[Nfbmo] what jobs are we doing?

Tue Oct 9 04:55:55 UTC 2012

Thank you David for sharing your thoughts.

On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 10:52 PM, david hertweck <
david.hertweck at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> After reading  Matthew Sievert's excellent comments and Debbie's post
> about wanting to know what types of jobs people are doing I would like to
> share part of my story.  I apologize if this is a little long and I do not
> mean it as bragging I want to share my experience so that if I can help
> anyone or be a mentor or just talk with someone that wants to know about
> working I would be glad to help.
>
> Again this is a little long but I think we as the blind comunity can do so
> much more.
>
> My name is David Hertweck I am 48 years  old and legally blind from birth.
> I live in St. louis and I am currently an engineer / project manager for
> Bausch & Lomb.
>
> I am a product of the St. Louis special school district that had a
> resource room to teach brail, and help out with other things.  This school
> was a long distance from my home and I spent 2 to 3 hours a day on special
> school district busses.  Starting in first grade I spent almost all my time
> in the resource room and deeply desired to be in the "normal" class room.
>  By the time I was in 6th grade I spent all my time except for test taking
> in the "normal" class room.  I truely believe that this first 6 years layed
> down the foundation for my life.
>
> next came middle school and I did not fit in with that resource room or
> middle school.  I stuck it out for 2 years and in 1978 I decided to main
> stream myself and go to my local highschool.  At that time special school
> did not want me to do this but with the support of my family we did it and
> it was a turning point in my life.   As Mat states it is a matter of
> wanting something so badly you make it happen your self.  I believe this is
> no different for anyone weather you have a handicap or not.  The people I
> have had the pleasure to work with through out my life share this idea.
>  To put it bluntly I worked my but off to complete high school ranked in
> the low 20s out of a class of over 400 and yes it was hard getting books in
> brail and on tape in a timely way to complete the work.
>
> All my life my parents did not treat me any different from my sighted
> brother.  They did not restrict me or expect less of me.
>
> In college it was more of the same putting in a lot of effort.  One
> turning point in my life was when my chemistry prof stated if I would take
> the required lab he would give me an F no matter what.  He did not want a
> blind person in his lab.  At the time I was 18 years old this was hard to
> take and respond to this.  I did not take the class and changed my
> direction.  It worked out for the best, but from that point on I never let
> anyone tell me I could not do something.
>
> I completed college in 1986 with a BA in mathamatics.  In looking for my
> first job there was lots of rejection.  My eyes look strange and by looking
> at them you can tell I am blind.  Many interviews ended at hello.  This is
> very disappointing that they would not even talk to me or just give lip
> service just to get rid of me.  With persistence I got my first
> professional job working for Washington  University dental school.  This
> job was as a lab technition doing data analysis.
>
> In 1990 the dental school closed  and I could not find a job.  The Dr. I
> work for ask me if I wanted to continue to work with her but the lab was
> moving to the University of Cincinnati.   This was a big chalenge moving to
> a new city but I took it and it turned out for the best meeting my wife and
> byeing my first house.
>
> I left the lab in 1998 after getting my masters and went with a start up
> company.  This job lasted for 2 years and the company did not start up.
> During this time another engineer and myself were sent to South America .
> It was amazing how I was received  by the engineers in South America  being
> technically  competent being blind just never came up as a limitation other
> than not being able to drive the truck.  professionally I was the expert on
> sight and we worked as a team.  The biggest problem on the entire project
> was not speaking Spanish.
>
> I left that job in 2000 when I had an opportunity to move back to St.
> Louis as and engineer for Bausch & Lomb.  Now I design ophthalmic surgical
> equipment used to restore sight.
>
> In my day to day life I have erned the respect of my coworkers.  Through
> out my working life I do not expect to be treated differently than any
> other person and I strive to do my job in such a way that being blind just
> never comes up.
>
> Now that I am older and have interviewed several people for entry level
> jobs I have learned that looking and finding  a job is one of the hardest
> things a person will ever do in their entire life .  This is treu for
> everyone regardless if you are blind or not.  I state looking and finding a
> job not just looking, there is a big difference.  To find a job one must
> make finding a job their job.  That is working at least 40 hours a week on
> finding a job.  Many people out there just do not do this.  It is very very
> hard for everyone to get that first job.  Once you have that first job let
> your track record speek for itself.
>
> If there is anyone out there that would like to talk or write please do so.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Debbie Wunder
> Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2012 2:35 PM
> To: nfbmo list
> Subject: [Nfbmo] what jobs are we doing?
>
>
> Hello, I have been following this thread on employment, and I am curious
> to see if folks would be willing to share some information with the list?
> What job are you doing, what type of training was required for your job. Do
> you use any type of computer software, or other technology to do your job.
>
> Have you completed a traing program for employment placement? Have you
> been to a rehab center? Are you a Braille user, if not would you benefit by
> using Braille?
>
> Do you have skills or talents that you have put to use in order to make a
> living? Maybe you are a carpenter, seamstress, artist, daycare, please
> share with us.
>
> Many of us are looking for work, deciding what work we can do, and would
> very much benefit by your input.
>
> Maybe we can build a list of what blind people are doing here in Missouri,
> turn it into a mentoring program to get more folks working.
>
> Thanks,
> Debbie
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