[nabs-l] unemployment rate

Tue Feb 15 02:01:48 UTC 2011

I live in Florida. I've known some blind people in other states who had
these jobs you've mentioned, but not nearly as many. I'm eager to understand
the prevalence of and possible reasons for all employment trends among the
blind of different regions.

On Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 6:39 PM, <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Jamie,
> What state are you in? I see the opposite.  The majority of blind employees
> work for the government, government contractors, or large corporations is
> what I see. Several nfb members in the two nearest chapters are lawyers and
> computer programmers.
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Jamie Principato
> Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 5:36 PM
>
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] unemployment rate
>
> I've also yet to meet an employed blind adult in my state who isn't either
> working for our state's division of blind services or otherwise in the
> blindness field. I'm rather curious, myself, how prevalent a trend this is.
>
> On Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 4:38 PM, <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>  Kirt,
>> You know many people in the blindness field?
>> That is something. In my area they are mostly office jobs or speciality
>> jobs like lawyers and computer programmers; most blind people I know work
>> in
>> the government or government contractors.
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Kirt Manwaring
>> Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 3:56 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] unemployment rate
>>
>>
>> Sean,
>>  I'd like to point out a few things.
>>  First...other disabilities, particularly severe cognative
>> disabilities, are extremely relivant to a person's job eligability.  I
>> don't want to sound prejudiced...but that's just the way it is.  I
>> know lots of people with severe mental disabilities who happen to be
>> blind as well and, while I'm not under-valuing them as people, I am
>> fully aware that some of those disabilities impact a person's ability
>> to work.  That's why I'm curious what the unemployment rate is for
>> people who are only blind...because, for a lot of those people, other
>> severe cognative disabilities are definitely a factor in their
>> unemployed status.
>>  As for the question about blind people working in the blindness
>> field...I'm a little lost as to why you think I was implying that was
>> inferior.  I'm just curious because that's where most blind people I
>> know work.  Indeed I'm hard-pressed to find a totally blind person in
>> my local area who I know that doesn't work in the blindness field...so
>> I think it's a legitimate question.  It's like if I were to ask what
>> percentage of the American working population works in, say, the
>> lobbying business.  That, to me, does not imply the inferiority or
>> superiority of that kind of work...it just means I'm interested to
>> know how many employed blind people have jobs in the blindness field.
>> Do you see my point?  I just want to know because I'm a blind person
>> and most blind people I know work primarily with other blind
>> people...so I wonder if anyone has any kind of data to show how many
>> blind people work outside of the blindness arena.  That's all, I just
>> want to know because I'm probably not going to have a job in the field
>> of blindness and I want to see where that puts me, percentage-wise.
>> In this case, I'm not looking down my nose at anyone.
>>  All the best,
>> Kirt
>>
>> On 2/14/11, Sean Whalen <smwhalenpsp at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>  People who are not actively looking for employment are considered not to
>>> be
>>> part of the labor force.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Of course the 30% for nonblind folks' rate of nonparticipation is vastly
>>> higher than the rate that would apply to only those, say, under 65.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Blind people with other disabilities are blind people too, so why
>>> shouldn't
>>> we count them? Nonblind folks with other disabilities count in the
>>> general
>>> unemployment and labor force nonparticipation rates. Sure, you could
>>> figure
>>> out an unemployment rate for people who are blind and have no other
>>> disabilities, but how is that instructive? You could also find the rate
>>> for
>>> the blind people who have no additional disability, a college degree and
>>> IQ's above the national average, but then you are hand selecting who you
>>> are
>>> looking at and ignore the population as a whole.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I wouldn't trust numbers from AFB - they say there are 25 million blind
>>> or
>>> visually impaired people in the US. Right. And NFB has 50,000 members.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Finally, related to the initial post, why does it matter how many of the
>>> blind people with jobs work in the blindness field? That hearkens back to
>>> the ridiculous notion that these are somehow lesser jobs. Yes, it may be
>>> easier to get them because you are working with and being hired by people
>>> who have experience with blindness, and are therefore less likely to be
>>> freaked out by it, but they are not inferior jobs, nor are those who do
>>> them
>>> less successful people.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sorry for the list of disjointed thoughts, but take them for what they're
>>> worth.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Take care,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sean
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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