Patience

Today I called Access Ability. I don't know anything about the service, but the disability people said I needed an assessment to see what sort of things we're going to have to think of with me & here at home, to make life manageable. So I called. I left a message for the nice voice on the answer phone since she wasn't there.That all seemed to go pretty normally.

A little while later I got a call back:

"Hi this is ***** from Access Ability".

"Oh hi *****".

*waits for a clue - like "how can I help you" - anything*.....um, I'm calling to arrange an assessment....". 

"Are you a client of ours?" 

*thinks - I've joined so many things, did I join this?* "No, I don't think I am". 

"Is it you who is disabled or are you calling for someone else?". 

*Oh, I know the answer to this one!* "Me, I'm disabled" *Oh my God. I'm disabled. How weird does that sound?*.

"There is a process to go through".

"Okay, I just rang because the disability people told me I should call you".

"There is a process to go through - what is your disability?".

*That was officious - what did I do wrong?* "I have two. Spondyloarthropathy & Hypermobile Joint Syndrome".

"There is a process to go through [yes, I got that impression, I'm beginning to wonder what it is...], you'll need a letter from your doctor saying what your disability is before you can access our service".

Okay...I have to prove it. That all seems fair. I figured that would be part of a form filling out thing anyway...except I hadn't really thought that far ahead, because I still don't know exactly what it is Access Ability do apart from give assessments.

"I'll send you out some forms to fill in - you'll have to provide some paperwork from your doctor saying what your disability is"

*ok, so I get it, I really have to prove it....wonders how many people spend their days calling up agencies pretending to be disabled just so they can ask for an assessment* 

"What's your address"

*gives address*

"I'll send you the forms, you fill them out & send them back".

"I hope your day improves for you". Yes I am just enough of a bitch to say it. 

"My day is great, thank you".

Good for you. I'm so sorry for the people who have to talk to you today. If they're ringing you to ask for help, then it's not such a good day. They've just discovered their lives are not what they thought they were going to be, that they need help to manage day to day. Their world has been turned upside down. They are lost and confused. They have no clue what they need. They don't know who you are, or why they need to call you. They don't understand why you are being so rude. There is a way you treat people with a disability: it's called the same way you treat everyone else.

Anyone with a basic understanding of disability is aware of the experience of powerlessness that being disabled can create. Why on earth would you treat someone like this?

As for being "a client" - if you were a store I would not shop there. I would go somewhere else. If I had any choice whatsoever in the matter I would not use your service I would choose another.

For the record, I worked in mental health support for 4 years, was on the phones at Lifeline for 5 years. I assisted with the Total Mobility Scheme at my regional council, answering the phone to people who "wanted an assessment". I can do this woman's job with my disabilities, standing on my head. If she dislikes it as much as it sounded over the phone. I will be very happy to have it. It would be an absolute walk in the park for me & and an absolute pleasure besides.

Access Ability, if you have a think & decide you'd like a new receptionist - may I apply for the job? Your clients will be so well looked after & absolutely delighted with their contact. They definitely will not be a puddle of tears after making the call, unless it's because finally they spoke to someone who was kind.