I am more than my speech disorder

Max van Dongen (33) recently started working three days a week as a photographer at TU Delft. As far as he is concerned, he would have had a permanent job much earlier. He graduated from the St Joost School of Art and Design in Breda and applied for many years. Nowhere was he hired because he has a language development disorder. “It was very frustrating. I am smart and a good photographer. People sometimes just have to struggle to understand me and I can’t make phone calls, but there are plenty of other options for that.”

Max’s speech disorder is a disorder of his nervous system, which is congenital. He attended special primary school, but then progressed to a mainstream secondary school. “I had an itinerant tutor who explained to my teachers how to communicate with me. That went fine.”

After high school, Max left for South Africa for a year to do volunteer work. “I cared for penguins and started photographing there. When I returned home, several people said my photos were beautiful and that I should do something with them. I then threw myself into photography for a year and then got accepted at St Joost School of Art and Design.

Freelancing was not enough

After his studies, Max started freelancing, but it was ultimately not enough to live on. “I couldn’t express myself well enough to win assignments. I wanted a permanent job, but was not hired anywhere.” Eventually, Max ended up on welfare and got in touch with Werkse! He had several counsellors, but two of them he would like to explicitly thank. “Counsellor Corine helped me very well and account manager Jason also worked hard with my job applications. In the end, I applied for a jobs agreement indication from the UWV. That is a declaration for people with a disability who cannot manage to earn the minimum wage.” With the declaration, Max’s details entered a target group register, where companies can hire employees with disabilities. In the end, he had the choice of working at Rijkswaterstaat, or at TU Delft.

A warm welcome to TU

“Choosing TU was an easy decision. I live next to the university and it seemed much more fun to work for a university than for the government.” He has now been working for TU for over a month and is very happy. “I had to get used to working in such a huge organisation. I was not used to that as a freelancer, but I have been received very warmly and already feel completely at home. I work two days for the visual communication department and one day for WIJStad, a programme that wants to connect the TU with the city. I have already had the opportunity to photograph some great events there. That’s what I enjoy doing the most.”

There are also less fun jobs. “For example, I have to photograph all the university’s departments inside and out. Not a difficult job in itself, but time-consuming and complicated. If I just go in somewhere, there is a big chance I will be turned away. So I have to get to know everyone first and tell them who I am and what I have come to do. I also have a press card and special company clothes, so everyone knows I belong and take photos for TU. While it is good to get to know the organisation this way, it is also a hassle. Just do me a fun event.”

More than a speech impediment

Max hopes he gets to shoot a lot more for TU. “I don’t know yet how many hours here I will eventually be able to continue working with the jobs agreement indication, but at least I got the chance to show that I am more than someone with a speech disorder.” This is also his biggest tip to other companies: “A disability does not mean that someone is stupid, or cannot work. Give people a chance to try and then draw your conclusions.”