Making Access to Work ADHD-friendly

Discovering that Access to Work could fund my ADHD coaching was my lightbulb moment.

Having been scraping money together for therapy to help me (unhelpfully) understand my diagnosis, this seemed like winning the lottery.

Until I applied for it, where I found:

• a super overwhelming application process
• a requirement to put a contact down for my employer, meaning I had to tell them about it
• a 3 month (now 6 month!) waiting time for my application to be processed.

When it finally was, then I had the challenges of:

• navigating an unhelpful assessment process, where my struggles were invalidated (thankfully DWP has some brilliant new assessors these days!)
• finding 3 quotes for ADHD Coaching in a world where very few existed
• being awarded coaching with company specialising in Dyslexia, with very un-ADHD-friendly 2 hour coaching sessions (instead of the one that had already helped me!)
• reading all of the ATW caseworker guidance to understand my rights and advocate to get the right support. As I'd already fought so hard, I wasn't giving up!
• appealing my decision by requesting a reconsideration, which was approved.
• navigating payment for coaching and reclaiming this back with a postal invoicing system almost more complicated than accessing an ADHD diagnosis.

Navigating this was worth it, as the support I received was life-changing - so much so that it led me to become an ADHD Coach myself. It's incredible that this support is available even without a formal medical diagnosis, in comparison to huge NHS waiting lists for assessment.

At ADHD Works , we're passionate about making support as accessible as possible, and helping people through these same challenges. Here's some of the common ones and how to over come them:

1. Applying for Access to Work

Here's an entire blog post on this, but in short, you can apply online . It seems overwhelming, but it can actually be done in about 10 minutes. You just need to share your contact details, and how your ADHD impacts you at work. You don't need to know what support would help you, but you can share this if you like - ATW can fund things like ADHD coaching, software, equipment, and administrative support.

You'll need to put a contact down for your employer, who ATW will confirm your employment with later on. They won't share the details of your assessment with them - this support is additional to reasonable adjustments, not instead of. Employers have legal duties to make changes to accommodate people with disabilities in the workplace, with some examples here .

We can help with this process , including explaining the ATW process to your employer. It's good to be clear on what you want to happen next when telling them - do you want any additional support in the meantime?

You can also apply if you are self-employed, or are the Director of a LTD company. You'll need the details like your unique taxpayer reference number, and to be meeting a very low minimum earning threshold, or if you've not been running for 1 year then to provide a business plan later on when your application is processed.

2. Navigating your application

After applying, you'll most likely hear from a case worker at ATW in approximately 6 months, who will confirm your employment status. If you're self-employed, you may be asked to provide your last tax return, or a business plan showing how you'll earn money. You can ask for communications to be via email as a reasonable adjustment if you'd like, which can help ADHD-ers who struggle with memory, audio processing, and organisation challenges.

They may grant you the support you've requested upfront if it's clear what would help you, or most often, they'll refer you to an independent assessor for a chat (usually remote).

During this assessment, you'll discuss the challenges you experience at work, and the support that would be most helpful to enable you to do your job. ADHD coaching can help with workplace strategies in organisation, avoiding burnout, and understanding how to work with your ADHD strengths and challenges in the workplace. This is usually granted for 3-6 months, as it's designed to help you learn and implement the strategies to support you at work on an ongoing basis.

You might also benefit from a support worker, such as a virtual assistant, to help or enable you to do your job. For example, I wouldn't be able to do anything I do without my support worker Beth, as I'd spend all my days trying to figure out zoom calls and invoices! This can be awarded on an ongoing basis if you're self-employed.

ATW can fund 100% of costs for support workers like these, but they might ask for a contribution of costs from employers for support like equipment that would also benefit them, such as providing you with office chairs.

3. Finding the right support

After the assessment, your caseworker may ask you to find 3 quotes for support, such as from different ADHD coaching providers or virtual assistants. They will usually go with the cheapest one of these.

We can also help you access these, as they can be tricky to find - there's not many ADHD specialist support workers out there, and they're often fully booked!

If you've been granted a support worker, you'll usually have to fill in a form explaining what they'll do for you aligned to the number of hours a week you work. We can also help with this as it can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you're not used to having support! It's really helpful to have coaching to help you understand how to use administrative support effectively - I stopped working with 2 virtual assistants prior to this because my ADHD meant I struggled to delegate and caused a complicated mess for everyone.

Following this, you'll receive a grant letter detailing the award you've been given and forms to claim your award back (usually after you've recieved it). This can take around 1 month in total. You can typically use the money awarded on any support worker you like - it doesn't have to be who they've suggested.

If you're unhappy with your award, you can request a reconsideration by emailing ATW within 4 weeks, explaining why it is unsuitable to your needs. ATW will review your application and may give you a different grant, as they did for me.

4. Accessing your support

To access your support, you'll usually have to pay for it upfront and claim it back from ATW afterwards. Employers will typically do this for employees, but you'll have to do it yourself if you're self-employed. I was literally crying on the phone to them the first time I had to do this myself, because I couldn't understand the forms!

However, like most things, it's fairly simple once you understand it. You line up invoices with the dates of your sessions and ask your support worker to sign these to confirm them, and send them off in the post. If you're anything like me, you might severely struggle with postal bits, so we (aka Beth) can also help with this at ADHD Works . You can do this by month or following your support to receive it back in one go - you have a while to reclaim it.

You'll need to keep ATW updated of any changes during this time, such as if you change job role. If you go from being self-employed to setting up a company, then you'll have to make a new application.

5. Extending your support

You can apply for a renewal of your support 12 weeks before it ends, especially if your situation has changed. For example, if your job has become more stressful in workload, or there's been changes to your work such as having a new person to manage.

This is typically a more straightforward and fast process, depending on the caseworker. I've had some call me and grant an extension over the phone, and others request additional details via email to justify this decision.

If you're self-employed, you'll usually receive help like a support worker for 1 year, before applying for a renewal, after which support may be awarded for 3 years at a time.

Overall, applying for Access to Work can be extremely stressful - especially if you've got ADHD - but it is so, so worth it.

ADHD Works wouldn't exist if I didn't receive this support, and I am so grateful to have it in place. I was most recently awarded over ￡65,000 for support, so I know it exists - and want to make this as accessible as possible to everyone.

If you want to book a 1:1 session to get your application in, head here . We're offering them at ￡75, which you can use as a discount code on any of our self-paced courses with access to 4 group coaching sessions to get support in place whilst you wait for your application to be processed.

If you've got any questions, feel free to message us at [email protected].