Re: New TECHWR-L Poll - ADD

Subject: Re: New TECHWR-L Poll - ADD
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2005 14:58:19 -0700


On Mon, 2005-06-20 at 14:27 -0600, Chris Christner wrote:

> The miracle is that anybody is healthy enough to work a 40 hour week! How
> so many people can manage to work at all while dealing with their
> illnesses is beyond me.

Your comment makes me remember a passage in Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar in
which the protagonist looks at the symptoms of mental illness, and
concludes that she must be suffering from all of them. In something of
the same way, you look at various mental disorders and physical
impairments, and respond as if the healthy are a minority.

Yet, even accepting the figures you give, many of the conditions you
mention don't keep those who have them from working. Several of the
ones you mention are physical, not mental, so they don't necessarily
prevent someone from working at an office job.

Others may be hard to bear, but cover a very broad spectrum of
conditions. For example, I've known people who were clinically diagnosed
as depressed or having ADD who have held down responsible jobs for
years. Ditto for functional alcoholics and PTSD sufferers, whom you
admittedly don't mention, but could be easily added to your list. The
point is, having an impairment isn't an all or nothing state. Nor (to
state something that's obvious, but worth stressing) do any of these
things affect a person's intelligence or creativity.

In fact, when you consider that most people in North America are
chronically short of sleep and rely on regular doses of caffeine just to
function, those who suffer impairments probably have no trouble holding
their own -- especially on Fridays. ;-)
If nothing else, most of the impaired people I know have learned to take
care of themselves.

--
Bruce Byfield 604-422-7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

"Inspiration and craft plus time and effort minus fear and doubt
multiplied by purpose equals song."
- Ray Wylie Hubbard



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 2005 now has RoboHelp Converter and HTML Source: Author
content and configure Help in MS Word or any HTML editor. No
proprietary editor! *August release. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



Previous by Author: Re: New TECHWR-L Poll - ADD
Next by Author: RE: New TECHWR-L Poll - ADD
Previous by Thread: Re: New TECHWR-L Poll - ADD
Next by Thread: Re: New TECHWR-L Poll - ADD


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads