A new report, published on Tuesday, has claimed that 100,000 young people are claiming benefits for ADHD – a surge of 40 per cent under the Labour government, as ministers face ever-growing pressure to reform the welfare system. Previously Alan Milburn suggested that young people with ADHD should be prescribed work coaches by their GPs to help them get into employment or education.
Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar, 50, is a self-taught web developer and trauma relationship counsellor based in North Yorkshire. She has ADHD and has found herself unable to work in traditional employment since 26 (when she quit her job with no plan). She has had periods of unemployment but also taken on several different careers and says having a coach would have helped her when she was younger.
I’ve always said I’m unemployable. I went to uni when I was 19 to study biochemistry and I flunked my first year twice. I just thought I was thick, and no one really noticed I was struggling. I was going to get into a lot of trouble from my family, so I ended up getting a job in pharmaceuticals in research and development. While I was there, I went on day release and did my Higher National Course and Higher National Diploma and started a biochemistry degree again – but dropped out of that, too.
