Access Statement Template

An access statement should outline your needs in relation to your work. It’s important to think about the difference between your wants and needs. Organisations have a responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to ensure you can work to the best of your ability.

Below are some areas that are helpful to cover in your access statement and some examples. Remember your access statement is a working document, you’ll find it helpful to add to it or edit it as you learn more about what works for you.

Communication

What methods of communication work best for you? Eg would you prefer to speak via email or on the phone? Are you happy to be contacted or social media or is this a big no for you?

Is it helpful to let people know you may need a nudge if you haven’t replied within a week or ten days?

Working hours

What hours are you most productive? Eg I tend to work after 11 am because my meds make me drowsy in the mornings.
Are short working days better for you? How many days in a row are you happy to work?

Digital Working

Are you happy to work online?
Do you need to turn your camera off during zoom meetings?
What length of zoom works for you?

Concentration

Do you need to take regular breaks?

Do you use fidget toys or doodle to help your concentration? It’s often helpful to make people aware via your access statement that you will draw or doodle during meetings or zooms to help you concentrate, that way they don’t presume you’re not paying attention and then saves having an awkward conversation.

Printing/Reading/Spelling

Do you need text printed on a certain colour of paper?
Do you use coloured overlays when reading?

Do you often make what others would deem ‘spelling mistakes’- often dyslexic people will state in their access statement that they spell or use grammar and punctuation differently to neurotypical people.

Quiet Space

Do you need access to a quiet, non social space?
Usually this can be requested during residencies where you’re spending full days in a building as opposed to when you’re in for a couple of hours leading workshops.

Travel

Can you travel by public transport? 

Do you need taxi’s and can you book these yourself?

Can you work on the same day as you travel?

Queuing and crowds
Do crowded rooms or situations make you anxious?
Do you need to be socially distanced from others?
Are you able to wait in a queue? This is something that can be challenging for people with chronic pain conditions or ADHD, a reasonable adjustment could be to ask FOH to let you know when the theatre is opening and then wait in another area of the theatre. Or to ask for a chair to sit in the queue with.

Accommodation
Do you need your own room?
Do you require access to an ensuite/your own bathroom?

Do you need a fridge to keep medication in?

Questions

Are you happy to answer questions about your disability? If not that’s fine, it can be exhausting! Instead you can add some links to sites that give more information, these can include links to sites like the Hidden Disabilities Store that explain the Sunflower Lanyards and why people with invisible disabilities wear them.

Click here for Language Guide