I can do anything: Allan’s story

Allan Shipley has worked as a Customer Service Officer at Enable NSW for the last five years and was born with Dwarfism. His zest for life and ‘can-do’ attitude is a quite contagious – and just what we all need at the moment.

Date published: 09 Dec 2021

Author: Alyssa Faith

Focus on people Healthshare NSW News Enable NSW

“My Name is Allan and I was born with Dwarfism.

My mum and sister were also born with Dwarfism. I was particularly close to my mum and we shared a great relationship. My childhood was a happy one; I always had a solid group of good school mates and my school and family were very supportive. We enjoyed our childhood just like any other kids.

It was only after finishing school that I found it difficult to get a start in creating a work career for myself. In the earlier days of job seeking, I was not aware of any support services or Disability Employment Services (and the support they provide to jobseekers with a disability). This made job seeking very difficult for me.

At that time, it was not common practice to ‘share’ having a disability prior to an interview. The minute I walked into an interview and saw the reaction on the interviewer’s face, I knew that I was not going to get the job. This became the regular interview response for me and unfortunately it continued for another three years.

It was only when my cousin introduced me to a temporary (temp) employment service that I got my first break as a temp office job. I continued to take on a variety of temp jobs just to keep working. It definitely gave me the opportunity to build my confidence, gain some business knowledge and also get experience in different industries.

In 2016, I started working for Enable NSW (Parramatta) as a Customer Service Officer, lodging repairs with the repairs team.

From the day I was successful in getting my position, my management staff and team leaders were so supportive. They offered me the modifications that I required to set up my workstation, so that I had the same comfort, ease of movement and wellbeing as any other HealthShare NSW employee. I’ve required very little work modification; just things like having a stool to stand on or a well-adjusted chair in order to perform my best with my day-to-day tasks.

Support hasn’t only come in the form of physical adjustments or needs; my Enable NSW team leaders and fellow coworkers have always been there to support me if I require assistance on any of the extremely busy days.

It has taken time to gain my confidence, but I now realise that I can do anything that colleagues of mine can do, I may just need to do things in a slightly different way.

Securing a permanent job with Enable NSW allowed me the security to finally follow my lifelong dream to travel the world. I love to trek and live an active life just like any other keen adventurer.

In October 2018, I packed my bags for Nepal and followed a friend on an impromptu trip to Everest Base Camp. I completed the entire trek on zero training! To this day I am still friends with my sherpa, and I can't wait to head back once international borders reopen and conquer the Annapurna trail.

To find out more about the support HealthShare NSW provides to staff with a disability or long-term health condition visit applicants with disability.

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