

S

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community and for telling us about yourself and how you are feeling . Feel free to join in or ask any questions 

Have you spoken to your gp about how you are feeling 

Scope also have a work support programme to assist young people getting into work you might find something useful there 

chiarieds

Hello @Sophie911 - & welcome to this friendly & supportive community. I hope you find the advice above helpful. As far as the Support to Work programme goes, I've heard very good things about it. There's some more information here: https://www.scope.org.uk/employment-services/support-to-work/

I hope the forum can help you with your feelings of isolation, & you can chat here any time. Do have a look around & join in; our virtual 'Coffee lounge' is a good place to start.

Ami2301

Hi @Sophie911 and welcome to the community

Lisatho11987777

Support to work is brilliant they help you alot and its realy good 

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @Sophie911 Thank you for sharing a bit about yourself. 

I just wanted to reassure you that it's perfectly normal not to know what you want to do when you're 20, and that it's completely fine to try and explore a few different areas to see what suits you. This is true throughout your life really!

You've said that you left college due to coronavirus. In what way did this cause you to drop out? Did you have the opportunity to do online learning, or was that the problem? What did you study? 

Are you currently receiving any support for your mental health? Many people, including disabled people, have been finding lockdown particularly difficult. 

As mentioned above, Scope has some employment services that may interest you if you're wanting to enter employment. Here are two that you may be eligible for:

Career Pathways

Career Pathways is an independent careers advice service for young disabled people. Our career advisers will work with you to set you on the path to succeed. 

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, all sessions will be run online and by phone until further notice.

Eligibility

Career Pathways is free and open to young people who are:

• disabled or have an impairment or condition
• aged 16 to 25

Career adviser sessions

You will be offered up to 3 one-hour sessions with a specialist career adviser to:

• make you aware of all the career options and the employment routes open to you
• develop your career goals and create an action plan to help you achieve them

Mentoring

Our mentoring programme is supported by Deloitte. Giving you access to free support and advice from Deloitte employees, who will support you to achieve your goals. You will find out about the world of work, different industries, and roles available to you.

Support to Work

Support to Work is a free online and telephone support programme for disabled people in England and Wales, who are looking for paid work. This is not a face-to-face service, so may not be right for everyone.

Eligibility

Support to Work is open to disabled people who:

• are 16 years or over

• are looking for a paid job

• have internet, email and telephone or Skype access

• live in England or Wales.

Employment advice

You will get help from one of our specialist employment advisers online and over the phone.

Our friendly advisers will listen to your challenges and give specific advice for your situation. With in-depth knowledge and experience they can support you with many aspects of looking for paid work, including:

• identifying your strengths and transferable skills

• developing confidence and job skills like time management

• reviewing your CV to meet your employment goals

• how and where to look for jobs

• mock interviews

• how to talk to your employer about your impairment and reasonable adjustments

But, your adviser:

• cannot write a CV or job application for you

• cannot search for jobs and work experience for you

12-weeks of support

Your employment adviser will work with you to create a personal and flexible 12-week programme. They will set you tasks to complete such as:

• reading work and careers advice

• writing a CV or cover letter from a template

• preparing for interviews

Your adviser will be on hand to help you throughout the 12 weeks. At the end of the 12 weeks your time with the adviser will end, but you'll still have access to all resources in your personal online portal.

Once you start on the service. You will have access to vacancies through our online job board from partner organisations, recruiters, and employers who are committed to employing more disabled people.

In work support

Once you find work our support does not end. Our specialist in work support adviser will work with you for up to 26 weeks. They will support you with any issues that may arise in work, including:

• support with asking for reasonable adjustments

• Access to Work applications

Loving the selfie!