Assistance / Person receiving assistance / Person providing assistance

Under certain conditions, both employed and self-employed people with disabilities are entitled to a work assistant. In this support model, the person with a disability takes on the role of the person receiving assistance, whilst the person providing help acts as the assistant. The support is limited to organisational or practical support, such as reading texts aloud, interpreting or providing simple support – the actual professional work is carried out by the person with a disability themselves.

There are various ways in which the costs of a work assistant can be covered. Information on this is available, for example, from inclusion offices or the Federal Employment Agency of Germany. In everyday life, informal support is also often referred to as assistance – for instance, when staff at a cultural venue show a visitor with a disability the way to their seat.