[humanser] Drivers license requirement for employment

Wed Oct 16 11:19:25 UTC 2013

Thank you for this, Mary. This is really inspirational. I'll actually be
going on an interview to apply for a different internship than I have now,
so all of the information people have posted here is extraordinarily
helpful. In this case, because it is an internship through the school and
because I'm already in a unique position of changing internship sites, the
potential placements know about my visual impairment. I am extremely lucky
in that I have an amazing field placement advisor who is determined to
advocate on my behalf until I am placed in a truly meaningful internship.
There are a few possibilities of new placement sites, which is exciting!
However, in an interview situation for a job, I would agree with what most
have said. I wouldn't disclose prior to interviewing unless there was a
practical reason to do so. 

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of MARY
CHAPPELL
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 11:35 PM
To: 'Human Services Mailing List'
Cc: 'Mary Chappell'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Drivers license requirement for employment

JD,
Thank you for the reframe on the challenges and opportunities we might face.
I, like you, learned not to disclose prior to a face-to-face meeting. During
my pursuit for my first practicum experience I decided not to disclose. The
interview was a distance from where I live, an hour and a half cab ride to a
very rural area. On the day of the interview, despite my diligent
pre-planning, the cab company called me to inform me that the greater number
of her drivers had "decided not to come to work today..." and if I chose to
travel the distance I should expect to stay the night because there was no
way I would get back home. I phoned the supervisor, who had been thrilled to
get me on paper and contacted me mere minutes after reviewing my
application, and told her of my dilemma and was at a point where disclosure
was necessary.  Initially she offered to reschedule after the match
notification date and then she said in the most condescending manner "I am
not sure what we would do with someone like you, who is not whole... I mean,
we are not a metropolitan area and I don't know what our patients would do
with a therapist who couldn't see." When I reminded her of blind clinicians
she said, "I have seen them at conferences and training but I never thought
that they practice." Long story short, while I was devastated by her
ignorance and short sightedness, I reflect on that experience and am
grateful. Her dismissal of me opened me for greater opportunities and I
wound up with training opportunities in places that I truly wanted to be. A
private university counseling center; a foster care and adoption agency; a
community-based center for survivors of torture and trauma, a psychiatric
hospital on the inpatient trauma unit and, now I am employed in a role that
I dearly love in a training hospital. I am paid to do what I love to do and,
I suspect, had it not been for that first, wicked supervisor, I might be
stuck in some miserable experience.
All that to say, sometimes a no can be a powerful opening for a yes. Am I
frustrated that I may be confronted by someone who might want to stop me
before I walk through the door? Yeah, you better bet it. I also know that I
am a darn good clinician and, if I get in front of them they are going to
want some time. So I force them to focus on my strengths and use questions
as a chance to briefly educate. I loved  that JD mentioned, " I tell the
interviewer that I dislike paperwork, but that I sleep much better when it
is up to date;  should they ask me how I do it I say that I have PC add-ons
that have served me well in the past and that it should not be a problem
with whatever system they are using.  Should they ask about transportation I
tell them that I got here on my own and on time and that I should have no
problem.  "
All that we go through can be heavy and we can grow weary but, that is not
all there is. I ask that we find a place of solace to rest and revitalize.
Please do not hear me minimizing the arduous tasks we face as blind
professionals; I simply ask that we consider a broader plausibility.
Together we can make a change and, though it will not happen overnight, we
owe it to ourselves to see it through. This division with its leadership is
making   moves and we can choose to stand by and be nay sayers or we can
join them and move beyond this miserable employment state. I trust there are
those among us who have had some successes and I welcome those accounts,
too.
Genuinely,
Mary Tatum Chappell, Psy. D.
-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of JD Townsend
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 10:29 PM
To: Human Services Mailing List
Subject: Re: [humanser] Drivers license requirement for employment

Sadly some folks are prejudice on the outset.  I took a 2 hour trip for an
interview once and the interviewer told me at the door that the job was too
intense for me, without even letting me speak;  seems my white cane said all
she wanted to know.

I learned after many interviews that I had to compete not as a blind
applicant, but as the best applicant.  Some people tell an interviewer on
the outset that they are blind or visually impaired, but I have never seen
the wisdom in this.  I find that the initial hand-shake and the walk down
long corridors to the interview room, finding my seat and addressing the
real issues of the job have served me well.  When I have taken this
attitude, ignoring my blindness as an issue, the interviews have gone much
better.  I tell the interviewer that I dislike paperwork, but that I sleep
much better when it is up to date;  should they ask me how I do it I say
that I have PC add-ons that have served me well in the past and that it
should not be a problem with whatever system they are using.  Should they
ask about transportation I tell them that I got here on my own and on time
and that I should have no problem.  It isn't my job to explain about
adaptive equipment or transportation, just that I can do the job, then I
re-focus on my strengths as a clinical social worker and how I might fit my
skills into serving the agency.

If we allow disability or adaptations to become a focus of an interview
instead of our skills and work ethic we have no chance for employment.

Just my opinion, sorry for the lecture.

JD

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