Spotlight on members of our community living with neuromuscular conditions: Annette Marie Murphy

 As part of our members’ stories series, Annette Marie Murphy is delighted to share her story about her career.

Annette Marie Murphy

Type of neuromuscular condition: Becker/carrier muscular dystrophy 

What is your career?

I’ve been self-employed as a part-time language tutor since 2011.

What led you to this career?

In 2009 I was made redundant my full-time time job with a financial services company in Shannon, Co. Clare after eight years and eight months due to the downturn in the world economy. I then went to the University of Limerick to study full-time for a BA (Hons) Degree in Languages (German and Irish), Literature and Film.

Where there any challenges in your career and, if so, how did you overcome them?

Steps in some student or clients’ residences. I invited them to take lessons at my accessible conservatory at my home instead and the majority of them did do just that, but some didn’t, and my husband had to lift my rollator up a few steps for me. Some parents of students sadly assumed I didn't have a degree due to my muscular dystrophy and those particular ones didn't work out beyond one lesson or they cancelled the next lesson or didn't turn up.

What aspects of your career do you enjoy?
As I enjoy most things about my career in language tutoring, it is very difficult to pick out the most enjoyable part. However, I would say that I enjoy best teaching about the culture of the countries in which the language is spoken in the  vernacular, or as the native language. For example, German is the language or one of the languages spoken as an official language in German, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Liechtenstein.

What advice would you give to a child or young person living with a neuromuscular condition to achieve their career goals? 

Never give up on your dream.

If you’d like to share your story, please contact us here.