Hear the success stories of some of our clients whose conditions have impacted their working life, and how we were able to help.
Melita is a Senior Research Fellow with a PhD and more than 50 publications under her belt. She is currently leading several large research studies. You can watch Melita’s story or read more below.
Melita was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2008, a year after her first son was born. She had learn to work around symptoms including cognitive fog, fatigue and nerve pain while completing her PhD.
‘I work across several locations and travel frequently. The visits to collaborators or conferences can be particularly fatiguing. That fatigue often rolls over into several days, which affects my capacity to work, but more importantly affects the time I should be enjoying with my family,’ Melita said.
Melita contacted our Plus Employment Support service for help to better manage her fatigue. After an initial consultation she was able to receive a fully funded workstation to enable her to work remotely.
‘I work one day a week from home now, which means I’m spending less time commuting and less time getting ready to go into the office. Working at home means I have fewer interruptions, so I’m often more productive at home than I am in the office, and at the end of the day I have more time and energy for my family!’
Working as a Garment Technician, Nina is often measuring and assessing sample garments. Difficulty with the movement in her right hand due to multiple sclerosis was making her job incredibly hard. You can watch Nina’s story or read more below.
Reaching a point where she felt like she needed to speak up, Nina approached her manager and they contacted our Plus Employment Support service together to see what help was available.
Since contacting our team, Nina’s work life has improved drastically. She has been set up with a roller mouse for her computer that allows her to use both hands, and she’s learnt how to use voice recognition software which lets her dictate words instead of manually typing into her keyboard.
Mali, Nina’s Employment Support Service Consultant, has also organised ergonomic equipment which lets Nina measure garments more efficiently and easily.
It was in 2008, soon after Tim had proposed to his wife and was enjoying his football career, that he first noticed symptoms of multiple sclerosis. You can watch Tim’s story or read more below.
Blurred vision turned into double vision and before long numbness set in. Cleverly Tim diversified his professional life and changed to a high-profile role with an international airline carrier that required less mobility.
He also continued his passion for sport, taking up wheelchair basketball.
Trying to hide the symptoms at work became increasingly hard for Tim, so he contacted our MS Plus Employment Support service for help.
Our team talked to his employer, and they all worked together to allow Tim to reach his full potential. They also provided him with a wheelchair to combat his impaired balance and fatigue.