My wife is 54 yo and has been dealing with her seizure disorder since she
was a teenager. She has had a few misc. jobs through the years but she
always left them for one reason or another. Most of the time she did not
have to work because I made enough for both of us and our family. Now, at
54, she wants to get a job for her self esteem, I believe. And to provide
her with some money "of her own".
She has only a rare grand mal (one every couple of years) but he petite mal
spells have never been well controlled and can occur from once or twice a
week to many times a day. This seems to vary with her menstrual cycle, her
stress level, and her nutritional well-being, as well as other factors.
Most days are on the more mild side rather than the heavy side.
The purpose of this post is to try and find information as to what others
have done to help find jobs, handling transportation, finding known national
employers who will hire people in her situation, and any other guidance all
you folks can provide.
My wife is an extremely strong women, very outgoing and very likable. She
freely talks about her problem and has not tried to hide it from any of her
friends or acquaintances. She feels that her greatest handicap is the
inability to drive as there is no public transportation in our community and
she does not want to rely on senior or handicapped transportation services
which are not very reliable in our area.
I am hoping that I can get some useful information for her from this group..
Thanks for your comments
Jim
Julie - 03 Mar 2004 02:10 GMT
Hi Jim, welcome to the group. If you live in the U.S. contact your local
Epilepsy Foundation, each state has an affiliate. http://www.efa.org
I'm thinking that a government job might be a place to try. For example, your
local public library.
Do you have friends and family that would help with transportation? If so make
a list of everyone's job place and work schedules. Then your wife could
concentrate on looking for work in those locations.
Take care,
Julie Walton, Volunteer Webmaster
Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org
> My wife is 54 yo and has been dealing with her seizure disorder since she
> was a teenager. She has had a few misc. jobs through the years but she
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Jim
Julie - 03 Mar 2004 02:11 GMT
Hi Jim, welcome to the group. If you live in the U.S. contact your local
Epilepsy Foundation, each state has an affiliate. http://www.efa.org
I'm thinking that a government job might be a place to try. For example, your
local public library.
Do you have friends and family that would help with transportation? If so make
a list of everyone's job place and work schedules. Then your wife could
concentrate on looking for work in those locations.
Take care,
Julie Walton, Volunteer Webmaster
Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org
> My wife is 54 yo and has been dealing with her seizure disorder since she
> was a teenager. She has had a few misc. jobs through the years but she
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Jim
CyberCafe - 03 Mar 2004 07:28 GMT
> My wife is 54 yo and has been dealing with her seizure disorder since she
> was a teenager. She has had a few misc. jobs through the years but she
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Jim
I looked at your post earlier today and thought I didn't have anything to offer,
so I didn't respond. There is no public transportation where I live and to
travel to a job, although there aren't many jobs at all around here anyway,
means a lot of driving time. I know a person might be able to get an
occupational driver's license. The other thing is if she is having regular
seizures, even if they are small seizures, how is she dealing with the fatigue.
You know, at her age (I'm a couple of years older than your wife), she probably
has developed some skills or knowledge she could use to establish some kind of
business. I have had my own business for 14 years. It took a long time to
build it up, but it was worth it because I have flexible hours, don't have to
travel, and I have control over everything; well most of the time ; )
Your wife might want to look at organizations like the DVR because they can
assess her skills/knowledge and offer training/retraining. You might also want
to investigate community programs (such as county run) that offered sheltered
employment opportunities. Years ago, my brother-in-law attended a religion
affiliated program (he wasn't of that faith either) that retrained him in
another occupation.
Barb
Julie - 03 Mar 2004 22:22 GMT
Hi Barb, what is DVR?
I agree owning your own business is so nice when it comes to controlling your life.
For example, this month I will have my mother with me 1/2 of the month. I have a
client that sent me three updates to their online forms. It will be perfect to work
from home while mom is resting. It is something I can do for a few hours and then
take a break and do something with her. In my case, I don't advertise my business,
I get clients by word of mouth and I like being able to decide how much I work.
Take care,
Julie
> > My wife is 54 yo and has been dealing with her seizure disorder since she
> > was a teenager. She has had a few misc. jobs through the years but she
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
>
> Barb
Bubba_Licious - 07 Mar 2004 14:28 GMT
Thank you both for your input. Owning her own biz would be great and we
have considered that many times in the past. I have tried to encourage her
to look into starting an internet biz. She does not seem too interested
although it is kind of difficult to get her to tell me why. Only negative
of doing that is the need to be self disciplined and keep motivated to stay
at it. I'll work on her some more.
In the mean time, if you think of anything else, or there are others out
there with other ideas, please post them.
Jim
> Hi Barb, what is DVR?
>
[quoted text clipped - 60 lines]
> >
> > Barb