Jobs?

I’m paraplegic. Both of my hands function. I hope that I can do some art later on.

You might add your injury level to your profile, caseygambrel, so we can make better suggestions for you.

Yes, caseygambrel, I can see your injury level on your profile now. We have to get a little creative with this software to get it to do what we want it to do. I’d worked in a call center for ten years before my accident, and accident or not, it really wasn’t something I wanted to do again. After the call center job, I finished college. Now I would be able to teach Spanish online. But that would require me to keep a schedule, which I can’t do. Sometimes I have pain. Sometimes I have to give special care to my bowels and bladder. Keeping a work schedule would jeopardize my health,...and we can’t skimp there. So, making art, when and if I feel like doing it, is the only thing that might work for me.

What’s you education, training, or work background?

I work as a bookkeeper, the same job I had before I was injured. There are a lot of jobs you could do, don't let the wheelchair stop you from applying. Have you thought about sales or accounting or insurance?

Yeah, I hear ya. Kinda hard to look intimidating from a wheelchair. I do have an amusing story for you. Once, pre-injury, when I was absolutely desperate for a job (i.e., income), I applied for everything school-related in my area. I didn’t have my BA in Spanish yet, so the jobs I applied for were sort of alphabet soup. I arrived at a job interview, looking as positive and optimistic as I could muster, only to find out that I’d applied for one of the security officer positions...at one of the toughest high schools in Dallas Tx. You can imagine the bewildered look on the faces of the human resources people as they went through the motions of “considering” me for the job. I was so desperate for a job that I wouldn’t let them off the hook. Later, after I was safely back in my car, I allowed myself the luxury of laughing out loud at myself and what I’d done. Me, a 5’1”, petite, woman, with no security training whatsoever, applying for a job on a team of officers who had to sometimes subdue gang members in the lunchroom. What really made me laugh out loud was the thought of those brave officers finding themselves out-numbered and over-powered, then putting out a call for “ backup”....and here I come running into battle to assist, looking somewhat like a freshly groomed miniature French poodle. Everybody relax. Help has arrived. You’re all safe now.

For starting ones own business, I like this idea.
www.entrepreneur.com/article/271446
How to Start a Business With (Almost) No Money
“...2 Bootstrap
Your second option invokes the idea of a “warmup” period for your business. Instead of going straight into full-fledged business mode, you’ll start with just the basics. You might launch a blog and one niche service, reducing your scope, your audience and your profit, in order to get a head-start. If you can start as a self-employed individual, you'll avoid some of the biggest initial costs (and enjoy a simpler tax situation, too). A payment processing company, such as Due, can be a big help when you are struggling to invoice and follow up professionally.

Once you start realizing some revenue, you can invest in yourself, and build the business you imagined piece by piece, rather than all at once.“

I’d never heard of Due or anything similar, but here’s the link.
due.com

I have had a few different jobs since my accident. First I was a unix secretary at a hospital near me for 10 years. It was a nice place to work with a SCI, because working with nurses and doctors, they understood if you were having an off day or you were having to leave for personal reasons.

Then I was a proofreader/ staff reporter/photographer for a local newspaper for a couple of years. While I wadd doing that, I began volunteering on the side for one of the elementary teachers at the local school, working with 1st graders with their teaching or math or whatever, then I spoke to the principal about how to become a paraprofessional, and I applied with a company that employs substitute teachers and support staff. I did that and the newspaper gig for about 2 years, until an opportunity to get on as a full-time paraprofessional in the high school special ed department became available and jumped at it. I have been doing that for nearly 3 years and I couldn't be happier!

Also, I am a T3/4 complete para, injured in 1999...

Hope this helps!

Josh