full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Sarah Donnelly: How work kept me going during my cancer treatment

Unscramble the Blue Letters


These employers want you to go away and focus on yourself. And come back when you're better. And they use those kinds of phrases. And while these responses are well-meaning, knowing the bfteeins it brought me, it makes me incredibly frustrated when people are told that they couldn’t or shouldn't work, when it's something that they want to do and physically can do.

So I started to look into what an employer is required to do when someone presents with a cancer diagnosis. I deeisocvrd that under Australian law, cneacr is considered a disability. So if you are unable to perform your usual work duties, your eyoeplmr is oigtelbad by the Disability Discrimination Act to make reasonable adjustments to your working atrnrgamenes, so that you can continue to work. What would reasonable amduettsnjs look like for me? I knew the obvious impacts my diagnosis was going to have on work. Medical appointments would be scheduled during business horus, and I knew that I would need time off to recover from surgical procedures. Again, being a typical lawyer, I had done my due diligence on what to expect from treatment. Admittedly, a lot of that was through Doctor Google, perhaps not my best move and I wouldn't ronemmced that.

Open Cloze


These employers want you to go away and focus on yourself. And come back when you're better. And they use those kinds of phrases. And while these responses are well-meaning, knowing the ________ it brought me, it makes me incredibly frustrated when people are told that they couldn’t or shouldn't work, when it's something that they want to do and physically can do.

So I started to look into what an employer is required to do when someone presents with a cancer diagnosis. I __________ that under Australian law, ______ is considered a disability. So if you are unable to perform your usual work duties, your ________ is _________ by the Disability Discrimination Act to make reasonable adjustments to your working ____________, so that you can continue to work. What would reasonable ___________ look like for me? I knew the obvious impacts my diagnosis was going to have on work. Medical appointments would be scheduled during business _____, and I knew that I would need time off to recover from surgical procedures. Again, being a typical lawyer, I had done my due diligence on what to expect from treatment. Admittedly, a lot of that was through Doctor Google, perhaps not my best move and I wouldn't _________ that.

Solution


  1. hours
  2. arrangements
  3. cancer
  4. discovered
  5. benefits
  6. adjustments
  7. employer
  8. obligated
  9. recommend

Original Text


These employers want you to go away and focus on yourself. And come back when you're better. And they use those kinds of phrases. And while these responses are well-meaning, knowing the benefits it brought me, it makes me incredibly frustrated when people are told that they couldn’t or shouldn't work, when it's something that they want to do and physically can do.

So I started to look into what an employer is required to do when someone presents with a cancer diagnosis. I discovered that under Australian law, cancer is considered a disability. So if you are unable to perform your usual work duties, your employer is obligated by the Disability Discrimination Act to make reasonable adjustments to your working arrangements, so that you can continue to work. What would reasonable adjustments look like for me? I knew the obvious impacts my diagnosis was going to have on work. Medical appointments would be scheduled during business hours, and I knew that I would need time off to recover from surgical procedures. Again, being a typical lawyer, I had done my due diligence on what to expect from treatment. Admittedly, a lot of that was through Doctor Google, perhaps not my best move and I wouldn't recommend that.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
reasonable adjustments 7
breast cancer 2
huge role 2
chemo brain 2
common sense 2


Important Words


  1. act
  2. adjustments
  3. admittedly
  4. appointments
  5. arrangements
  6. australian
  7. benefits
  8. brought
  9. business
  10. cancer
  11. considered
  12. continue
  13. diagnosis
  14. diligence
  15. disability
  16. discovered
  17. discrimination
  18. doctor
  19. due
  20. duties
  21. employer
  22. employers
  23. expect
  24. focus
  25. frustrated
  26. google
  27. hours
  28. impacts
  29. incredibly
  30. kinds
  31. knew
  32. knowing
  33. law
  34. lawyer
  35. lot
  36. medical
  37. move
  38. obligated
  39. obvious
  40. people
  41. perform
  42. phrases
  43. physically
  44. presents
  45. procedures
  46. reasonable
  47. recommend
  48. recover
  49. required
  50. responses
  51. scheduled
  52. started
  53. surgical
  54. time
  55. told
  56. treatment
  57. typical
  58. unable
  59. usual
  60. work
  61. working