[Nfbmo] Barriers to Employment

Kyle Borah kgborah at att.net
Sun Oct 7 00:22:00 UTC 2012


Wow, debby.  Wel said.

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Debbie Wunder
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 6:45 PM
To: nfbmo list
Subject: [Nfbmo] Barriers to Employment

        
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
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