[nabs-l] Disclosing disabilities

[Jim Reed]

Hello,
First, I know the email link I provided was from the UK. I sent it because alot of the information was general, it did not pertain specificly to British law. 

Second, I just had a job interview on thursday. I was applying for a Survey Coordinator position with Montana Fish, WIldlife, and Parks. The survey will be conducted on recreationist on the Madision River in MT. The job involves talking to visitors, collecting data, analyising the data and writing a report. 

I still have much of my vision, so those task are not problematic. The problem is that the position involves driving to survey sites (the river is 170 miles long). I have recently decided that driving is becoming less and less of a good idea for me. So I had an internal battle as to whether to tell MT FWP, or not. My dad was telling me not to tell them because "your only going to be driving on backroads, theres nothing for you to hit." My voc rehab councelor was telling me to wait until after I was offered a job to disclose. And the President of the Montana state affiliate suggested waiting until the end of the interview. This was the advice I chose to follow.

One of the things that made me apply for the job was that I thought I would be supervising two employees, and I thought I would be able to ride out to the river with them. Well, I got triped up in the interview when I was told that MTFWP had not yet decided if they were going to hire those extra people. At that point I didnt know what to do. My plans for using those other two employees as drivers (reasonable accomidation) went out the window. I did not follow the "6 p's" and I paid for it (the 6 P"s are Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance). I had no plan for what to do if those other employees wouldnt be avaliable. So, I stuck with my original plan; At the end of the interview, I disclosed the fact that I couldnt drive. They said they appreciated me being honest. 

Anyhow, the interview was on Thursday, they were supposed to have made a desision on Friday. Today is Saturday, and I still havent heard anything. I hope I didn't disclose myself right out of a job. 

This really sucks because my goal is to work as a public land manager. I have had enopugh bosses and summer jobs to know that once you reach the full-time permant positions, it is almost all office work. The problem is, in order to get those full-time permant positions, you must first "pay your dues" by working in the field. And almost all field jobs involve driving. I am almost at a point where I am willing to drive inorder to obtain the summer jobs that will lead to full-time work. as the saying goes "get rich or die trying". I am almost willing to "succed or die trying." If only I could insure I wouldnt kill anyone else in the process...

Jim

"Ignorance killed the cat; curiosity was framed."