[Blindtlk] Professions on list?

[Julie J.]

Peter,

I'm not Cheryl, but I also became blind as an adult.  Perhaps you, or 
someone else on list, will find something helpful in my story.

>From a young age, I wanted to work with animals.  I started training dogs in 
high school.  I was good at it and enjoyed it a lot.  I decided to go to 
college to become a veterinary technician, a sort of veterinary nurse.  At 
this time in my life my vision was about 20/100 after correction.  I was 
never taught a single alternative skill.  I didn't even know about CCTV's or 
large print.  This was before computers were mainstream.

I didn't do so well in college.  Partly that was because I lost a major 
portion of my vision during this time in my life and had zero alternative 
skills.  But to be perfectly honest it was also because I wasn't ready for 
college or at least not the classroom part!  I was 17 when I started 
college.   I had lived a fairly sheltered life.  My parents didn't go out of 
their way to limit the things I did because of my visual impairment. 
However I lived in a place where it wasn't safe to go out at night alone.  I 
also feared doing many things because I didn't know how.  I could have taken 
the bus to go shopping or to a movie, but I didn't because I was afraid.  I 
isolated myself.

I gave up on veterinary technology.  Sometimes I regret this, but mostly I 
am grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have had.  If I had not 
lost most of the rest of my vision and made the choices I have, I would not 
be where I am now.  I love my life.  If I could go back and change anything, 
I don't think I would.  I needed to make the bad decisions I did so I could 
learn and grow.

I'll fast forward a few years.  I met a lot of people in college, made many 
friends, one of them being my first husband.  I had figured out that there 
were services for blind people, by accident.  I was starting to see 
possibilities.

We moved around a lot, eventually settling in one place long enough for me 
to finish my associates degree in sociology.   Still no mainstream 
computers, but I had a borrowed CCTV and was using large print, readers, 
talking books and RFB&D for textbooks.   My rehab counselor was my gateway 
to all things blindness related.  I didn't know a single blind person.

Then I became pregnant and my perspective on the skills I would need changed 
dramatically.  Now it was no longer about getting by or making do.  I needed 
to get myself together because now I was responsible for someone else.  I 
learned Braille and cane travel right away.  My rehab counselor and teacher 
brought me the basic tools like a slate and stylus, Braille paper and a 
cane.  they gave me brief lessons in how to use these tools.  But when they 
left I practiced like a mad woman.  I was only given the first ten letters 
of the alphabet in my first lesson, but by the time my teacher came back I 
had filled up every sheet of paper she had left with every word I could 
think of with those ten letters.  I took my cane when I went places.  I 
wasn't very good with it, but I was learning.

I attended a few workshops the state agency for the blind put on.  these 
weren't skill based, but more like college and employment workshops.  I met 
other blind people.  I soaked up everything like a sponge.  I eavesdropped 
on other people's conversations, hoping to pick up tidbits that could help 
me.  My world view of what I could do was changing rapidly.  Before I met 
other blind people and started learning alternative skills, I thought I 
would work in jobs like housekeeper or dishwasher.  After I met blind people 
who were lawyers, genetic counselors, diesel mechanics, agency directors and 
mothers I had hope for myself.

I finished my last two years of college, graduating with a B.S. degree in 
sociology.  I had no job prospects.  My husband wanted to finish his degree 
in the same town where the state residential training center for the blind 
was located.  So he went to college and I went to get my blindness training. 
I am so grateful to the progressive attitude of the Nebraska center for the 
blind.  they understood that my situation was unique and respected my 
choices.  I lived in an apartment with my husband and Kiddo, while I went 
through center training, instead of their typical apartments for the 
students.

The program is typically 6 to 9 months. I wasn't willing to give up that 
much time out of my life if I could at all help it.  From the first day I 
was at the center I told the staff that I intended to finish in three 
months.  I asked what I needed to do to make that happen.  No delaying, no 
messing, no taking it easy, I asked them to lay it all out, give me 
homework...whatever it took, I meant to be done in three months.  I read 
Braille on my lunch breaks, I practiced cane travel on weekends and evenings 
on my own.  I pushed myself hard.  I finished in three and a half months.

As a result of my center training, I met people who helped me with 
connecting to a temporary job with the Department of Labor.  I started 
working as a Statistical Clerk directly after center training.  It was a 
good job.  It had many of the things I love, surveys, statistics, 
understanding groups of people and a nice paycheck.  However it also showed 
me that I needed some things I hadn't previously realized.  I needed to work 
more directly with people.  I was stuck in a cubical all day and I hated it.

In the next years I worked at the same training center I had attended as a 
student.  I went back to school, working toward a Masters degree in mental 
health counseling, but gave it up because I became too emotionally invested, 
causing myself way too much stress.  I got divorced and became a single Mom. 
I moved into the first place where I was truly on my own, no husband or 
roommates.

Fast forward a bit more, I moved into a very small town, got remarried, 
started my own business, sold the business and now work for county 
government.  I honestly have had very little idea how I was going to manage 
all the details of each of these life events before I jumped in.  I had 
basic skills I felt I could apply.  I had good connections with other blind 
people, who could connect me with yet other blind people who had the skills 
and techniques and were doing what I wanted to do.  The most valuable skills 
a blind person can possess are a willingness to explore, the ability to 
problem solve and the ability to advocate for oneself.  Some good basic 
training in alternative skills and a network of people who will support you 
are also important.

To answer your specific questions...
*How did you know the right skills or technologies
to master in order to know which fields to go into being blind? *

My answer, I didn't.
I learned basic skills, like Braille, cane travel, JAWS and household 
skills.  I practiced applying those basic skills in every situation I could. 
I could use my cane to get to the grocery, the bank or the playground at the 
park.  The same basic techniques of two point touch, using landmarks, 
listening to the environment etc., but each situation was a bit different. 
I learned to problem solve on the fly.

*How did you overcome or continue to
overcome against the odds with the changing nature of technology, the
economy and other adverse situations? *

My answer.  I'll try to give some examples that hopefully will help 
illustrate how I have managed.
My current job as the Diversion Coordinator is grant funded.  this means it 
is unattractive to many people because funding is not guaranteed from one 
year to the next.  I wanted a job and was willing to deal with this 
uncertainty.  Although funding isn't certain, I do feel like I have a decent 
amount of job security.  After all crime isn't going away anytime soon. 
Each year I fill out the paperwork to get the grant money.  I attend the 
training workshops on grant writing so I can get better.  I have applied for 
and gotten other grants to supplement or increase programs.  I started an 
adult diversion program that is fee based.  Last year our grant was cut.  I 
lost about one quarter of my salary in that budget cut.  However because I 
had started the fee based program my salary was able to stay the same.

There are a lot of bills being introduced in the legislature this year that 
could potentially dramatically change diversion programming and juvenile 
justice in Nebraska.  I have absolutely no idea if I will have a job next 
year, how different it will be or where funding will be coming from.  It 
causes me some stress, but I feel like I do a good job and am respected at 
work.  I am hopeful that between my own ingenuity and the support of my 
supervisor we will be able to figure it out.

In case I am wrong I have also started a web based business.  It will take a 
good year for it to be fully functional and making money.  If all goes well 
it will be some supplemental income, if all goes badly, it will be something 
to fall back on.  I believe in diversifying one's financial portfolio.  I 
have also written a book and will be putting that on the market shortly. 
another way to earn a bit and to keep all the eggs out of that one basket.

As far as technology...mostly I figure it out as I go.  Since I've started 
my job the Crime Commission created an online way to document cases and to 
our statistical reporting.  It had issues, so I contacted the folks in 
charge and pressed hard for them to fix it so it would be accessible.  There 
are laws about making stuff accessible for blind people.  It has taken four 
years, but finally everything is working as it should.

I just bought an iPad late last summer.  I have never had any training on 
how to use it.  I know from other blind people that it would be accessible 
out of the box.  The first few days were frustrating because it is so 
different from anything I am used to, but I got the hang of it.  I have 
learned how to use it by trial and error.  When I get stuck I ask the nice 
folks on this list or some of the other blind people I know who use I 
devices.  I now use the iPad daily for my wake up alarm, calendar, email, 
internet, games, dictionary, and other life details.

I guess this huge novel I've written sums up to: I start by figuring out 
what I want to do, then I figure out how to do it.  I figure if I do 
nothing, I will be exactly where I am now in a year.  If I try something, I 
have the chance to better myself.  I might not make the right decision or do 
the right thing, but I will be guaranteed to learn something, even if what I 
learn is what doesn't work.
All my best,
Julie