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April 29, 2008
Tell Others What Has Worked for You in Getting Things Done
As a person with low vision, what are your favorite tips or solutions for getting things done at school, on the computer, during your job search or at work?
Posted by Lori A. Lofstrom at 01:24 PM | Comments (5)
April 25, 2008
Working to Return to Work
Today we welcome Michelle Clark, guest facilitator. JRH
Vision loss as a working professional comes differently. As in my situation, it came after putting in 25 years of work. Although I had sufficient time and title to retire, I simply believe, "I am too young not to be working."
After floundering several years with diagnosis and rehabilitation, I believe I am now on a track in which the destination point is marked "Return to Employment".
Here is the path I found that is working for me:
- Determine if you really want to return to work. Full, part time or other variations may fulfill your needs.
- Obtain a small portable tape recorder and use it until better skills emerge.
- Join and become active in area and national blindness disability organizations.
- Volunteer your services in some manner when possible.
- Contact city and state rehabilitation departments to assist with needs assessments, training, and adaptive equipment.
- Seek to learn at least uncontracted Braille reading and writing. This will help with taking short notes, managing labeling of items and food.
- Reach out to community activities who service blind and visually impaired persons. Local libraries can be good resources.
- Some manner of rehabilitation is a must if one wants to return to an office situation or do work such as on a computer and take notes. Mobility is also encouraged as to maintain independence in work life.
- In all, as skills are being acquired, it is good to maintain a schedule similar to that of the type of job one is looking toward.
- Maintaining daily practice regiments will help speed the journey and sharpen skills as time progresses.
- NETWORK. NETWORK. NETWORK.
After acquiring your visual impairment, what steps worked best for you in your efforts in preparing to return to work?
Posted by Michelle Clark at 05:44 PM | Comments (3)
April 23, 2008
Do I Still Need to Be Better Than Everyone Else?
Two eSight members, long experienced in the mainstream work world, brought up an interesting issue two weeks ago on this forum.
Darrell writes:
“I'd put myself up against any similarly qualified
sighted person in my field any time and I'm quite
sure that, most of the time, I'd come up on top.
“I work on a small team of three associates who work
on our company's knowledge base. On a regular basis,
I produce three or four times more work than the
other two associates, and the quality of the work I
produce is objectively considered far superior.
“So, hmm, let's see. Blind guy utilizes reasonable
accommodations to produce more work at a higher
quality than his sighted peers. Doesn't that seem to
be a win-win for everyone?
“I'd put *any* competent, qualified blind person who knows her stuff up against a similar sighted guy or gal anytime. Bring it on!”
Lori, on the other hand, simply asks:
“Why do we always have to be better than everyone
else?”
At some moments, I feel like we’re living in an age in
which lack of competency, even in the legal, medical
and accounting fields, can be unchallenged, rewarded
and even expected.
A judge gets elected to my state supreme court
despite apparent violations of her code of ethics.
My CPA makes a mistake on my tax return, leading to a federal tax audit.
My physician, apparently stressed and with a frown
on his forehead, hurries superficially through my
annual physical exam after announcing he’s behind
schedule in meeting his morning appointments.
I grew up with cerebral palsy in the 60s, and, like
Darrell and Lori, I’ve worked hard to develop skills and
do superior work on the job, thinking I had to be “better than next person” to obtain, keep and justify my job. I had to “do better” to compensate for my disability.
Maybe we’re now in a different paradigm. Maybe
society’s expectations have changed, and maybe those
of us with disabilities have further matured in our
perceptions of what it takes to succeed in today’s job
market.
So, please give me your reaction to this question:
Why do we always have to be better
than everyone else?
Posted by Jim Hasse at 01:35 PM | Comments (15)
Sheltered?
A first glance, shelter workshops seem to be a positive solution to combat the staggering unemployment rate among working age people who are blind. For many years, the sheltered workshop has been the only alternative to staying at home for many people who are blind. Moreover, many people who are blind like sheltered workshops because of their security, safe or risk-free environment in which to work, earn a livelihood, develop friendships and sometimes even the chance to obtain other help such as transportation and health care.
That being said, with the explosive advancement in adaptive technology, which has vastly leveled the playingfield for people who are blind, the question to be asked is are sheltered workshops still necessary? Shelter workshops often do not promote skills that are transferable to the general workplace and often become the community expert on what kinds of jobs people who are blind can do and how best to train them.
What is your opinion regarding sheltered workshops? Do sheltered workshops do more harm than good?
Posted by J at 12:13 PM | Comments (2)
April 16, 2008
What Career Tips Would You Give Joe?
Today's eSight Case Study focuses on Joe in New Jersey. He's been a pediatric dentist for the last 45 years, but he's now gradually losing his sight.
He recently gave up his private practice because he felt he could no longer perform his job responsibilities at a level he has had always maintained.
Joe is considering his career options. He knows how to set up a small business; was a member of a dental school faculty for 15 years; edited a monthly dental publication; has many articles published in dental literature; and has had experience in meeting the dental needs of children with disabilities.
He has a genuine desire to help other people.
He enjoyed being a dental consultant and staff motivator. And he's been a public speaker in dental associations.
But, Joe is frustrated with the time it's taking him to learn how to use adaptive technology as he searches for the next step in his career.
Posted by Jim Hasse at 12:09 PM | Comments (16)
April 15, 2008
Change agent: a real challenge
By either design or temperament, it is possible to find oneself acting as a change agent or contrarian in a job. More often than not, rather than seasoned and well respected employees, new employees are in these change agent situations. That was common in the US Forest Service of the late 70’s and 80’s. Many minorities and women entered employment with the agency as professionals that were outside the main mission of the outfit i.e., employees concerned about protection of wildlife and soil, rather than just timber volume. I was part of that wave of hiring. Some organizations hire people with disabilities in the same way.
This tendency to bring in new people and expect them to foster change goes against the best management advice. Double Dubs, the anonymous author of the blog, Systematic HR states, "For change to really work, your core team must be filled with influential employees that others will naturally follow. This is harder than it sounds – rather than selecting people in leadership positions, your change team should be made up of people who are leaders."
Surviving and thriving, as a change agent with inadequate support, is an uphill battle. The point here is that often, very often, we find ourselves in a position where the deck seems to be stacked against us. We thought we were hired to do a job that involves change or questioning the status quo, yet there is no support for the change at the level of our job. We are rolling the proverbial boulder up the hill.
I have been in these situations several times in my career. In two of those situations, I gradually built solid programs that were respected by my peers, if not by management. In my most recent position I found a way to use my greatest talent – finding and digesting information, to make myself useful to those interested in listening – my fellow change agents in offices around the state. On the other hand, these positions involved a great deal of emotional stress and frustration.
How did you both foster change and build a constructive work history?
Posted by FST at 05:43 PM | Comments (9)
April 01, 2008
Will Technology Accessibility Issues be the Make or Break Factor for Your Current or Next Job?
As an accessibility evangelist, a major overall goal of mine is to ensure that technology is made reasonably accessible to us so that we may be afforded equal opportunities to participate in education and employment alongside our sighted peers. While I have found improving social attitudes regarding blindness in the human resources process, it has become crystal clear that a new barrier is threatening our ability to claim our qualifications for continued or new employment.
In February 2006, I learned that the customer support project on which I worked would be switching to an inaccessible Siebel CRM implementation. Though the problems could have been fixed by spending approximately an hour of developer time in order to make a "standard mode" implementation available for me, without affecting other employees, the client ignored all requests to do so and my employer was not in a position to compel action by the client due to the outsourcing arrangements in place. I was to have been laid off in two weeks. Obviously, I did not find this eventuality to be something I was just going to lie down and quietly accept without a fight, if necessary.
Time went by while all of us investigated other possibilities for my continued employment on another project and I began the job search process once again. At the same time, I also began a relatively quiet process of advocacy utilizing the contacts I had established directly with the client as a result of the high quality of service I provided their customers. The client in question has thus far done absolutely nothing to address the accessibility of its products, while conducting tens of millions of dollars worth of business with the United States Federal Government. It ultimately took me writing a professional yet rather strongly worded letter to a person in the company's senior management team, making references to obligations under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the accompanying potential loss of government business in order to turn my situation around in a dramatic fashion. Two days later, I learned that I would be reassigned to their knowledge base team, where I continue to succeed today as the employee creating both the highest quality and quantity of new content. Two years later, I continue to enjoy gainful employment I would have certainly lost had I not chosen to advocate.
A close friend is experiencing a similar issue. He is a totally blind database developer for a major state university. The entire development environment is about to be switched to an Oracle PeopleSoft implementation that is known to be inaccessible with all currently available screen reading solutions. He has a wife and two children. Unfortunately, he does not quite seem to view advocacy in the same light as do I. Instead, he appears to be looking into a couple of other possibilities outside the university without taking a more proactive stance.
As I evangelize accessibility through the Blind Access Journal, I hear from others who are dealing with similar barriers they feel are holding back the advancement of their careers. In all such cases, advocacy is always highly encouraged. If you find yourself in a position where you believe you may lose your job over an accessibility issue outside your control, consider taking one or more of the following steps:
- Ask the company's information technology (IT) department or other appropriate staff to provide as much detail as possible about the new "inaccessible" hardware or software. Relevant details include manufacturers, model numbers, operating systems, versions, etc. Sometimes, that which appears to be inaccessible might turn out to work with a form of assistive technology about which you may not yet be aware.
- If the issue persists or the worst has happened, contact your friends and colleagues in the blind community for additional assistance.
- Communicate with your supervisor and others in management as appropriate, letting them know that you do not feel it is acceptable to suffer the consequence of job loss due to a factor completely outside your control. Follow up all verbal communication with written correspondence. Save copies of all relevant e-mail.
- Escalate your concerns to higher levels of management when you feel you are being ignored or the relevant parties are failing to take you seriously. Don't be afraid to directly ask for written follow up to all communication.
- If the work environment can't be made directly accessible, open your mind to the possibility of reassignment to another job in the company where the barriers are eliminated or sufficiently reduced to make it possible for you to execute the duties. Consider job swapping some tasks with another co-worker. Job swapping and reassignment are classified as "reasonable accomodations" under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other similar legislation around the world.
We must all ask ourselves one critical question: Is it acceptable for blind and visually impaired people to lose their jobs due to a circumstance completely beyond their control? Should someone lose their health insurance and their house over a piece of technology that can't be made to function with a screen reader? Let's all make sure we're doing our best with self-advocacy, so that we do not accept a situation that places us at an undue disadvantage or financial hardship through no fault of our own due to an accessibility barrier that may be eliminated or otherwise reasonably accomodated to meet the needs of all concerned.
Review the following short list of organizations and other online resources you may find helpful should you encounter a job related technology access challenge:
- American Council of the Blind
- Blind Access Journal
- Blind Community E-mail Discussion Lists
- Job Accomodation Network
- National Federation of the Blind
- Tenacity, Inc. - Accessible Digital PBX and Telephone Systems
Have you experienced a job loss over an accessibility issue or saved your job from such a demise? We would love to hear from you! Please consider adding your testimonials as a comment to this article, or feel free to e-mail me directly at editor@blindaccessjournal.com for additional assistance and information.
Posted by Darrell Shandrow at 11:57 PM | Comments (17)
Discover the Attributes Which Make You Exceptional
There is a 2000-year-old maxim that says, "A good reputation is more valuable than money."
In today’s highly competitive world, in which personal branding is becoming a common career-building strategy, that maxim is surprisingly still on target.
It’s especially true for individuals with disabilities -- as two eSight members recently pointed out on the eSight Networking Forum.
Ameenah Lippold wrote:
"I have worked for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) since 2005 as an IT Specialist, and my work is not disability related in any way, shape or form. I work in an acquisition program, which is replacing legacy command and control systems. As such, we are changing how the DoD does software development and associated processes.
"My job requires me to coordinate interaction among organizational entities and negotiate agreements between said organizations with respect to IT. I am the project lead for standing up a virtual help desk for the soldier/warfighter. As such, this has taken me into the field of Knowledge Management.
"On top of all of that, I am part of a three-year program that trains new government employees for leadership and management positions.
"I would say that I have taken the general attributes and the skills which I have learned associated with being totally blind and apply them to my job: problem solving, advocacy and negotiating.
"Before coming to DISA, I worked at the NFB Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, and that was my first full-time job. While there, I began developing my skills, but I always knew that I wouldn't be working there forever.
"Granted, I can appreciate the fact that I didn't have to deal with colleagues questioning my abilities or thinking that I was amazing because I was blind. Even so, I made a conscious decision to get out of blindness related jobs. Up until DISA, I had always worked in the field of blindness (specifically, access technology).
"I think that it would be imprudent of one to consider their disability as being irrelevant when searching for a job. During my interview for DISA, one of the first things I did was talk about my blindness and how I would perform job tasks at DISA such as e-mail, PowerPoint, and word processing.
"I talked about how I would travel (my current job requires travel to conferences and field sites around the world), and explained that I am capable of independent travel. Over the course of three years, I have had two different supervisors, and each boss has given me positive performance appraisals.
"My supervisor gives me assignments which fellow teammates are unable to complete. I have been recognized for the quality of my work via cash awards.
"In short, it is possible for a disabled person to compete in nondisability-related fields. However, it requires a lot of patience, motivation, and confidence on the part of the individual. Everyday, people will question your ability -- that comes with the territory -- but one must learn to handle these situations with diplomacy."
Barney Mayse, a second eSight member, wrote:
"Tell me what you think I cannot do and watch how I do it. I am not here to inspire but rather to educate myself on how far I can go. I am here to make a contribution with my unique gifts in the way that I am able.
"I am able to do many things but finding the environment which will allow me to make that contribution is a process. If the world understood, none of this would be necessary. So we have an opportunity to educate the world and tell the stories of success, accomplishment and marvels.
"People with disabilities need to stand up and speak out. Life is a challenge for each person -- whether they have a disability or not. Are you competent, confident and skilled in your area of employment? If so, get in the game and do what you do."
Those are two interesting comments. Notice how their individual attributes pop out at you.
Through your actions, you, too, can follow in the footsteps of Ameenah and Barney and develop a reputation for being forthright, attentive, patient, motivated, confident, diplomatic, persistent, flexible and adaptable as well as a problem solver, an effective advocate, an adroit negotiator and a show-and-tell educator.
These are all attributes and skills which you’ve probably worked for years to develop but which also grew from your personal experiences of learning to live well with a disability.
Take this opportunity to tell your brief story. In doing so, you may discover attributes about yourself that you didn’t know you had -- attributes which make you an exceptional job candidate and which you can highlight as you search for the job that’s right for you.
You’ll also be gaining a valuable online presence you can always link to -- and tell prospective employers what you’re all about.
Please answer this question:
What qualities have you developed through living with a disability that a prospective employer might find helpful?
Posted by Jim Hasse at 12:20 PM | Comments (3)