ESOL and Disability - Self Employment Help

parashelli
parashelli Online Community Member Posts: 0 Listener
edited January 2 in Work

Hello,
My husband has dyslexia in his first language (Spanish) - which makes learning a second language or picking it up quickly difficult. 
As a result he suffered bullying at work leading to mental health issues and physical anxiety issues - he presents as PTSD. 
This means that any mention of learning English is now a trigger for him. 
He has been out of work for a year now and any attempt to return to work has not worked out. This means that self employed for him would be his only form of working (especially with English as a second language). 
I work full-time and have tried to hold us up financially but even this hasn't reached the level we need to live securely and he is keen to return to work. 
His working memory is very short (approximately 4 letters remembered from a word transferred from one screen to another) and as a result reading, writing and any form of paperwork is difficult for him. 
I have written a business plan for him for a doggy day care, which is an area he is very interested in (it is his way of connecting beyond language) but I am set to return to work and am desperately looking for alternatives that can help us. Speech to text equipment sadly doesn't help as his motivation to do paperwork is low. 
I have seen there is an Access to Work grant and possible help in form of job aides/support workers - obviously in our situation with the language barrier we would need someone who spoke Spanish. 
I appreciate the near impossible appearance of our situation but it is our reality and if there is possibly any help or way to move forward, I am determined to support him. 
Please could you give us any advice you have or direct us to anyone who could help. 
We look forward to hearing from you 
Kind Regards 
Michelle [removed by moderator - full name]

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Comments

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 7,543 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @parashelli, Sorry that you haven't had a response to this yet. How are you and your husband getting on? Doggy daycare would be a lovely way to make a living if he's able to find the right support.

    As it's quite a complex situation, it may be worth getting in contact with some helpline or advice services. Scope's helpline may be able to help with queries about Access to Work. They're available over the phone or by email: https://www.scope.org.uk/helpline

    You might also like to look at dyslexia specific helplines like The Dyslexia Association: https://www.dyslexia.uk.net/service/helpline/ or The British Dyslexia Association: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/services/helpline

    Hope everything is going well for you both and that your husband finds the support he needs to move forward.

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