Teresa Garratty: How to be a Deaf freelancer

Whenever I meet a knew fellow deafie, there’s usually a standard Q&A session that involves things like; “Are you profoundly deaf? Were you deaf from birth? Are your family deaf?” Etc. It’s basically the entire backstory to who you are as a deaf person and it’s standard procedure to share this when meeting new people in the deaf world.

Once the life story is out the way, the conversation usually hits the “So what do you DO?” mark at some point and more often than not I discover that I’m talking to a fellow deaf freelancer.

Sometimes it’s writers, photographers, builders, gardeners or even accountants but the common theme is that at some point, these people decided to go rogue.

I say “decided” but I can’t help but feel that the surge of deaf freelancers is actually the result of something a bit more sinister…

I find that a lot of people have career stories similar to mine and that the reason they turned to freelancing is simply because it’s SO hard to find employment anywhere else!

You might have the degree, the work experience placements, the volunteer projects but more often than not, deaf people struggle to find secure employment and end up in the wonderful world of freelance (sarcasm heavily intended).

I hate to break it to you, but it’s not all “lie ins” and “half days”. It can get really tough, which seems a little unfair as most of us deafies are somewhat forced to take this route. To ease the pain, I’m going to share some insightful* tips that I’ve learned so far along the way.

(*could mean garbage)

• Be prepared to do A LOT of admin. Since your doing everything that means…well…that you have to do everything! So, while you might be living the dream as a fire juggler/deep sea diver/gun for hire, you still have to do all the boring things too. Things like keeping accounts, paying taxes, organising a pension etc.

• On the plus side, you can be as flexible as you want! Start when you want and clock off when you want. Work during the week or work on weekends? It’s up to you! Taking a holiday? Pick any date in the year, you are in control! This doesn’t mean that you can slack off though and you might find that you’re willing to work a bit harder than you would in a standard 9-5 job just to keep that roof over your head.

• If the type of freelancing you do means you work from home, you can get either very comfortable in your own skin or incredibly lonely. There’s no one to chat to at the water cooler about potential Black Mirror-esque dystopian universes but then again you don’t have to deal with commuters or listen to Susan from HR’s next big team building idea.

I think for the sake of your freelancing sanity, it’s good to keep a balance. Try to leave the house at least once a day and interact with at least one other human.

• Lastly, and I feel, most importantly you really need to nurture your self motivation skills. After all, everything is now down to you. If you don’t find the work, you don’t get paid. Sure, there will be unavoidable quiet times but even then, try to keep doing work related tasks. It can be anything from learning a new business related skill to tidying up your home office. There are lots of articles online about keeping motivated if you get stuck. The web is your oyster!

If you’re a fellow deaf freelancer and have any tips/anecdotes you’d like to share, feel free to drop a comment below. Anything to keep the freelance ball rolling!

Read more of Teresa’s posts (with cartoons!) by clicking here.

Teresa is a freelance film maker, photographer and full time cynic. At school, she was voted “Most likely to end up in a lunatic asylum”, a fate which has thus far been avoided. Her pet hates are telephones, intercoms and all living things. Follow her on Twitter as @TGarratty