[Nfbmo] Barriers to Employment

Tue Oct 9 02:29:01 UTC 2012

Hi everyone,

I will give a bit of a different perspective to the discussion of
employment.  First of all, for those of you who don't know, I am a
student.  I go to Webster University in St. Louis, and I study vocal
performance.  I am also quite proficient in German.  I plan to go to
grad school when I graduate for many reasons.  I'm not going to get
into all those reasons here, but I will outline some difficulties to
finding work as a blind performer.

There is, as with any job, the visual aspect of the work.  With
performing, it's the ability to navigate a stage as well as the acting
involved.  The ones doing the hiring don't want to give you a chance
if they even suspect you can't navigate a stage independently.  Here
I'm talking mainly about opera and musical theater jobs.  I am being
trained currently for opera, choral, and recital work.  These
challenges can be compared to other challenges blind people face every
day attempting to get access to their jobs in a visual world.

But there is another problem.  I have discussed this with other blind
musicians as well as the professors and coaches I work with here at
the university.  In an audition situation, they can refuse to hire you
for a performing job for so many reasons, most of them being
subjective.  Maybe I don't look the part, or maybe I don't sing one
cadenza correctly.  The reason almost doesn't matter.  This makes it
nearly impossible to prove discrimination.  An opera company may not
want to hire me because I'm blind, but officially all they might say
is that I'm not right for the part.  I have already experienced this
in a different way at my university.

I love what I do.  Singing is my thing, and I believe it is a gift
from God.  I would like to make a career out of it, but I may have to
prove myself more than the sighted musician.  One of you already said
that as blind people, we have to work twice as hard.  This is often
true in my profession.  I have to gain extra skills, be devoted to
learning certain things that sighted performers take for granted, and
take risks that can be extremely scary.  You try conducting or
physically acting in front of an audience of sighted people.  If you
think about it, it can be frightening.  But it can also be an amazing
learning experience.

I got a little off topic there, but I wanted to describe some of the
special challenges I face as a blind musician and performer.  I also
would like to note here that RSB doesn't have much experience dealing
with performers.

I believe that I can work my way to a job that I love.  But it will be
a lot of work.  I'll have to write again on the subject when I'm
actually in the job market...  I just wanted you all to see another
side of the job market.

Thank you for reading my novel.

On 10/12/03, Rita A Lynch <ralynch1950 at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> Very well said, Debbie!
>
> I hope that we can hear from more blind persons who find themselves
> unemployed, as a part of that 70% and what barriers you are encountering. We
>
> really do want to help overcome.
>
> Rita
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Debbie Wunder" <debbiewunder at centurytel.net>
> To: "nfbmo list" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 6:45 PM
> 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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-- 
Julie McG
 Lindbergh High School class of 2009, National Federation of the Blind
of Missouri recording secretary,
Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President,
and proud graduate of Guiding Eyes for the Blind

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life."
John 3:16