Swimming in the Mainstream

Well I'm still at a disadvantage when it comes to transporatation, locally I'm fine, I can walk or take cabs, but as in Cindy's case I live in a small town and the opportuanites aren't always there. I can't leave town as there's only one bus and it leaves at six am comes home at 8 pm and most jobs I'd want do not fit that schedule.
Nor do I have friends who can drive me any longer , especially with the costs of gas.

But as to Cindy's problem are there not online agencies who might take her esp with medical transcription skills? I know I have a sighted friend who does online transcription and she's working with docs all over north america. That might be one option to try.

It's sad but true that most blind and vi people have to find their own work, rehab agencies try but don't always succeed or just can provide limited contract work. Working online you can set the hours you work I believe . If I was Cindy I'd try that one out.

I am LD because the visual processing part of my brain is slow and weak. For 20 years of my adult life I worked blue collar physical labor jobs that paid low to midland wages. By the time I reached my mid thirties, my back could no longer tolorate the lifting, so I went to collage (with accommodation), did very well, and I have a BA in History and a minor in technical writing. Now I am looking for a white collar job, but the problem is that I am essentially a proverbial "square peg trying to fit into a round hole." Many employers comment about my impressive resume, but they are not sure how to utilize my knowledge, skills, and telents.

Although I have been totally blind for the last 14 years and could not continue with my former employment as a University teacher in Systems Analysis and Design, I did have a very satisfying career in the UK as firstly an Employment Rights Representative taking cases for people with employment disputes to Tribunal and latterly as a trainer/consultant and manager/director in an employment rights organization and a large mediation non-profit.

I never did feel at a disadvantage, I was provided with all the required technical equipment (scanner, JAWS software and mods to the telephone system) and funding for two part-time sighted admin assistants through the British "Access to Work" scheme. My collegues regarded me as their co-equal on the basis of knowledge, skills and competence and I was enabled to actively participate in all work-related social activities.

My experience since relocating to Orange County, California, has been decidedly different. At the age of 45 I think age-related discrimination, as well as false negative assumptions concerning my blindness, is working against me. My qualifications (two first degrees, a higher degree and three graduate professional certificates and diplomas) are all from British Universities, my prior experience is in a British context and, of course, I am plagued with the usual infrastructural transportation problems.

None of this is insurmountable but the question is: Is there an employer out there who is willing to make the effort of understanding, investing and accommodating for a blind worker, even one with proven intellectual and work-related transferrable skills?

I have sent off about 400 resumes in the last 18 months, contacted literally tens of potential employers by telephone, engaged in "networking", self-publicity and even worked in the non-profit sector as a volunteer but to no avail.

I have to ask the question of employers: "What do I need to do to convince you that I can do a better job than my sighted counterparts?" Come on, step up to the plate employers and give me the opportunity to demonstrate that my skill-set could be deployed in your non-profit organization to add value to you and your client group.

This is certainly not a whinge, I wouldn't tolerate that from anyone. I just want the opportunity to use my natural, God-given, talents to benefit my local community whilst being responsible to my wife and stretching myself mentally. I want the chance to learn, to grow, to expand into a broader role where I can bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number. Is that too much to ask?

Hello there, I have been visually impaired since born 1975. I graduated from college back in 1999 with a early childhood certifigate, been volunteering in doing other stuff not related to children, such as helping out family members, plus participated with my church, lived in PA, and moved to CA in 2002, then got married to my sweettie, in 2003, been job hunting, even went to an employment agency. I know they really liked my resume but still did not follow through.

I did take some computer classes with the Delco Blind sight Center in Chester PA where I learned about Jaws and doing data entry, which was transcribing tapes and putting the info into a computer.

Even tried to send my resume to those online work-at-home jobs, still no response.

Those agencies -- I don't want to go there because, as to what I have done, I just know they are going to put me through those things which I did in PA.

I went to college from '96 to '99 and have always volunteered in helping out people. Even before that in high school I did do a part time job in working at the tech school in serving people at a restaurant, did really well, got 400 dollars during the summer.

I'm still looking for work. Have been on the net since '96 and love e-mailing people about anything. I would love to get a job in doing that, since I am on the computer daily. If someone would give me a chance.

Yes, someone should change the law as far as SSI. It is frustrating. Am going to be 30 in two weeks.

Feel free to email me at: groovy41@juno.com

Hello. I think it is very true that some employers just won't give us a chance no matter what we do or someone else does. However, that is not the only problem.

The other problem lies with those who spread myths about blindness. I'm not naming names, but I'm referring to the one-size-fits-all mentality embraced by a lot of blind people, and consequently this is the approach taken by most, if not all, VR agencies.

Each of us is an individual, and we have our own ways of thinking and doing things. We can make our own decisions as to which job coach to work with, based, of course, on our own individual experiences as well as the experiences of friends and others who are acquainted with said job coach.

Perhaps it is just me, but I really think this one-size-fits-all mentality is very daunting and alienating. Coupled with that one-size-fits-all mindset, I feel, is the notion that one has to obtain a job first before brushing up on his or her O&M skills. How the heck are we supposed to find our way around the work site, let alone get there and back, if VR agencies will not lighten up on this approach?

Also there is the consideration of a newly-blinded person learning these skills. I will refer readers to some previous blog entries of mine. The only way things are ever going to change is if the myths stop being spread.

Just because one blind person climbed Mt. Everest successfully does not mean every blind person can do that. As such, a blind person might make a very good automechanic, and another blind person might not possess those skills. We can philosophize, theorize, and dream all we want, but not everybody will be able to do everything the same as his or her counterparts. This is called reality, and, as much as some might dislike it, we just have to deal with it. This is the one and only way attitudes will ever even start to change.

I am not being negative; I am just telling it like it is. I've lived with blindness all my life, and I have some accompanying disabilities. I am probably one of many who cannot perform to the absolute most perfect standard that some in the blindness field would like.

I am not depressed about being blind, nor have I ever been depressed about being blind. But I have faced real discrimination -- not in the workplace because I am unemployed but within my state VR agency. This may not be the kind of response some would like to hear, but I really feel that it had to be said at some point.

Here ends my rant for now.

This is in response to Sue's post, and in part an addendum to my previous post on this thread. I, too, am at my computer virtually all day, with no job to speak of. As wonderful as all this technology is, I cannot say that I use it for matters relating to work. I love my computer. I can write and edit documents on it, as well as go online for research and sending and receiving emails from all over. These things would not be possible for those of us with visual impairments, if these screen-readers were just simply a figment of somebody's imagination. . A person can have the coolest, most amazing technology possibly in the world, but if nobody gives us a chance at work, we will find ourselves stuck here at home, doing very little if anything at all. I for one did get outside today with somebody, but she had other things to do so she had to bring me back in. I had to walk sighted guide with her. Why? Because I have never had an O&M instructor come here to work with me. Like I said, how is one supposed to obtain a decent job if one can't convince their rehab agency that formal O&M instruction is needed? Let's say somebody had a job, but they couldn't get there. What then would happen? How would the employer view their employee if said employee never even showed up at work? These are questions that must be given thought if we are ever to change this country's VR services. What I am basically saying, is that the attitudes of so-called VR professionals absolutely must change. For instance I had a meeting last week with my counselor and his supervisor, and when I told them that I was afraid to go out of my building alone, the supervisor very arrogantly asked me why this was. Once again, I have had absolutely no formal O&M instruction in and around my building. Yet I am being told by my VR agency that I need a serious psychiatric evaluation and maybe treatment for depression? This is not a joke, they have actually asked me if I was ever suicidal. For the sake of everyone reading this, I have never thought about suicide.