[Blindtlk] Professions on list?

[Julie J.]

Justin,

Aw...I don't know what to say.  Honestly writing all that down was a bit 
of an eye opener for me.  I just do what I want to do and don't think 
too much about it at the time.  My life feels so ordinary.  I often feel 
like I need to be doing more.  I appreciate your compliments!

Julie




On 3/24/2013 1:41 AM, justin williams wrote:
> Wow, Julie,  You're kind of, well sort of just a little bit awesome.
> Determination, Tanacity, and ferocity all roled into one.  What a career.
> Next drink I have, I'll be raising one to you.
>   Cheers.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
> Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 11:25 AM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Professions on list?
>
> 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
>
>
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