[humanser] Hi all, Fwd: To disclose or not disclose on internship apps

[Carly Mihalakis]

Good morning,
  Despite the nature of so-called conventions, I think disclosure is 
a must if you are to enter into a professional interaction,  Seems 
almost dishonist   not to.
Car 08:49 PM 11/19/2015, Kaiti Shelton via humanser wrote:
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>
>Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2015 01:21:24 -0500
>Subject: To disclose or not disclose on internship apps
>To: musictherapistswithvisualimpairments
><musictherapistswithvisualimpairments at yahoogroups.com>
>
>Hello all,
>
>I can start applying for national roster internship sites in January.
>I've already combed through the entire list and picked out the 18 that
>sounded the most appealing to me.  I even categorized them into tiers.
>I know I can have four applications out at a time, so they're in
>batches of four according to the level of preference I have for the
>sites.
>
>My big question concerns whether or not I should disclose my blindness
>on internship applications.  I know the standard practice is to not
>disclose information before the interview, but I'm wondering how solid
>that advice is given the field we are in and the nature of interviews
>now.  A lot of my older classmates participated in skype
>interviews/auditions rather than ones on-site, which could give me a
>disadvantage.  Sure, I could explain over skype how I do things and
>show the internship director some of my adaptive equipment if that
>issue arises, but it would not be as effective as doing it in person.
>They won't have an opportunity to observe me using a cane competently,
>or see me taking notes and referencing them from my notetaker.  I'm
>sure my professors might have some input here, but I am also sure that
>they would encourage me to seek out other sources for this information
>as I am their first blind student.  I don't want to be discounted
>before I have a shot at an interview, but could being upfront avoid
>possible pitfalls in the interview process if the internship director
>knows a little of what to expect?  Also, if the internship directly
>relates to my experiences should I disclose it then to show I have a
>possible edge in making empathetic connections with clients over a
>student music therapist who does not have prior experience with
>blindness, assistive technology, etc?  Thanks,
>
>--
>Kaiti Shelton
>University of Dayton-Music Therapy
>President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
>Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
>Division 2015-2016
>
>
>
>--
>Kaiti Shelton
>University of Dayton-Music Therapy
>President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
>Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
>Division 2015-2016
>
>"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"
>
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