Jobs that don’t require computer time

[patch45]

My girlfriend is a CS grad from a very good school, but due to a medical condition, can’t look at screens for very long at all. It’s unclear how long this will last.

Right now she is teaching fitness classes but not getting quite enough hours, and so she’s looking into other jobs. It’s surprisingly hard to think of jobs where you don’t spend hours in front of a computer. I was wondering if you all have any ideas?

If it’s helpful:
- She’s very sharp, especially when it comes to logic
- pretty outgoing, gets along with people
- she’s got some carpentry basics down but definitely not enough to get a job doing that right now
- bonus points if it’s a job usually done 10-3 (in between fitness classes)

Thanks!

[Louisville]

Trying to get some background here.
Why did she get a computer science degree if she's unable to look at a computer screen for very long. Did this condition start just recently?
Also, what qualifies her to teach fitness?

[Bracken_Joy]

Would "gig economy" type options work for her? Or does she need a job-job? I do dog sitting and dog walking on the side, and that's been pretty fun. Baby sitting also doesn't require screen time. Lots of manual labor options, and things like house cleaning, meal prep services, etc.

[patch45]

The root cause didn’t happen until after she graduated, she was fine on screens before that.

As for qualifications for teaching fitness, she has done it before and gone to some trainings for her current job.

The gig economy stuff definitely sounds promising! She’d prefer more of a job-job but given the right gig I’m sure she’d be interested

[Bracken_Joy]

The root cause didn’t happen until after she graduated, she was fine on screens before that.

As for qualifications for teaching fitness, she has done it before and gone to some trainings for her current job.

The gig economy stuff definitely sounds promising! She’d prefer more of a job-job but given the right gig I’m sure she’d be interested

Maybe have her look into something like rover or care.com. That way, the work comes to her, so it requires less screen time to advertise/manage her services. They take a higher cut of the pay, but for no time/energy/screen time for advertising, it could be a worthwhile trade off.

[Lanthiriel]

She could look into doing survey or materials testing technician work for engineering companies or contractors (though that work generally slows down over the winter depending on your location). There is some report writing that happens with that, but she might be able to request an accommodation to be able to turn in paper reports that then get typed by an admin (this happens for the guys at my work when they're super busy). These jobs are long days, though, and definitely not 10-3. If she needed those specific hours, she might look at working retail or package handling (especially since it's the holiday season and her condition might be temporary).

[AccidentialMustache]

Has she considered learning braille? I used to work with a guy who was legally blind and a software engineer. Super sharp, by the way. He had a braille "display" he'd read with his hands, then back to the keyboard to type it in, back to braille to read the result, etc. Just saying -- even being blind doesn't stop you from being a developer if that's what you want.

[datu925]

If she went to a good school and tests well, it doesn't take much to rebrand oneself as a tutor, especially for test prep. The money can be excellent. The downside is that you're typically looking at evenings and weekends since your target demographic is in school from 10-3. Though if you can get into the GMAT/GRE market as well, some clients might be available during the day.

[seattlecyclone]

Has she considered something like program management in the software industry? I imagine there would still be quite a bit of computer use involved, but maybe not quite to the same extent as being a developer because your job would involve more meetings and general coordination types of tasks.

[patch45]

All great ideas, thanks!

I think she is looking something with very minimal computer time, just so that she can reliably show up and not feel like garbage. But there's lots of ideas to go off of here so thank you all!

[ElleFiji]

Feel free to PM me. Depending on how people get, I may delete or edit this.

I became a yoga instructor, but not enough pay. Now I'm a massage therapist. In the private practice medical field a lot of jobs will apply. She can get accessibility exceptions to go back to school, and it will be hard and worsen her symptom control. And then she can set up practice in a clinic where reception does most of the computer stuff and she keeps paper charts. As her control improves, she might find herself able to spend more time on a computer.
Physiotherapy
Massage therapy
Occupational therapy
Psychology
Social work (private practice only)
Opening a retail business or restaurant with a business partner who can do the computers
Dentistry I'd worry about

Depending on.other circumstances, some of the trades will still be options

If she doesn't have them, antiglare screen films for all her electronics will drastically extend the time she can spend on them.

[undercover]

https://www.amazon.com/Dasung-Ink-Paperlike-13-3-Monitor/dp/B075FL8DKV

Not cheap, but that's likely irrelevant if it does the job.

[Bracken_Joy]

Depending on other circumstances, some of the trades will still be option.

If she doesn't have them, antiglare screen films for all her electronics will drastically extend the time she can spend on them.

+1 to anti glare. Also, there are various glasses (blue blockers) that are supposed to help ease screen tension headaches and the like, so I wonder if those would help?

I will say, I don't see a way nursing would be an option as a field. It requires a lot of charting, and even though *some* places still paper chart, they're usually much lower paying (long term care vs hospitals) and are all converting to EMRs in the near future. Plus, sooo much of the study tools and modules for nursing school now are computer based =( Just... figured I would weigh in on that aspect if she had considered it. I'm a nurse, and I spent a while after reading this thread trying to figure out how nursing could accommodate the screen limitation. 

[Melody]

Re train in a trade... if the condition is permanent she needs a long term solution.
Alternatively could she train as a high school teacher (in my country we can do a 1 year graduate certificate if we already have an undergraduate degree). You could certainly reduce (but not completely eliminate) computer work.
Alternatively being a good Barrista or Bartender can be a career job for some thought the hours are antisocial.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[TrMama]

If the issue is reading text on a screen, could she ask for an accommodation to use a text to speech app? The reverse may also be helpful for typing (aka speech to text), although many of these still require that you click on the screen to mark the start of where the text will go, and then proofreading afterwards to catch any errors.

These are usually marketed to dyslexics who aren't able to read/write as quickly as NT people.

[ElleFiji]

Depending on other circumstances, some of the trades will still be option.

If she doesn't have them, antiglare screen films for all her electronics will drastically extend the time she can spend on them.

+1 to anti glare. Also, there are various glasses (blue blockers) that are supposed to help ease screen tension headaches and the like, so I wonder if those would help?

I will say, I don't see a way nursing would be an option as a field. It requires a lot of charting, and even though *some* places still paper chart, they're usually much lower paying (long term care vs hospitals) and are all converting to EMRs in the near future. Plus, sooo much of the study tools and modules for nursing school now are computer based =( Just... figured I would weigh in on that aspect if she had considered it. I'm a nurse, and I spent a while after reading this thread trying to figure out how nursing could accommodate the screen limitation.

The only nursing that I could imagine (based on models I see here) is something like foot health and opening your own practice.

Having my own RMT practice (albeit at someone else's clinic) gives me the flexibility to not be as impacted by my disability as I otherwise would.

Also, thanks guys for reminding me that the reason I feel so shitty when I chart on the laptop is because I keep forgetting to buy my screen thingy.

A lot of careers can have accommodations built in if you're already there.. but getting in can be near impossible. It's also good to look at what control you'll have in the future (i.e., can they force computer work, or replace the lighting with lights that attempt murder). I really think self employment is the safest choice.

I also think that more and more of us will get sidelined by this if we don't work to protect ourselves and to raise awareness as possible.

IME, by eliminating screens for a while, I was able to bring them back recreationally, with precautions.

[scantee]

Direct social services would be a good option. Group homes for people with disabilities or severe mental illness are almost looking for people to cover shifts throughout the day and weekends. Pay isn't the best, but better than minimum wage. Very little computer work.

If this turns out to be a permanent issue, social work would be a good option but it might require additional schooling or credentialing. There is usually a bit of computer work, mostly entering cases notes, but the kinds of employers that need social workers (state, county, and local governments, social service organizations) are more likely to be accommodating of the kinds of needs she has.

On a side note, please encourage her to continue to work with her doctor to figure out why this is happening.  I had a similar problem to her a year or so ago where I suddenly could not look at computer screens for long and was getting daily headaches. I went to several doctors and was mostly brushed off as being unreasonable. After many months of that, I figured out the issue was that my eye doctor had given me a contacts prescription that was ever so slightly wrong. Once that was fixed I was back to normal. Sometimes doctors can be very dismissive of young women's health concerns so I would hate if she felt like this was something she just needed to deal with.

 

[Louisville]

She might try angling for a management position at the gym where she teaches. Or some other gym. There's always lots of turnover.

[garion]

Freelance personal training may be an option. I know a personal trainer who does quite well and has a good amount of work during the day.

[Miss Tash]

Interpreter for the hearing impaired.  She'd obviously have to do some training but it's mostly a visual field.  Lots of interpreters work contract on law cases or in medical situations so they set their own hours and fees. 

[Travis]

Depending on other circumstances, some of the trades will still be option.

If she doesn't have them, antiglare screen films for all her electronics will drastically extend the time she can spend on them.

+1 to anti glare. Also, there are various glasses (blue blockers) that are supposed to help ease screen tension headaches and the like, so I wonder if those would help?

I don't know of their brand name, but one of my coworkers wears a pair of non-prescription amber-colored glasses just for working on his computer.  I don't know if that will help her depending on the source of her condition, but it might be worth a shot and they're not very expensive.

[MrsPete]

I suggest a visit to an Occupational Therapist.  Those people specialize in helping people with disabilities adjust so they can follow their career paths. 

Someone suggested teaching high school.  Being a high school teacher, I don't recommend this.  Yes, I stand in front of class and lecture quite frequently, but I probably average two hours a day on the computer:  Attendance, Discipline referrals and Special Ed modifications are all on computer.  Most of my students' work is submitted online, so I grade almost everything online.  And we are moving more and more towards on-line learning, which means I'm spending more and more time converting my old lessons into online work -- I really suspect that in another decade most high school students will do most of their school work at home.  I think teaching high school would just be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.