[Blindtlk] The Cost of Independent Travel

[Graves, Diane]

Hi Mike and Gary,

With regard to employment, One of the things I would stress very heavily if I were speaking to a group of blind high school students today is get that education! As we know, that doesn't provide a guarantee by any means, but it certainly gives us a much better shot.

When I was in high school, I didn't particularly like school, and had no desire to go on to college. So, I made a very very bad choice and did not go. I had a short stint at a local business college, but I didn't apply myself, I didn't have the necessary maturity  and it didn't go well.

What I have learned over the years though is a truth that is becoming more and more evident every day. You just aren't going to get anywhere without that higher education. That is true for the sighted as well as the blind, but it is absolutely true for the blind. I finally graduated from the clerical arena into the professional arena due to a supervisor who believed in and fought for me, but it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and took about 16 years at this job to get there.

It isn't fair, but the fact is, that we are always going to have to work harder and pay more for equality than do the sighted. Having learned that, I am now juggling a job and an educational effort, and it is much, much harder than it would have been had I gone fresh out of high school and been able to concentrate all of my time and effort on that education.

This is so important, because, especially with the clerical field rapidly moving towards extinction,  without that higher education, a blind person almost doesn't have a prayer.

So, teachers, parents, hog tie them, kidnap them, do whatever you have to do, but get those young people too and through college. It will make such a difference in their lives. 
 

Diane Graves
Civil Rights Specialist
Indiana Civil Rights Commission
Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
317-232-2647
 
"It is service that measures success."
George Washington Carver
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 12:02 PM
To: gwunder at earthlink.net; Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] The Cost of Independent Travel

Gary:

Great post! I agree completely. Thank you for telling it like it is!

Mike Freeman
Sent from my iPhone


On Aug 30, 2010, at 4:57, "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi Mike.  I like your post and agree with most of it.  If we target the
> unemployment and underemployment of the blind, where should we put
> resources? Eliminating the earnings cliff is a good start.  Nobody should be
> expected to act against their own economic self-interest.  Ssdi discourages
> work through an earnings limit used to determine all or nothing benefits.
> Work which pays anywhere near the limit and is the least bit variable opens
> one to the charge of overpayments, sometimes long after the event.
> Beneficiaries are frequently without records and sometimes cannot get them.
> So our bills and resolutions to change the system are certainly relevant in
> changing the situation for some who do not find it in their interest to
> work.
> 
> I agree that HR 4533 will go a long way toward seeing we can use the gadgets
> society requires for work and living independently.  Not only are we working
> on legislation, but trying to cultivate important relationships in
> industries that matter.  This means sending our people to conferences of
> engineers, manufacturers, and resellers.  The message is, "We have a market
> out here which your product isn't serving," and the question which
> frequently comes back is "How much of a market are we talking about?"
> Sometimes we convince people who can make a difference that our market
> segment matters, or that there is an opportunity for some good publicity.
> Occasionally we are successful in convincing important people that there is
> a moral imperative to include us.  It's hard to measure moral imperative on
> a balance sheet.  Lastly we have the lawsuit which is very expensive and
> which presumes there is really law on which to rely.
> 
> I think there is another, perhaps more difficult, question to address the
> issue of employment and it is the same one at which you hint.  Who are the
> unemployed blind and how interested are they in employment? What stands
> between them and employment besides the discrimination and work
> disincentives we normally mention? When I get a note saying IBM wants
> people, I don't have the people to recommend.  When the IRS says they want
> people, I don't have names of folks who tell me they are willing to go
> anywhere they need to go to get a job.  The fact I don't know people who are
> actively looking for jobs doesn't mean they aren't out there, but I
> certainly do know a lot of people who seem very comfortable where they are.
> The very few people I know who say they are looking for jobs are people I
> probably wouldn't hire because of their inflexibility, social ineptitude,
> and the way they present themselves to the public.
> 

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