«Access is not just about ramps and braille; it’s about relationships built on trust and care».
– Mia Mingus
For me, every application has felt like throwing a bottle intoo a stormy sea; or like waking up in lack of energy – and just throwing whatever you stil have away; completely pointless.
For two years now I’ve pressed send – applying to over 400 job applications.
Over 400 times of reajusting my cover letter, adjusting my pitch – and over 400 times of landing- nothing.
Most of the time this has been because I am partially disabled. Because I can only work up to 40%.
But, even if I’m applying to a 20% part-time position. Even if I am highly overqualified – or with just the right qualification, the majority of current hirers will exclude those of us born with disabilities. Even when it is illegal to do so.
The Inaccessibility of Work
In Norway today, research shows a clear truth; people with functioning impairments face a drastically lower rate of employment. One study found that only 38% of persons with disabilities were in paid work – compared to 78% of the general population.
(uni.oslomet.no)
Further, in experiment after experiment – a job seeker who used a wheelchair was only half as likely to be invited to an interview as someone equally qualified without impairments (OsloMet).
And yet- discrimination on the basis of disability is illegal in Norway. On paper at least… In practice; the system still says no.
(Norges Handikapforbund).
So, what does one become when the world refuses to hire you?
You become your own opportunity.
«Disabled people have always been inventing futures from scraps».
– Leah Lakshmi Piepzna – Samarasinha
Reframing Value
Because here’s the thing: the labour market is built on assumptions of constant energy, mobility, the «non-stop», and the»never slow down» practice.
In other words, you should be 20 years old – and have 25 years experience…???
As stupid as these labour-practice ideas seem, they are in reality even worse!
First of all, as a large chunk of disabled people are just kept out of work all-together, only to then be blamed by the rest for not working.
Secondly, the current labour rhytm is ill-fitting for practically everyone above 30 years old – leading to many (non-disabled ) people facing burnout and/ or chronic-illnesses.
I am both disabled and over 30. And my life is built on a completely different rhytm. it is a rhytm of adaption, of fine-tuning, of working in a different way – not working less.
Because we have to, we learn to adjust to daily pain, to weekly plan around fatigue, to create value in bursts of energy rather than a marathon.
And those are valueable skills that would be good for everyone!
Yet, the current system call them «unfit».
But, let me be clear; it is not you who is unfit – it is the current job market.
Too overthrown by corruption in the form of nepotism. In the form of discrimination. By the lack of logic – and lack of empathy.
Turning the Rejection into Creation
So I decided: If the doors won’t open for me, I’ll build one myself.
While others asked: «why won’t you take a job?» I answered by finishing the first edition of my productivity book – a tool born not from triumph, but for necessity.
I sculpted my own work from my strengths, my small capacity, my creative spark.
I chose to channel my energy where It could flourish.
And you know what? It’s terrifying –
because you are making yourself vulnerable again. The difference is that this time,
you can choose the terms yourself.
You can build around your own pace. While also taking your health intoo account.
Whether we like it or not, the world is changing. The definitions of work are shifting. And there is space for your version of it too.
From Surviving to Structuring
Out of these two years of applications, rejections, and massive fatigue, came something I never expected – a system for living.
My daily planner grew slowly, piece by piece, from the chaos of disability and the need for balance.
it’s a tool designed for our kind of time; flexible, honest and forgiving.
I spent two years creating it, to help both myself and other disabled people find their rhytm, clarity – and a sense of empowerment in their daily life.
If you would like to see it, you can find it here: [https://accordingtosilje.com/butikk/] on my blog.
This is not just a planner, but a quiet act of resistance: proof that disabled lives can be structured beautifully, and intentionally – on our own terms.
__
A Task For You
Think of one thing you are really good at – not the thing you think you should do, but the thing your body and mind naturally return to.
Make it intoo a 30-day project, and see what comes out of it.
Forget the job boards.
Don’t ask for permission to do it.
Build your own path.
Then you share it – and celebrate it!
– Silje