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Am I Disabled?

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Re: Am I Disabled?

#161

Post by danparsonson »

comprev wrote: post #154

This might be controversial but here goes... On the other side of the coin I had an unforgettable interview experience for a role that really questioned my pro-viewpoint on disability in the workplace. Prior to this interview I was a firm believer that anybody should do the job they want and overcome obstacles. Afterwards, ths changed. Prior to the interview, the recruiter phoned me and said "Just a heads up, you mig…

You understand that by the same or similar logic, you would have written off Stephen Hawking, yes?

Re: Am I Disabled?

#162

Post by leetcrew »

comprev wrote: post #154

This might be controversial but here goes... On the other side of the coin I had an unforgettable interview experience for a role that really questioned my pro-viewpoint on disability in the workplace. Prior to this interview I was a firm believer that anybody should do the job they want and overcome obstacles. Afterwards, ths changed. Prior to the interview, the recruiter phoned me and said "Just a heads up, you mig…

I don't think this is terribly controversial. this is where the "reasonable" part of "reasonable accommodations" comes into play. you need to find a way for wheelchair users to navigate your office building. you don't need to find a way for blind people to fly airplanes.

in bob's case, he has ten years worth of company technical/product knowledge in his head. he probably still has a lot to contribute to the company, but they ought to find a role for him where so much verbal communication is not required. maybe they have already done this, and bob actually spends most of his time talking to people who are familiar enough not to need an interpreter.

Re: Am I Disabled?

#163

Post by kordlessagain »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #11

I think this is a pretty good writeup on how disabilities are dealt with in society. For myself, I'm bipolar. I've had significant difficult my entire life but I didn't know why until recently. Being bipolar has a severe impact on every aspect of my life. In relation to work, it's just painful. I need accommodations to handle a 40-hour work week. I need a regular schedule. I can't be on-call during the night because…

My suggestion is to determine how your brain works, whether it is visual in nature, auditory or other.

The mind is the last frontier of health and medical professionals frequently mis-diagnose. Don't accept your "bipolar" label until you understand yourself how your mind works.

See https://www.newscientist.com/article/2083706-my-minds-eye-is....

Re: Am I Disabled?

#164

Post by honkycat »

kolinko wrote: post #61

Excellent question. As a person with ADHD (but on meds), and a possible CFS, I ask myself this sometimes. While I wouldn't use a disabled parking spot , there are some exceptions from social norms that I allow myself: - segregating trash (keeping an apartament clean and organised is crazy difficult by itself, and I still learn to put things into trash after using, at the age of 36) - getting a sitting space in a crow…

> - getting a sitting space in a crowded bus, even if there are old people around

This is fine, honestly. I see people trying to be... tough? I don't know what they are doing, but they are blocking the lane when they refuse to sit down because they perceive it as rude.

We are all in this together, just take a seat and get out of the way!!

That being said I will give up my seat for someone with a kid in tow.

Re: Am I Disabled?

#165

Post by notsureifdis »

kolinko wrote: post #61

Excellent question. As a person with ADHD (but on meds), and a possible CFS, I ask myself this sometimes. While I wouldn't use a disabled parking spot , there are some exceptions from social norms that I allow myself: - segregating trash (keeping an apartament clean and organised is crazy difficult by itself, and I still learn to put things into trash after using, at the age of 36) - getting a sitting space in a crow…

> Since that time I always have doubt whether to point out to someone that they took a disabled parking spot. The way I handle it now is by asking someone who leaves a car, who doesn't look disabled, if they need some help (instead of pointing out that they are assholes). If they are indeed disabled, they won't mind, if they aren't - they feel like assholes :)

You should just stop bothering because it’s really not your place or any of your business.

I say this as someone who took care of my mother during cancer treatments. I drove her to her clinics/hospitals and she had a difficult time walking from the parking lot to the door, so we were able to get a handicap parking thing issued to hang on the rear view mirror. It helped her tremendously that I could park the car basically right at the door and we could both go in together. I never abused the label and removed it when I wasn’t driving her around, but every time she was in the car with me and we went somewhere I hung it up. There were times when she/I forgot something in the car and I had to go out to go get it. There were times when people like you would have seen me lightly jogging to the car to get something and running back in. You would have asked me if I needed help and apparently I “should feel like an asshole.” You would have asked me if I needed help and if I didn’t ignore you you would have wasted my time trying to bring in papers or my mom’s purse or something. And if I did ignore you because I was in a hurry you might have tweeted about me taking up a handicap parking, when you know absolutely nothing about the situation.

When she was recovering and was able to drive herself, she took the decal and used the handicap parking as well. She was able to walk around normally and you wouldn’t have thought she was handicapped in anyway, but she still had respiratory issues and was physically weak that walking far was difficult. You would have been one of those people pointing out to her that she was an asshole.

Re: Am I Disabled?

#166

Post by kilbuz »

jyriand wrote: post #69
dagmx wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a current epileptic (spinal injury, recovered partial paralysis) I still have to deal with the fact that I'm in fact, disabled. Working at a FAANG in silicon valley really highlights that. My commute is 4 hours a day because I have to take public transit, and working late hours is a bigger burden than unaffected people in similar life situations. I'm completely dependent on others to take me places, even for groce…

4 hours seems like a lot. Do you still have to commute, even amid the pandemic situation?

Four hours seems like a realistic estimate for daily commute time for a SF SV round-trip pre-COVID, especially on public transit. I did the same, it was 3-3.5 hours by car, and 4 by MUNI/Caltrain/Shuttle. If I lived closer to Caltrain in the city, it would have helped a lot.

Re: Am I Disabled?

#167

Post by himujjal »

TheOperator wrote: post #54
himujjal wrote: post #38

Why does the first world have the smallest of problems? Everytime i open social media someone has some disease I have never heard of but when googled has the same symptoms of a basic cough. lol. You should come to India. People here are quite chilled out when it comes to physical or mental problems. They dont see a form and go well. This hurts my feelings

I don't see a form like this and think "This hurts my feelings :(". I see this form and go "Oh shit, so do I say I'm disabled and get discriminated against now, or do I say I'm not disabled and then get retaliated against for dishonesty later?". I've been rejected from jobs before for being disabled and being disabled is expensive. Here is how "chill" the situation is in India by the way: https://www.theguardian.com/…

My dad is mentally disabled. Yeah. So much so he has to visit the mental hospital twice. Stayed locked up for two weeks straight. Yeah. We are economically well off only because my grandpa had good estates and stable income. My father somehow got his degree in Economics. He somehow got to the point that he is now well respected at the age of 58. The condition my father has is far far worse than the mere depression every American and first world country seems to have and call it disability.

I am more often talking about mental disability BTW. I should have been more clear. There are problems here too. But its only for the severe causes. Mere depressions which these days are shown more as coolness and victimhood are symptoms of the first world. When you are worried what you will be eating or feeding your child at night, you don't have time for depression. You are worried and tensed but not depressed. In first world country you are far well off. You guys are worried about stupid reasons. Yeah. They are stupid.

Come live in a third world country once. You will understand what I am saying. Victimhood here won't last you far. You will starve.

Re: Am I Disabled?

#168

Post by webdog »

Thoughtful article. I've had similar feelings about myself and whether or not I'm disabled. My left arm is crooked from two childhood injuries and doesn't turn over more than about 30%, it's called a Madelung deformity[1], it showed itself after my second injury when my arm was healing from a fracture when I was 10 years old.

Most of the time, it's pretty invisible for me and everyone else, but there are things in day-to-day life that are a chore if I think about it, such as cutting food with a knife, exercising, or even trying to hold something at a certain angle with my hand can be uncomfortable. It's kind of silly, but I also can't play guitar standing up, as the angle of turning my wrist over is too uncomfortable to stay in position on the fretboard. Sitting down is similar, but I can play longer as I can hold my elbow closer to my body.

[1]https://radiopaedia.org/articles/madelung-deformity?lang=us

Re: Am I Disabled?

#169

Post by RobRivera »

sandworm101 wrote: post #139
rurban wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you just live in the parking lot? 4 hours is insane

Parking lot? A truely motivated employee who cares about his job will sleep on a bedroll stored neetly under their desk. Mobility is only an issue for those slackers who choose to spend time away from the office. (I say this as i, in all honesty, will be sleeping on a couch at work this christmas. Im in the military. There are some few jobs that require literally sleeping in your office and i was just volunteered/vol…

Lmao, I remember pulling sdo over thnaksgiving. Best. Shift. Ever.

Re: Am I Disabled?

#170

Post by richthegeek »

driverdan wrote: post #144
hrktb wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is such a bias towards regularity, I feel like an alien when trying to question why we should care. I had a coworker that might have been bipolar as well but didn’t really explicit it, and we felt we shouldn’t dig. In a week to week basis work was done. We were a team of 7 so someone being on or off at a given time had little impact, hell any member could be warped into another project for 3 days and come back…

> submitting sick days without notice Who the hell knows when they're going to be sick? I've never heard of such a thing.

I had a colleague once who has IBS, but also he absolutely loved pizza. So, while he never gave notice, everyone knew he would not be in on Mondays because he ate an entire Domino's XL pizza the evening before.
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