Networking Forum

First, I'd like to congratulate you, Tasha, on getting this far. As a totally blind retired clinical psychologist, I can still remember all the work it took to get through undergrad school; good for you! I think you have thought deeply about some good questions about what can you do to make yourself more marketable to a graduate school and I'm happy to hear you're considering a career in clinical psychology.

I went straight from undergrad to graduate school, but did a lot of volunteer work as an undergraduate which helped make me marketable to graduate schools. The volunteer work that went the best for me was telephone crisis work, where my blindness was somewhat of an asset. Part of my doctoral internship was at a state mental hospital's teen unit, so I can relate to your concerns about dealing with out of control kids. I never had a problem, partly because of my non-confrontational style, partly because the kids weren't all that sure what my Seeing Eye dog would do, and partly because I think those of us with disabilities sometimes aren't as threatening to folks with psych disabilities and may be thought of as more empathic.

To me, jobs or volunteer work with teens, adults and/or senior citizens would work better than trying to get a research assistant job which is largely clerical. Part of my thinking may be prejudice; sure I did a Master's thesis and a doctoral project and some research as a psychologist, but it was never my favorite thing in life.

You might be interested in knowing that there is a listserv of blind counselors you could join.

Best wishes.

Kathie

Katherine Schneider, Ph.D.
Senior Psychologist, Emerita
Counseling Service
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

i would suggest that you contact the major organizations that directly deal with the issues in which you are interested: psychology and/or blindness; i know that AFB (The American Foundation for the Blind), for example, offers assistantships and research opportunities -- and, as an agency with blind employees, they SHOULD be able to accomodate a blind researcher...

searching the web, i discovered that the Perkins School for the Blind, in association with the Conrad Hilton Foundation, offers a baccalaureate program in psychology -- while you obviously are near the end of your undergraduate work, the program (and possibly Perkins School for the Blind) might be able to point you in the direction of an appropriate assistantship or fellowship program... the information about the course (which is taught at Mount Saint Mary's College in Los Angeles) is located at:

http://www.msmc.la.edu/print/938.asp

the Perkins School for the Blind's web site is:
http://www.perkins.org/

AFB's site is located at:
http://www.afb.org/

i hope this helps...

Hi Tasha, you must apply for only jobs that you can handle. By applying for a driving position, it only sets you up for failure. My recommendation is to apply for positions that suit you and volunteer as much as you can in your field to build up your C.V. We as vendors for the Division of Blind Services, State of Florida focus on your ABILITIES, not your disability. Make a list of all you can do, not what you cannot do and then point yourself towards that goal.

Best of Luck.

Carl Hoffman, Chief Operating Officer
American Alliance for People with Disabilities
561-392-2022

Congratulations on receiving your degree! Might I suggest that unless duties of a position are truly "essential functions" of a job, you could offer "reasonable accommodations," as per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Perhaps a co-worker could handle the ancillary tasks you are unable to do because of your blindness. You are accountable for doing the main tasks of a given job still. Good luck and all the best!

My advice to Tasha is to work side by side with a volunteer reader aide. Tasha's aide would be a volunteer worker who also is looking for a job, a volunteer job. Tasha would have to inquire at the various Community Services organizations in her vicinity, as most of these organizations seem to have a Volunteer Services Department.

As someone who is legally blind, I have used volunteer readers and clerical aides on many occasions. Some of the volunteer candidates I interviewed informed me that they were looking specificly for a full time volunteer job, 35 hours a week. These were often energetic people from the baby boom generation, who had recently retired and wanted to stay active, without the heavy corporate workload they had had for the last 30 years. Believe me, there are many of such people who are looking to do something meaningful following a long corporate career.

Sometimes, the corporations themselves have a program for retirees where they provide opportunities for volunteer community work after retirement. Actually, I would begin by contacting the large corporations in Tasha's community to see if they have a Retiree Services Program. I am told that These corporations realize that their retired employees are still young in body, mind and spirit and therefore, want to have a different type of life, such as important volunteer work, while collecting a very good pension income.

If the corporate route does not appeal to Tasha, there is always the old stand by, which is near and dear to my heart. That would be The Lighthouse and other organizations which are always recruiting volunteers who have the skills and ability to provide quality volunteer services to those who are blind.

For Tasha to do the research and find her own volunteer reader aide, it will probably impress the prospective employer and save them the time of finding an aide for her. Tasha then comes across as prepared and resourceful.

Good Luck Tasha! Please let us know how it works out.

Tasha:

Consider counseling rather than psychology because as a counselor you can use your psychology and have the ability to rely on your intellectual skills rather than paperwork. I think that it would make sense not to put yourself in a position where restraining anyone is necessary. I personally love psychology but a PHD in psych is long road and counseling is good because it leverages psych with some true interaction with people.

Congratulations on your degree.

I like the volunteering suggestion. It might not hurt to get a job unrelated to clinical psychology just to get a feel for what the workplace is like (I worked two customer service jobs prior to getting my Masters).

I would suggest that you check with Brown's Career Services folks; I realize that sometimes these people are unprepared to deal with blind people, but they may have some ideas. Also, ask professor(s) with whom you have established good relationships for ideas or contacts.

Good luck.

I am in a similar situation as Tasha. I have my degree in Human Services and am going to pursue my Masters in Counciling Psychology. Jim or any one else, what is the subscription information of the list serve for blind councilors that Jim made reference to in his response?

Thanks.