[nabs-l] disclosing blindness

Fri Oct 16 17:16:20 UTC 2015

I aggree with Robin on this. I disclose my blindness in relation to
everything I get involved in and sometimes, I let people know I'm
registered blind before I apply for whatever the job/event is. It's
not what you say, it's how you say it. It's a matter of how you
present your disability. Portray it like a shadow and that's all it
will be. Weave it into how you have acquired particular skills and it
will be perfectly relevant. As for me, it's a key part of who I am as
a person and hiding it until an in person interview would be extremely
discourtius! If someone did that to me; said nothing until the 11th
hour, I would think, "Hmm. If she kept that rather important thing to
herself until now, what else is she hiding?"

Everyone has their opinion and everyone is different.
Very best wishes,
Sandra.

On 10/14/15, Julie McGinnity via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> This is a great topic.  Here's my rule for resumes and bios: Say what
> you do rather than what you are.
>
> I am proud of who I am, but future employers don't really care about
> that on paper.  They might care when I come in for an interview, but
> before then, I like to focus on what I have done.  Since much of my
> relevant experience outside of the music world comes from the NFB or
> other disability-related work, they might gather that I am blind.
> Then again, they might not.  I have learned over the years (I'm really
> not that old :)) that people know less than we think they do about
> blindness organizations, assistive technology, and disability
> anything.  I mean... Forget about knowing what a screen reader is,
> they may not even understand that the adaptive computing technology
> center, which is where I currently work, is a place where I deal
> mainly with assistive technology and issues of web accessibility.
>
> If I apply for a job at an independent living center or some other
> place geared towards people with disabilities, then they will
> understand the terminology and appreciate it, but the general public
> will likely not know exactly what it is I do, let alone that I am
> blind.
>
> I stick to what I do, don't lie about my experience, and let them
> think what they will.  If they suspect that I am blind and do not call
> me in for an interview, I probably didn't want to work for them
> anyway.  Of course, my confident attitude may not serve me as well
> come January when I will no longer be a student, but I believe it to
> be true.
>
> On 10/13/15, Lizzy via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi All,
>> I love this conversation because so often we talk about
>> disclosing blindness in a job setting, but the really significant
>> piece of this thread is that though it is professional, it is not
>> at all about getting a job.  In an academic setting, with no
>> interview, no job on the line, published given that it is
>> grammatically correct and makes sense, why not include blindness
>> if it's something that's important to you.  Why not show that we
>> the blind are well read, great writers, good researchers etc.? In
>> this case, it's a simple bio, no one is bringing a camera and
>> putting you on the news to create "disability porn" (sorry if I
>> got the phrase wrong lol).  Sometimes people are so wrapped up in
>> what others will think that they forget to think about themselves
>> first.  Your bio shows relevant or very important parts of your
>> life that you choose to let others know about.  Whether or not
>> you decide to include blindness or any other physical
>> characteristic is solely your choice and you should not be judged
>> for it one way or another.  I personally, would only include
>> things that relate to my major or hobbies.
>> Darian made some really great points in his post, and I would
>> like to answer a few of his questions (though I know they were
>> rhetorical):
>> D: Is it different when creating a profile for a dating site? Is
>> Disclosure different in a academic setting?
>> L: I'm going to also add is it different in a work environment.
>> Yes.  They are three completely different areas where you are
>> trying to convey three different things.  In a work environment
>> you're trying to make sure that no one is discriminating against
>> you, and you're trying to prove that you can do the same amount
>> of work as your sighted counter parts.  In an academic
>> environment, you know that you can't be discriminated against, so
>> you can be very open about your blindness and from there you just
>> need to show that you are a competent, hardworking student.  In a
>> dating environment, you can totally be discriminated against,
>> also you're trying to be attractive in many ways.  However,  it's
>> not good to leave blindness out because if you like someone and
>> vice versa, they're going to know that you are blind eventually.
>> Since this thread is related to an academic setting, I'm all for
>> disclosing, because there really aren't any downfalls.
>> D: And how different is the disclosure of blindness from
>> disclosure of being a man, a woman, gay, straight, latino/Latina,
>> asian, etc?
>> L: I don't think they are different at all, they are
>> characteristics that make you who you are and in an open-ended
>> setting, you can disclose them whenever you're ready...
>> So...  Is blindness an important part of your life? Is it
>> something that you'd like to share with people? Does it relate to
>> anything else in your bio? In your published work?
>> I'm curious to know what the original poster decides to do,
>> Lizzy
>>
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>
>
> --
> Julie A. McGinnity
> President, National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division,
> Second Vice President, National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
> "For we walk by faith, not by sight"
> 2 Cor. 7
>
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