1 cm - Ep. 2: Being self-employed (in simple language)

This article is written in simple language so that even more people can understand our work.

The topic is: Being your own boss.

Here we get to know two people.

Their names are Michèle Vallenthini* and Joël Schmit.

They work independently.

In other words, they are their own bosses.

In the text, they talk about their work and their lives.

Other experts also have their say.

What is this text about?

Many people with disabilities have problems at work. It is sometimes easier for independent people.

This is because they can better adapt their work to their needs.

In this text you will get to know 2 self-employed people:

• Michèle Vallentini
• Joël Schmit

They talk about their challenges.

And they talk about their opportunities.

They want to make other people aware of the issue.

The difficult word for this is: sensitise.

Michèle Vallenthini: Living and working with lupus

Michèle is 40 years old. She has her own digital marketing company.

The company is called WildSolutions.

Michèle has a disease.

The disease is called lupus.

It is an auto-immune disease.

It means that your own body attacks itself.

The disease can be very different.

Michèle often has these problems:

• She is very tired. The difficult word for this is fatigue.
• She has pain. In her joints, for example.
• Sometimes she can't think well. The difficult word for this is: brain fog.

Michèle has to adapt her life to the illness.

She has to check how she's doing every morning.

Sometimes she can do a lot of work straight away.

Sometimes she has to do it slowly.

And sometimes nothing works at all.

She has learnt to listen to her body.

Why is Michèle self-employed?

Michèle used to work a lot.

She always wanted to do everything right.

But the stress made her illness worse.

That's why she can no longer work as much as she used to.

As a self-employed person, she can organise her work flexibly.

She now has 2 employees. The employees help her.

When she is unwell, her employees do the work.

Joël Schmit: An app for people with autism and ADHD

Joël is 35 years old.

Joël was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.

This means that his brain cannot filter anything.

All sounds, lights and smells reach him.

His brain has to process everything.

That takes a lot of energy.

That's why he gets tired quickly.

He often seems annoyed.

But he doesn't mean it that way.

It's difficult for other people to understand.

That's why he has developed his own app.

The app helps people with autism and ADHD in everyday life.

As an adult, he realised that he also has autism.

Autism and ADHD have similar symptoms.

That's why it's sometimes difficult to recognise both.

Why has Joël developed an app?

Joël looked for help for his everyday life himself.

But he couldn't find anything that suited him.

So he decided with a friend:

We'll make a solution ourselves.

That's how they got the idea for AutiHD. This is their app.

It has, for example:

• A calendar to plan your time.
• A chat with artificial intelligence (AI).

The AI helps with difficult situations.

You can talk to the AI about your feelings.

The app takes care of stress.

Joël also helps other companies.

He advises companies on the topic of inclusion.

Inclusion means:

All people can be present everywhere.

Joël helps companies to create a better working world.

For example, he organises workshops for managers and employees.

In them, he explains what autism and ADHD mean.

In this way, people learn to understand each other better.

Help for people with disabilities at work

There is help for people with disabilities.

One form of help is the status of disabled employee.

The difficult word for this is: Statut du Salarié Handicapé.

What is this status?

• It is proof of a disability.
• It is intended to compensate for disadvantages at work.
• You can obtain the status from the ADEM labour agency.

What are the advantages of the status?

For the employee:

• He is entitled to 6 days more holiday per year.

For the employer:

• He can receive money from the state.
• For example, if the person can work less because of the disability.
• He can receive money for adapting the workplace.

For example, for a special chair or computer.

Should you tell your boss about your status?

Yes, experts advise this.

If the boss knows, he can help.

They can cater to the person's needs.

What can we learn?

Tips from Michèle:

• Health is very important. You shouldn't think that being healthy is normal.
• As a self-employed person, you have to protect yourself well.
• You shouldn't give up on your dreams. Even when you're ill.
• Sometimes you have bad days. That's okay. Because it always goes on.

Tips from Joël:

• Teams are best when they are mixed. So people with and without disabilities together.
• Everyone has different strengths.
• You can complement each other well.
• People with autism often pay a lot of attention to detail.
• People with ADHD are often very creative.

Companies should create an environment in which everyone can work well.

That's good for everyone.

*Michèle Vallenthini is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lëtzebuerger Journal