[Nfbmo] Barriers to Employment

[Debbie Wunder]

Barriers to Employment

 

Matt Siebert and Gary Wunder did such a great job on this subject; I am not sure what there is to add. I think possibly there are a few issues that start erecting this barrier before blind people reach working age.

 

Many children grow up in such protected environments that I believe some confidence is snuffed out early on. When doling out family chores, often the blind child is requested to do the most simple things: tasks that are not age appropriate, or worse, we are asked to do no chores at all.

 

Early on I have witnessed the public school or the parent having fewer expectations of a child with some partial vision, fearing they will put too much physical stress on their eyes, necks, and backs. Soon the bar for success is even lowered in the Child's vision. 

 

When I was fifteen, I applied for a summer job at the Saint Louis Zoo. I was told I would need better vision in order to give guests any directions to other zoo locations. This was the first discrimination that I myself recognized. I was devastated; no one had ever told my older brother Joe he could not work. Although my family thought this was ridiculous, no one really knew how to help me confront this problem or to understand it.

 

When I became a licensed vendor, I made a point of hiring a student to work for me; this was his first summer job. As blind people we start off early with different expectations from others and soon learn to accept and worse yet expect that it is ok to do nothing. So many blind students going through college do not ever have to worry about their book costs, tuition, room and board, because the state agency is there to pay their way. Again an attitude of deserving or, if you will, entitlement takes over. We are promised something; our parents, other family members, and friends have paid taxes for it; it is the law that we can take it; and, besides, isn't it just the next logical step-more schooling. But do we really consider the cost? My youngest daughter will start college in the fall; no one will pay for her books, her tuition, or supply her with a notetaker, a laptop, or an e-reader. Gary and I will take out loans. Abbey will be forced to take out loans. By the time she has a college degree, she will likely owe the cost of a new car, and goodness knows how much Gary and I will have to repay as we consider what are to be our golden years. The cost of the educations given to blind people now exceed $60,000, not counting the blindness technology we need to be successful. That kind of commitment, that belief in us, deserves a real effort on our part. I support what blind people get from rehabilitation; we deserve the right to be productive and contributing adults, but many of us don't seem to make good on the substantial investment our taxpayers have made in us.

 

Matt put it so very well. Blind young adults, in many situations, are afraid and stifled in reaching success. They have never been expected to earn their own way. As much as social security, blind pension, and other forms of needed public assistance  is a cushion and a protection against being a burden to family, it is a jailer. As Matt says, it keeps you from having to count your change, stifles your willingness to worth for minimum wage, and makes it easy to rationalize and accept responsibility for moving forward. Yes, you will pay more for your transportation and it will be less convenient than for the person with a car in his driveway. You will have to work harder to be punctual, and sometimes you will be disappointed and will disappoint others when your plans are spoiled by the late cab or the late bus.

 

One speaker on employment at our national convention (I think he works in Texas) said that one's first job is important-not because it is the kind of job you want--but because it is the job that will lead to your second, your third, and eventually to the job you want.

 

Many of us have been willing to live at a place in life where we expect nothing of ourselves and learn to live this way. Gary likes to jokingly say that, when he is least busy, he gets up in the morning with nothing to do, and at the end of the day he only gets it half done. It was funny the first time he said it, but, like most of his jokes, he tells it too many times. There is some truth in many things that are funny, and I think what people say about giving something you really want done to the busiest person is unfortunately true. 

 

In saying all of this I am not trying to knock where so many people are, but I want to be honest and help to figure out a way to inspire, push, support, and build a hunger for confidence and success in our group of good and gentle people. I know what a job can mean in terms of self-esteem, how much it can raise the household income, and what it means to start each day with something important to do. I also know the sadness that comes when you realize you are trying to figure out just what your role is in life, the thing that brings importance because of what your effort means to others. I know what it means to do things all day and to feel like you have started 10 things and not successfully finished one. I want us to help blind people to find our way out of this trap; I hope this piece contributes to our discussion.

 

Debbie