[NFB-DB] What do we want Employers to Know

[Rod and Ele Macdonald]

I am no longer a part of the workforce, but nearly 50 years spent as an employee (and even a manager with authority to hire) has given me some experience, from which I offer the following:

1. It is very, very positive for your employer and co-workers to know as much about your disability as possible. This information leads to understanding, and this understanding leads to support in everything from accommodations to simple courtesies. "Not knowing" can lead to problems no one really intended.

I had a supervisor for nearly 20 years who was not very supportive. He said to me one day: "Why should "they" get special help when my daughter, a college graduate, can't find a job?" He himself used a felt marker and scrap paper to communicate with me via large-print notes; he never got involved with or (to my knowledge) supported my use of adaptive equipment, although he didn't mind my using it. Any success I might attain in my work was, of course, due to his benevolent understanding of my needs. The client community (I worked for the Federal Government at the time) referred to "John and his blind programmer." Even when I wrote papers on his behalf they were his - after all, they were his ideas, and I was just putting them on paper. (Sometimes before the ideas occurred to him.)

So I was taken advantage of, used? Yes, but I took advantage of him, too, because I used this opportunity - used it big-time, in that I had many rough edges as a new employee, and it gave me time to learn with guidance. I eventually took over John's position when he retired.

2. As important as #1 is, it is far more important for your co-workers to know YOU, the person, than the "characteristic" of your disability. When I had been on the job for over 20 years and was assigned to a new office, my new office director took the time to get to know me personally. In time he told me that I had the reputation of being aloof, "stuck up" even, because when people passed me in the hallway and said, "good morning", I did not respond; I did not greet people. (I was shocked. I wish, in retrospect, that I had learned much earlier the importance of greeting people.) But while I could see enough to know I was passing someone, I could not identify them, and I thought - to the extent I thought about it - that if I said "Good Morning" I would be encouraging the other person to speak to me, and I would not be able to hear what they said or readily take part in a conversation. My disability was effectively setting me apart, and it was my bad in not realizing it and addressing it.

Who knows you? Your supervisor? Maybe, if you have known the person for awhile, but only YOU know you.

I was once appointed to our State Rehabilitation Council. I wrote a short email to each member of the group, introducing myself and briefly mentioning my communication needs. The Chair, who was blind, was furious. She said it was HER job to tell members of the group the communication needs of group members. I had said I would appreciate it if members raised their hand and identified themselves during discussion so that I would know who was speaking. The Chair requested a "private" meeting with me prior to our next meeting, to clarify matters. I showed up with my interpreter; our Chair came with the Director and Deputy Director of our rehabilitation agency in tow. Well, during the Council meeting I was speaking when suddenly the Chair started talking over me. When the confusion was resolved our Chair said that she did as I asked - she raised her hand and started talking. She never gave my interpreter time to let me - the speaker - know know that she wanted to speak.

3. Diversity can be a positive or a negative factor. Understanding our specific, unique situation can lead to pride in who and what we are and in better support from "the "outside world". But it can also lead to compartmentalization, isolation, confusion and misinformed attempts at generalization. As obvious examples: are we "DeafBlind", "Deaf-Blind", "Deafblind? Do we make use of "Support Service Providers", "Co-Navigators" "Communication Assistants, "Interpreters? Is our language English or American Sign Language? Do we prefer to maximize residual hearing, residual sight, touch, or do we rely on a combination of these? And, whatever our choices - is that the "The DB Community?" What about those "others"?

On the one hand the more aggressively we pursue Our "uniqueness" the more understanding we may receive: but on the other hand the more general confusion and even misunderstanding we may generate for all who fit under the "DB Umbrella"..

As an example, I recently saw the term "DeafBlind Interpreting" defined (very aggressively) as using American Sign Language via tactile application for a DeafBlind person. That wasn't a definition I would have wished for: To me "DeafBlind Interpreting" should refer to the process of providing communication access  for someone who has both vision and hearing challenges: using ASL at a slight distance (to accommodate those with RP), using ASL in a small group with "bigger" signs, using "hands-on" ASL, using some form of Signed English in any of these situations, using tactile fingerspelling, using Computer-Assisted Notetaking (CAN) ... all these are "DeafBlind Interpreting" to me because they involve interpreting for a Deaf-Blind/DeafBlind/Deafblind consumer. 

4. Codifying - mentioning our disability and/or our needs in written rules/regulations -  can be a huge benefit or a huge kettle of fish. As an example, my doctor once sent me to the local hospital for a CAT scan. I showed up at the appointed time, and the specialist said he had referenced the hospital's regulations and he found he had to provide an ASL interpreter because I was deaf. I explained that I did not use ASL - English was my preferred language. I used tactile fingerspelling or CAN. Yes, yes, he understood that, but his regulations said he had to provide an ASL interpreter so we had to reschedule the appointment. Further, my wife (my choice) could not be my interpreter as per his regulations. It took six weeks before we could get the procedure done. In the end the hospital provided a certified ASL interpreter (whose sole function was to certify that I was receiving communication) AND a CAN interpreter (who could not work in the procedure room because I was not in a position to read her typing), and in the end my wife did do all the interpreting. Moral of the story: Regulations intended to guarantee support often do not recognize diversity and inclusion.

5. Who's gonna pay for accommodation? A manager with a tight budget to fret over may not be receptive to paying for special equipment or services for just one employee. In this respect it is important - very important - to have the accommodation viewed as an integral part of the organization's total budget.

When I worked for the Feds we promoted billing all AT and support services to the "Working Capital Fund" and not to my branch/division/office. It was a part of the same billing account as heating the building or replacing furniture. It was therefore something the line manager should support, since it would improve the productivity of his group and not come out of his/her budget. Bottom line: The costs of supporting an employee with a disability should be viewed as improving overall organization productivity rather than a drag on an office's budget.

Rod Macdonald




----- Original Message -----
From: Ineko Gary via NFB-DB  <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
To:  nfb-db at nfbnet.org
CC: rubiigary at gmail.com
Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 4:26 am
Subject: Re: [NFB-DB] What do we want Employers to Know

>
>
> A lot of work today people who are deaf, blind. Use this sign language and some uses. Tactile sign language. Some uses large print. Some uses braille. We all use different technologies and techniques to do our job and to be independent. And yes, it is very important for the employer to ask how we can best help you instead of t thinking we can't do the job or putting us somewhere that they feel fit. Give us a chance to show if we can or cannot do the job.
Love always 
Ineko

Sent from my iPhone
> On Nov 9, 2022, at 9:20 AM, Deborah Kendrick via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> ?First and foremost, that DeafBlind represents many point on a spectrum, many
> combinations of vision and hearing disabilities.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFB-DB <nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Eric Duffy via NFB-DB
> Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:08 AM
> To: nfb-db at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Eric Duffy <peduffy63 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NFB-DB] What do we want Employers to Know
> 
> I am putting together a presentation for potential employers of the blind
> and deaf blind. What is it that we want employers to be sure they understand
> about recruiting, hiring, and promoting someone who is deaf blind?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Eric
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> NFB-DB mailing list
> NFB-DB at nfbnet.org
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> 
> 
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