Much has been written about the Sandwich Generation — that population of 24 million caregivers who are squeezed between caring for children while simultaneously caring for an older parent. According to a 2013 Pew Research study, 47 percent of people in their 40s and 50s fall into the Sandwich Generation category and one in seven of these adults are providing financial assistance to college-age children and older parents.

It was never tough for me to get a job when I was sighted. Even when I got laid-off from a start-up after the Dot Com bust, I was hired as a bartender, with no experience, at the first club I walked into with my pink slip. As a college student, I worked at a payroll advance company, customer service rep for equestrian products, and even at a pet shop — jobs I had never done before, but somehow managed to convince the decision makers to hire me during a recession.

Writing and my disability have been intertwined for most of my life. My speech disability and the spastic movements of my body often make oral communication difficult, and take away almost all of my opportunities to impress the listener in professional situations. Yet, as a writer, I am confident in my ability to put forward a powerful message and have relied on it in my efforts to carve out a career. Approaching two decades worth of experience in using my writing ability to find my place in the world, I believe more than ever that the relationship between writing and disability is one that can be powerful for the disability community on a large scale.