[NABS-L] Barriers At Work

[Elizabeth Sprecher]

Hi friends,
I’m reaching out because I want to know if you’ve experienced similar barriers at work.
I work as a peer mentor through an on campus job. I have the same role in a new department, which is why I wanted to bring this up.
In the previous department, the mentors helped out at events, setting up papers, zoom for virtual attendees, and other things. So I would say that I want to help and they would say okay, however I would be standing or sitting arround awkwardly, while they asked a sighted coworker to point out the printed forms on the tables for attendees to fill out. The coworker who was helping was doing my work, even though she wasn’t paid. She gets along so well with everyone on the team. At an event the other day, the coworker was asked to sit with me and direct the attandees to fill out the papers. I sat there, did nothing, and only jumped in when reminding them to fill out name tags. During the event, there was a zoom issue and they immediately asked the sighted coworker. By the way, the sighted coworker was not working that day, but loves to join events.
In the new department, I want to participate in event planning and hosting workshops, however I’m worried that in this part of the peer mentor role, there a strong emphasis in collaboration. I would like to know how you be as involved? I want more than giving out ideas and everyone treating me like what I’m saying is the most amazing thing. I don’t want to run in to a situation where I’m not sure what to do.
I’m open to any suggestions and feedback.
Thank You
Elizabeth

Sent from my iPhone