"They have WHAT?"
"I don't know, necrophilia or something. She says she's tired all the time and has to sleep a lot."
"Do you mean narcolepsy?? As opposed to someone who has a fetish for dead people?"
"..... yeah I'd say the first one."
Easy mistake to make.
Meanwhile, I've been on the job circuit again. Deciding to leave vet nursing to go back to music teaching was the right thing to do, but I've now been over 2 months without any work and I'm going a little bit mental, as well as starting to be nervous about teaching again. Ever since a bad experience at a school when I was fresh out of uni, starting teaching at a new school now always incites a mild anxiety response - am I really a bad teacher in denial, are the kids going to be awful to me, am I going to cope?? I find this part is harder than the actual teaching part... waiting and waiting.
It's been a long time since I applied for teaching work and it's caused me a bit of consternation regarding what and when I should tell people about the narcolepsy. My fear is that if I mention it casually, or have to disclose it on a health form, people will see it and immediately think that I will be a teacher falling asleep randomly in the classroom, thus not hire me. It's one of the unfortunate sides of having a disorder that is not well researched or known about, except when being depicted in movies, usually the extreme case, usually for comic effect. I have no problem whatsoever with discussing it with an employer, like a principal or head teacher, as long as I can explain it and have them understand that it is medically supervised, under drug control and I won't just suddenly collapse on the floor.
Thus far the 'medical disclosure' side of things has only deterred me from applying for one job. It was part time work, so ideal for me, but the application was 8 pages long, demanded a reference from my minister and details about my religious commitments and values, as well as a description of the current state of my health. I don't feel comfortable boxing my religious beliefs into a paragraph at the best of times, but to reveal details of my health even before getting to interview?? No thanks.
As it is, I made it to interview for a job that would be absolutely perfect for me - part time work, plus co-curricular stuff (bands, musicals etc). I'll be hearing about it this coming week... if I get it, it'll mean a lot of changes need to be made, but I think it'll be worth it. Hanging on a thread here!!!