“These Accommodations Gave Me the Ability to Rejoin the Workforce”
Dawn recently started a writing business from her home in Vernon, writing complaint letters for clients and focusing on dispute resolution.
She has hand tremors, as well as bipolar disorder, which makes a typical workplace difficult for her.
“I Feel So Much More Confident In My Job,” WorkBC Assistive Technology Services Helps Michael Get New Hearing Aids
Michael works as a courier in the Lower Mainland. His daily duties include handling and processing packages in a depot, and then delivering them to local businesses and residences.
He is hearing impaired, which can be a challenge in a job that involves both dealing with customers and having to be aware of your surroundings.
Karen Has More Energy to Focus on Her Job Thanks to Assistive Technology
Karen started a part-time job as an administrator at her church in Vancouver. She oversees office duties, like replying to emails, answering the phones, organizing weekly worship services, and coordinating the weekly newsletter. She also deals with the different rental users of the building.
However, her workday is made harder by her disability. Since birth, Karen has lived with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, which affects her speech, coordination, muscle dexterity, balance, and mobility.
Zeina “Can Work More Hours” with New Ergonomic Set-Up
Zeina has operated a successful project management consulting business for over a decade. Currently working from her home in Burnaby, she spends much of her time on the computer and in conference calls with various clients.
However, the work takes a toll on Zeina.
“It’s Programs Like These That Make Starting a Business Easier for Those with Disabilities”
“[I] Really Enjoy Working on the Computer Again Without the Constant Pain and Numbness I Used to Feel”
Sherry is working hard towards gaining employment, studying for an accounting and bookkeeping course.
But she was finding it hard to put the hours in she needed to study with the pain she was feeling.
“I have degenerative disk disease in the top seven disks of my spine, plus a damaged rotator cuff,” she says from Kelowna.
Hearing Amplifiers Help Improve Tony’s Work and Life
Tony is the General Manager of Starline Windows Okanagan, a company he has been with since 1986.
Dealing with his staff, colleagues, and hundreds of customers in the construction industry, effective communication is key. However, Tony has hearing loss in both ears, with severe tinnitus in his left ear.
Susan Finds Assistive Technology Solutions for Her New Career
Susan suffered a work-related injury at an assembly plant in 1989. As a result, she has a variety of conditions including De Quervain Syndrome, Epicondylitis, and Fibromyalgia. This affects her from the neck down — notably in the hands where her fingers will cramp while holding objects, causing her to drop them and lose feeling from the neck down.
“The Help that this Program Has Given Me is Far Beyond What I Had Even Hoped.”
Marguerite is a cashier at a grocery store in 100 Mile House.
“I have to talk to a lot of people,” she explains. “I have significant hearing loss. In today’s current climate where customers are wearing masks and I’m working behind plexiglass, I was having difficulty hearing people or not hearing them at all.”
Assistive Technology Puts Min on the Path to Employment
In 2007, Min had a stroke, affecting the left side of his body — he has no function in his left arm and hand.
Min, who lives in Coquitlam, is currently looking for work, participating in the WorkBC Employment Services program.