[Nfbmo] Barriers to Blind Employment

[James Moynihan]

Gene

You said it very well.

Thanks

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene Coulter" <escoulter at centurytel.net>
To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2012 1:43 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Barriers to Blind Employment


>I may not say this very wellbut have two examples in my life that maybe
> worth sharing.
> As far as the point about being willing to move. It can be very tough to
> leave a situation you are familiar with if the new opportunity  is 
> marginal.
> In 1983 I graduated from vending training and the only facilities 
> available
> paid less than the minimum wage therefore not worth moving halfway across
> the state. Finally, the Bureau for the Blind offerred me a temporary
> location in Jefferson City so  we picked up and moved from Columbia to
> Jefferson City only to have the Bureau decide to  discontinue the facility
> six weeks after we moved.
> In the other instance if I had been offerred my job ten years later with 
> FSD
> there would have been no incentive other than pride to go to work. In 1995
> we figured out that I was working for a net income of $1.44 an hour after
> subtracting  the amount I would get on SSDI for myself and my kids and by
> the time you added cab fares it was even less.  Pride kept me there and 
> also
> the knowledge  that dependents SSDI would end someday.
> Since I retired last November I have had a internal conflict about 
> returning
> to work. The earnings cliff is a great barrier along with my comfort level
> of being home. We are so settled in Columbia at this stage of our live and 
> I
> know it is unlikely I’d find a job paying less than $1,690.00 a month 
> that
> I would be happy in.
> Hope this helps in the conversation
> Gene
>
>
> From: Gary Wunder
> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 3:30 PM
> To: 'NFB of Missouri Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Barriers to Blind Employment
>
> Here are the things I've observed and heard. We need to get solid
> information from those who are unemployed and not rely much on second-hand
> accounts such as the one I am about to give.
>
> 1. Lack of good training in assistive technology--there is more to using
> Jaws or WindowEyes than arrow and tab keys.
>
> 2. Some programs, internet or otherwise, will not talk, regardless ones
> level of competence with screen-reading software. This eliminates jobs 
> that
> capable blind people could do.
>
> 3. Some of us place restrictions on potential employment that we might not
> place on it were we not already receiving minimal incomes: I will not ride
> the bus an hour each way; I cannot move to a different city because this 
> is
> where my friends live; I do not want to live in a city, even though I know
> there are no jobs in my community and no transportation for me to get to
> another.
>
> 4. I am afraid. School I understand, but what would it be like to work in 
> an
> office and have to learn the location of things, learn the names of new
> people, and figure out how to make accommodations when something changes.
>
> 5. I am stuck where I am. It has been ten years since I had to get up in 
> the
> morning and meet a schedule. At one level I think I can do it, but at
> another I'm scaredd.
>
> 6. The earnings cliff means that, no matter how much I want to work,
> economically it just doesn't make sense.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of James Moynihan
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 10:36 AM
> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
> Subject: [Nfbmo] Barriers to Blind Employment
>
> Fellow Federationists
>
> The rate of unemployment for the blind is between %70 and %80.  The
> Employment Research Committee (ERC) is working on identifying the barriers
> to employment of the blind and possible solutions.  Pleas state the 
> barriers
> that you believe contribute to blind unemployment and possible solutions.
> Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.
>
> Cordially,
>
> Jim Moynihan
>
> ERC Chair
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