Interesting story from the Trib

Disabled and out of work -- chicagotribune.com

While I'm not as disabled as many of the people featured in the story, I share some of the same issues.  I would like to be able to work.  Unfortunately finding an appropriate job that is also willing to make accommodations seems really challenging.  At the moment, finding a job at all is sufficiently challenging.  Not to mention the fact that I don't know if I can take advantages of some of the social services for the disabled as some are limited only to people eligible for or receiving Social Security disability payments, others require a separate sort of certification and, on top of it all, some of my doctors are hesitant to label me "disabled" as they seem to think that I am "too young" or that doing so will somehow adversely affect my prognosis.
It's immensely frustrating.  Young or not, the fact remains that I have been unable to work for over 18 months.  I have been trying to find a job that I can do from home or that requires little or no travel.  I don't want a handout.  I do want to work but I also don't want to sacrifice my health in order to bring in a paycheck.  Grrrr.
I really, really hope that in the coming years there is more focus on publicizing social and human services for the disabled, educating the public at large about the realities of disability, and educating employers about the actual cost/benefit results of accommodations for disabled workers.
Failing that, if someone would give me a grant for blogging, reading, playing with Oreo, and knitting, that would be awesome. :P