"Find Your Passion and Go For It."
"Just because you have PD doesn’t mean it is the end of the world... I have never looked back."
Read Gunnar's FULL STORY
Employment Issues
Many people with Parkinson disease have successful, satisfying work lives and early in the disease they may make no changes in their normal work habits or routines. As the disease progresses however, evaluation of what can realistically remain the same and what needs to be altered may be required.
It is important to ask:
- Can I continue to function in my job at the same level? If not, what part of my job has become more difficult and can adjustments be made so that I can address those difficulties at work?
- Can I continue my job with different expectations?
- Is anything at work a safety risk for me or for others?
- Can I change my job to one that is more appropriate to what I am able to do?
- Should I consider going on disability?
- Am I forcing myself to maintain the same schedule as before and getting more and more exhausted?
Some ways of conserving energy at work include:
- Having a nap during the lunch-hour
- Scheduling important business meetings or difficult tasks at a time in the work day when you tend to feel your best reducing your hours, overtime, travel time
- Using a computer to take notes if your writing becomes difficult
- Asking someone else on the team do the presentation if your voice becomes too soft