[Community-service] Discussion starter

[Miranda]

I can understand her reasoning for not putting community service within the blindness community on her resume or other pertinent documents. We already struggle to find employment due to our visual impairment. We don't want employers to automatically assume that we have a disability, thereby rejecting us before we even arrive for the interview. I think it's a matter of when we each choose to disclose our disability, if we even choose to do so. I have found that delaying disclosure until I have met with someone, whether for employment or volunteer service, has served me more effectively than disclosing my disability prior to a meeting.
I certainly do not deny my blindness or my ability to serve with in the visually impaired community, but I also don't want it to be the focus. If included on a resume or cover letter, this could be an unintended consequence.


Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 24, 2017, at 10:53 PM, Cindy Ray via Community-Service <community-service at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Gosh, that is really sad. You lose out on information that is every bit as
> valuable as what you do for others who are not blind. Your family may think
> that you can only serve blind people, but you know better; what you do in
> the blindness community is every bit as valuable. If you were teaching in a
> school for the blind or as a low vision teacher would you leave that off of
> your resume because you had been serving blind people. For me it says you
> think the help you give is not worth mentioning. Actually society is more
> apt to think that you can't serve the blindness community either. The gifts
> required to do so are the same as are required to serve sighted people, old
> people, young people, etc. I just am afraid I struggle with this notion. It
> is, however, your right to treat these things as you want to. I just don't
> really get it.
> Cindy Lou Ray
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Community-Service [mailto:community-service-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett via Community-Service
> Sent: Monday, April 24, 2017 1:36 PM
> To: Community Service Discussion List <community-service at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: [Community-service] Discussion starter
> 
> Darian,
> 
> I agree. When I think of doing community service, I think of helping the
> community, something that benefits society; of course volunteering one on
> one benefits the individual directly, but because we improve his/her well
> being, we improve society.
> 
> I volunteer now for a senior center once a month where I put on music
> appreciation presentations.
> If I help just within the blind sphere or in NFB, its important, and its
> volunteering, but somehow I don't see that as community service.
> There is so much else to me than legal blindness.
> I don't put affiliation or volunteer service for NFB or anything blindness
> related on my resume or cover letters. I do, however, put my other service
> work down. I want people to see me as a person who can benefit society, not
> someone just receiving charity or handouts. I want to show case my skills
> and talents not my eye condition. So, blindness stuff is not put on resumes,
> applications whether for school, employment or other volunteer service.
> 
> You are so right in saying that society believes the only good we can
> perform is within our own sphere, helping others who are blind. I hear that
> all the time from my family.
> I  do not agree and feel I can compete and do work within the larger
> community who is not disabled.
> 
> Ashley
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darian Smith, President,National Federation of the Blind Community
> Service Division viaCommunity-Service
> Sent: Monday, April 24, 2017 2:08 PM
> To: Community Service Discussion List
> Cc: Darian Smith, President,National Federation of the Blind Community
> Service Division
> Subject: [Community-service] Discussion starter
> 
> Hi all,
> Just figured I would put this out there to get  some debate going.
> In a general  sense, the definition of community service can basically be
> boiled down to doing something for the benefit of a group of persons.
> In the NFB, we might consider community service  as anything we can do for
> the benefit of blind people, both within our membership and outside of it.
> In the Community Service Division, we tend to look at community service as a
> thing that a blind person might do that would benefit the larger community,
> not just other blind folks.
> We believe this distinction is important to make because often society
> believes that the only way that a blind person  can do good  is  if they are
> doing that  good within the bounds of blindness and the blind community.
> Do you agree with this assertion? Disagree? why or why not?
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