[BlindTlk] The Unemployment Rate of The Blind

[Judy Jones]

Yes, I would say a university education can be valuable, and there are those
that want and need to go through an academic study for their field of
choice.  What I am objecting to is the thinking that the colleges are the
only way to go, and those counselors who fail to consider vo tech schools as
options.

Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindTlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gary Wunder
via BlindTlk
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2019 1:14 PM
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Cc: Gary Wunder
Subject: Re: [BlindTlk] The Unemployment Rate of The Blind

I don't think there is any clear answer as to whether a person should go to
a vocational technical school or a college or university. My wife and I talk
about this all the time. I got so much more from my education than a
bachelor's degree. I got a lot of practice writing. That wasn't my goal, but
it was part of the curriculum. Of course it serves me now is the editor of
the Braille Monitor, but it served me well as a computer programmer because
I was seen as a positive communicator bridging the gap between technical and
not so technical people.

At the risk of offending people, I have to say that when I went to college,
I had a pretty narrow perspective on the world. I thought Midwesterners were
superior to people who lived on the coasts. I came from a racist family, and
although I knew what not to say, I had never read anything of significance
by a black person until forced to do so. I had no idea that such inequality
existed in our country, but when a black person wrote and spoke as well as
any of the white people I was accustomed to reading, much of the foolishness
I believed that perpetuated racism simply collapsed. 

But it wasn't just racial stuff. I had no idea what it was like for the
people working in the coal mines of America. I went around singing that song
about owing my soul to the company store, but all I really knew was that it
had a slick tune and that it was sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Until I took a few political science courses, I functioned under the fiction
that it took no training to be a politician. Until I took some education
courses, I figured that just anybody could be a teacher as long as he or she
knew their subject. I didn't realize there was a methodology to education,
and while I may have significant disagreements from time to time with the
people who educate our children, I do know that knowing a subject doesn't
ensure that one can teach it.

I used to love the saying that poor folks have poor ways. Until I read some
sociology, I don't think I really knew what that meant. I was content to
believe that poor people were poor because of the way they behaved. I had no
idea how much more it costs to purchase food if you live in a poor
neighborhood. I had no idea how advantaged I was when my parents could help
with an occasional infusion of money so that what I needed to purchase did
not come from the rent to own store. Although I have never been able to
drive, I had no idea how disadvantaged a person was if they lived in an
impoverished area and wanted a more well-paying job closer to the suburbs. 

I know there are a lot of people who become self-educated through reading,
but I believe that in no small part I was forced out of my comfort zone
because readings were assigned. Going to college did not create an
enlightened being, and it certainly did not cause me to reject all of the
values that were so formative in my upbringing. But the experience was
transformative for me, and I have a much easier time relating to people that
I used to think of as "those others."

So is it the job of rehabilitation to grow people up and give them a broader
perspective? I think it is if that enables them to do jobs that they
wouldn't otherwise be able to do. Is it the job of colleges and universities
to do more than job training? I think so. I think they should not try to
tell us what to think but should give us a lot of information that causes us
to realize that we don't have all the answers and that people who seem
different from us are still people who have value, who have values, and who
face challenges some of us can never understand unless we come to meet those
people, read what they say, and go out of our way to really listen when they
speak. 

I think all of this relates to the NFB in two ways. We have to admit that
not everyone wants or needs a four year degree or something beyond it. On
the other hand, I think we ought to reject the rehabilitation agency
argument that technical schools are cheaper and therefore the agency is
obligated to send us to community colleges or vocational technical training
simply based on the economics. I think that is blind people we need every
advantage we can muster, and I am not willing to let the allure of a
short-term investment derail a real chance at employment.




_______________________________________________
BlindTlk mailing list
BlindTlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
BlindTlk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/sonshines59%40gmail.co
m