Change of career due to MS

Everyday living
1

Ok, 20 years of being a software tester is drawing to a close as i can no longer do the daily commute from Helenburgh to Edinburgh. Nothing worse than the toilets being out of order (near enough everyday) so i am resigned to looking for part time work where I stay. I am banking on scottish social security payment in full.

Now i currently get full payment of ESA so i am hoping and praying i get full social security payment, i have spoken to MS Revive in Govan where they have been really good and they scored me a 12 out of say 20, i honesty cant remember the second number. So as things stand it is the waiting game to see which side the coin lands . Now it is a big ‘if’ if it goes the way the people in MSRevive say i will just about to pay my bills. However knowing my luck i will get shafted, happened before where my works criticall illness did not pay out as i should have told them i had MS prior to taking out the policy. My counter argument of ‘but how would i know?’ Got me no where. Now thats water under the bridge as it was 2007 i claimed AND I am pretty chuffed that my MP read my name out in Parliament and since then payments have been a lot fairer, I got zilch bit at least others get a fair deal. So my next question is how easy is it to get a job in morrisons or tesco for 16 hours a week? It is serious question as prior to MS I have never been in a position where i cant stand for a long period of time or walk to far before i trip/stumble. Now a days i walk with activator poles, to stop me falling

2

Is it possible to do software testing at home in a different field? Or find a job closer to home? Is help with transport to work possible in Scotland?
Teachers take on the role of online tutors for example.

3

Its tough, i used to work remote as a tester for nearly 2 years but as it was for a consultancy i got let go as client was down sizing. Now the 2 biggest software houses in Scotland are currently off shoring to India the competition is pretty intense and is a stress i dont need. In a perfect world i get back into software testing but i dont see that happening anytime soon.

4

Perhaps a job with local government or civil service be better. I’d certainly imagine their HR Policies would be more tolerant of those with disabilities than private industry.

5

Tried that but getting civil service job is like gold dust where i live anyway. The local civil service jobs where i live is at faslane naval base. The jobs are advertised as must have SC, security clearance, which you can only get from the government. Its weird