I watched the second episode of Employable Me last night, eager to see whether it continued to be a positive portrayal of employment issues for people with disabilities. As I wrote in my entry about the first episode, it struck me as quite fair and balanced. Yet this time I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was being addressed personally: was this program, at least in part, intended specifically to be watched by disabled people to try to encourage us to get jobs? Frankly, it felt like I was being lectured.

That is not to say that I wouldn’t love a job, or that I would turn one down if I was offered one. Yet what the program did not explore is the big catch at the centre of this issue for many people like me. If I – somehow – got a job and started earning over a certain amount, I would lose all rights todisability benefits. That means that I would lose the safety net, so if the job ended or fell through – and, let’s face it, there’s quite a good chance of that happening – I would be left with nothing. No wage, no benefits. This issue puts a major barrier up for me even trying to get a job, as I’m sure it does for many people like me, even though I know I’m more than capable of having one. It’s why I only volunteer at school. This is the elephant in the room last night’s program did not address, but until this catch is ironed out, all the tv lectures the beeb can throw at me won’t help me find payed employment.