Still, in honor of NDEAM, I want to share my honest résumé to remind everyone of the unspoken labor and skills a disabled person cannot share.

I'm not looking for a job. What's the point, really? I have truly done everything I can to find traditional work but there will always be a candidate who doesn't require accommodations. So, like many disabled people, I'm trying my hand at self employment.

But they don’t count the work it takes to exist in the system at all: managing appointments, treatments, medications, flare-ups. That’s a full-time job, too.

I don’t qualify for disability. Haven’t worked enough (yes, you need to "earn" work credits to qualify). I was denied supplemental income because “there’s probably a job out there that I could do.” And yeah, maybe there is.

Working for free is a privilege in its own way. But if it doesn’t lead anywhere, you end up being taken advantage of, often by people who understand the precariousness of your health and financial situation.

Another 4,400 hours were paid, which is meaningful, sure. But it doesn’t change the fact that nearly half of everything I’ve done was unpaid labor just to exist in a system that never accommodated me.

I’ve been underemployed my whole life. Nearly 3,300 hours of the work I’ve done has been unpaid. Yes, I tallied up the hours of volunteering, interning, mentoring, creating, and making things. I did it to build experience, prove I could do the work, and stay busy, even when no one would pay me.

I was diagnosed with my first chronic illness when I was 3 months old. The next 25 years were spent adding more, juggling the undiagnosed, the misdiagnosed, and ADHD that went unrecognized until later.

Employment, for people like me, is mostly out of our hands. Yet the system expects us to somehow figure it out ourselves. And figuring it out is usually more work than any actual job I’ve ever had.

But my state’s vocational rehab designated me as a Class 2 disability, meaning they officially recognize that I face significant barriers to work. What did they do for me? They sent one job posting. And that employer was unwilling to accommodate me.

...but I'm realizing that it's also in this essay. I'm sick of trying to create an image that is valuable. You might not learn anything from my essays. You may not feel compelled to hire me. But you might find them interesting all the same.

Read Partial Theories: open.substack.com/pub/partialt...

The goal? Real examples, real impact, proof that this approach works. The focus right now is on game development, narrative design, and online events. I'm only taking on a select few projects in this capacity, don't hesitate reach out if you're interested in these services!

Thanks for sharing!

The jam runs from Sept. 25 to Oct. 11, 2025 and is open to all experience levels. No team? No problem. We're offering team matching.

Help us make science something people can feel, click, and explore. To learn more and to apply, visit the link. Apps close on Sept. 19.

itch.io/jam/science-...

Hi Dani, I have some privacy issues that prevents me from sharing most of my work. But I did recently start back up in science communication and engagement with my new organization: www.databloom.club I'd be happy to share my work privately if this isn't adequate for being added to the science feed.