Night owls, can you please come and talk to me about social skills.

[Hellokittymania]

I am thinking of changing careers, I have disabilities and people look at me and think I'm 15. I really need to be able to work on some things, but I just don't know where to start or how to do things… I'm visually impaired, so a lot of things, I just don't pick up on. But I really need to know…

Even if I don't make perfect iContact, if I remember to hold my head in the direction of the person who's speaking, and to lift my head up… Something I really have trouble remembering to do… That's a start right? What do you do when you're talking to someone? Also, how do you not interrupt people? I have a hard time with this… Do you just verbally look at someone and know that they're done talking… How long do you wait until you start speaking? It's really challenging for me and I really wish I could have some tips on how to improve things…

I speak several languages, and one thing I'm possibly considering doing is becoming an interpreter… So I really need good skills. Also, what's your posture when you're talking to someone? Where do you keep your hands? Just by your side…

I've done a lot during this quarantine, my cooking has improved, I am learning to use an iron, I have a sewing machine, although I haven't taken that out yet… But now is the time to set some goals and work on some things… So I might make some social skills goals to improve on to. What would you say is the most important thing

Sorry this is short. I'm a night owl but tired.

Would you consider work from home? Ongoing, not just during the pandemic. It doesn't need be lonely. You can keep in regular contact with colleagues and managers via video calls and you can look at meeting people through out of work hobbies.

It might be easier working from home. You can forget about worries around eye contact, looking in the right direction, etc. You can have all the visual aids you might need set up at home - and you get to avoid a commute.

Definitely with your language skills, translation, interpretation work might be a good idea. And that's something you could do from home.

Taffy, I'm just getting started and looking up the possibilities, and looking at what I would need to qualify, etc. For the level III course though, you do need to do 50 hours of volunteering as an interpreter, so I will need some of these skills for that. One thing that does worry me a bit is people's impression of me. If people don't take me seriously, or think I'm a teenager, they're not gonna trust me to be there interpreter. Some cultures are especially tricky when it comes to disabilities, and people don't think you can be useful. This might be a problem down the line, so I really need to find a way to improve things a bit…

It's not a long-term solution but working from home might give you the opportunity to get work experience without worrying about having to fit in with other people.

Translation work can be done at home. They wouldn't see you so wouldn't even know what you looked like or how old (and or young) you looked.

If the course you need to do is at a college, it might help with confidence but if that's too daunting perhaps consider starting it part-time if that's possible. Take it at your own pace so it's nothing overwhelming.

Just remember you're doing something they need. They don't care what you look like as long as you're good at the job. Some clients might be young themselves and might feel more comfortable with someone of a similar age.