[nabs-l] disclosing blindness

Wed Oct 21 05:58:12 UTC 2015

Well I hope your honesty doesn't get you burnt out too quickly. Good luck.

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 16, 2015, at 1:17 PM, Sandra Gayer via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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> 
> 
> -- 
> Soprano Singer
> www.sandragayer.com
> 
> Broadcast Presenter
> 
> www.insightradio.co.uk/music-box.html
> 
> Voiceover Artist
> 
> www.archangelvoices.co.uk/content/sandra-gayer
> 
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