FOLLOWING negative prior experiences in employment, Holly, a local young person with ADHD, is now happily employed with Dustycorns Cleaning following support from human services provider APM.

Rielle, the founder of the cleaning service, which serves from Nambucca to Corindi, also has ADHD, branding it a “superpower”.

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ADHD Awareness Month in October brought with it celebrations amongst Holly, Rielle, and Trinette from APM, who matched Holly to the suitable job vacancy at Dustycorns six months ago.

In her time with Dustycorns, Holly has come out of her shell, gained confidence and found the workplace to be a friendly and inclusive place.

“I wasn’t too confident to begin with, as this is only my second job and I had a pretty nasty experience with my first one,” Holly told NOTA.

“It didn’t work out well and I experienced bad anxiety and panic attacks after that.

“Trying to get back into the workforce after this experience gave me low confidence.”

Holly was happy that the interview was over the phone, as sometimes in-person interviews can be rather challenging for her.

“It was quite short and straightforward, which was great,” she said.

“I heard back from APM on the status of my application within a few days with great news that I got the job.”

Employer Rielle said she can see a little bit of herself in Holly.

“But also, I connect with introverted people,” said Rielle.

“I could see in the trial she was terrified, but I gave her a set task to do, left her for twenty minutes and when I came back she’d done it perfectly and moved on to something else.”

It took Holly about three months to feel comfortable.

“She’s really bringing her personality to work, speaking up and joining in the group conversations,” Rielle said.

“What makes me happy is to see people come out of their shell and get into the workplace and find it’s not a scary place anymore.”

Really enjoying her job, Holly said she likes organisation and cleanliness.

“I enjoy mopping as I find it relaxing and calming,” Holly said.

“Cleaning a space allows me to know that I’ve done a good job, it’s satisfying.

“You walk in and there’s a bit of dirt and dust and by the time you’re done it’s sparkly clean.”

Commenting on moving into the workspace as someone with ADHD, Holly said, “Having a disability means it can be more challenging for you but it’s not impossible to find a job that you love and feel respected in.

“At Dustycorns, I feel welcomed.

“People with disabilities need to be unafraid and unashamed to tell employers or colleagues about their needs and how they may be able to better assist you.”

Rielle was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 22, having spent a confusing and unhappy time through school.

“ADHD presents differently in women who can internalise their thoughts and feelings,” said Rielle.

“I had lots of different jobs and hated them.

“It didn’t work for me, so I decided I was going to make something that did.”

She quit her job with a month’s savings to support her and started some cleaning work for pocket money.

Within two weeks she needed another pair of hands and employed her friend.

“Within six months I needed another person, and after eighteen months I was up to eight staff.”

Now, two years later, Dustycorns employs nineteen staff servicing clients across the Coffs Coast.

Each financial year, APM supports more than one million people across the early childhood, youth, employment, insurance, justice, veterans, disability, and aged care sectors, delivering employment, injury management, vocational rehabilitation, allied health intervention, community care and assessment services.

By Andrea FERRARI