One of the reasons why I'm so obsessed about pensions is, if my grandmother's trajectory is any indicator, I'm looking at nearly 20 years between when dementia makes it impossible for me to work and when I finally die.
In the shower this morning, it occurred to me that, with the aging population and declining economic security and employment quality, I'm not going to be the only person in this situation. And, since the baby boomer generation will pass through this before I do, I'm not even going to be one of the first people in this situation.
What if all these factors align to create a society where dementia (and other intellectual disabilities) are seen as disabilities to be accommodated in the workplace, and the mechanisms for accommodation become common knowledge.
It sounds impossible now, but, (at least to those of us who aren't up on such things) most disabilities sound impossible to accommodate until someone figures out how and people get used to seeing it in action. (How many of us would have thought of a seizure response dog, or running blades?)
With today's technology, I could continue to work as a translator if I lost my eyesight or if I lost my hands. And society is moving on a trajectory from less accommodation to more accommodation. Maybe one day they'll figure out a way to let me continue to work if I lost my mind.
1 comment:
My grandmother had dementia, too. And we all watch my mother very carefully for the early signs. (So far, so good... maybe.) But I don't believe that means it's going to happen to me.
Our grandparents and our parents are ultimately going to die from something. It may or may not be the same thing their parents died from. Same for us.
Another possibly not helpful thought: physical disabilities are rarely accommodated in the workplace, except for customers. Most people with physical disabilities are unemployed, despite laws about discrimination and accommodation.
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