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Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

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41–50 of 266 posts

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#41
> Further, all of my experience is in startups and that makes me less palatable to larger companies, but larger companies have more options to accommodate disabled people.

My understanding is lots of large enterprise/legacy companies are constantly looking for startup experience since they want to replicate the startup success with their own projects and often consider their own projects to be startsup.

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#43

You don't spend money on rent, but are still spending $1500/month? On what?

Probably mostly meds if in the US; US citizens don't have access to cheap generic medications nor universal healthcare so something like chronic pain can cost a lot out of pocket.

My co-pays for meds and visits are about 1/3 of my budget.

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#46
Do you have any particular IC skillset? E.g., software development, QA, UX. Would you be willing to learn a new stack if you had to?

No promises but, if so (and assuming you don't get plenty of better suggestions and offers here), drop me an email: bart PERIOD read THEALIKECHARACTERTHATISNTANAMPERSAND savanta DECIMAL POINT com.

I'm the CTO so have a meaningful level of influence but can also tell you that what's most likely to scupper us working with you, apart from a skillset mismatch, will be some BS about creating IP and taxation within a US state (or some other legal nonsense that makes it hard or impossible to work with you even though we are incorporated in the US).

I'm sorry I can't be more directly encouraging but do reach out if you're interested and I'll see if I can help.

EDIT: One other thing that might be useful to us, doable part time, and would I think sidestep any issues around IP creation. How are your management skills? And might you be willing to work slightly odd hours? E.g., afternoons, to cross over with the UK (obviously depends where you are in the US).

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#47

Not to derail this thread or to sound like I am criticizing OP, but everyone should take this post as a reminder to look into having a disability insurance policy. Your megacorp may offer a policy, but look into getting your own guaranteed renewable non-cancelable policy, as it provides greater protection. The Bogleheads wiki has a good page describing what is important to obtain in such a policy.

Good point.

Pro tip: get this while you are employed full time before you jump into self employment (at least look into it).

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#48

I was in a similar situation, minus the physical disability (I was mentally in a really bad place though). The only advise I have is to not think of any job as below you. I don't know your exact situation or your disabilities, but if you can deliver pizzas to at least keep your head above the water, do that. Having gone through YC you're obviously also a bright and intelligent person, how many different companies hav…

It’s also worth considering whether providing a lower going rate and longer duration of work would be effective. For some projects it may be possible to effectively work half time.

I’ve met folks in unusual industries that need ongoing tech work/knowledge but have no desire to have this knowledge and effort in house. Medical device manufacturing was one such field. (work was government compliance, and server patching/network maintenance)

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#49

Not to derail this thread or to sound like I am criticizing OP, but everyone should take this post as a reminder to look into having a disability insurance policy. Your megacorp may offer a policy, but look into getting your own guaranteed renewable non-cancelable policy, as it provides greater protection. The Bogleheads wiki has a good page describing what is important to obtain in such a policy.

It’s unclear to me that this case would be covered though? It’s not hard if you lose your legs or arms. Pain and related topics are likely excluded from your standard policy.

Re: Ask HN: I'm disabled and out of money. Now what?

#50
I want to present you with the Gate Theory of Pain [0].

Think of an area of your body as only being able to transmit one signal to your brain at a time, i.e., only one signal may pass through the gate. If you are experiencing chronic pain in an area, you can apply a different (non painful) stimulus to attempt to override the painful stimulus. To achieve this, many physicians recommend wearing and applying a TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) to the areas you experience pain. It is around $30 on amazon. Cheap solution that is worth a try.

There is more to say on this topic, and I am happy to discuss further. I wish you all the best.

[0] https://www.physio-pedia.com/Gate_Control_Theory_of_Pain

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