[nabs-l] Jobs held by blind students

[Jamie Principato]

Hi there,

Angelina gives an interesting anecdote. I've actually never really known any
blind students who had jobs while they were attending school. Some have
expressed that between dealing with accessibility issues on campus,
arranging time with readers and the like, and of course just managing the
course work and, in some cases, the new taste of independent living, having
a job as well would be impractical. I know that this would be different for
different people depending on their life circumstances, so I don't argue or
question it. There are plenty of sighted students who aren't working while
taking classes for the same or similar reasons, and circumstances can
certainly change. It is good to hear examples from the other side of the
coin as well. It helps to remember that while some things might be harder
now than they could be, this doesn't mean that something is always
impossible or impractical.

I am not presently employed. I worked in high school as a tutor, and when I
was younger I babysat and did freelance art work (designing posters and
fliers for small businesses, greeting cards for individuals and such), but I
have not worked since I started college full time and began living on my
own. I am, howeer, doing directed independent study in a Cognitive
Psychology lab on campus, which, at present, amounts to working as an unpaid
research assistant (and eventually conducting your own research with minimal
guidance). I haven't really had access issues as of yet. I mostly conduct
literature searches, summarize bodies of data and how they relate to a given
topic, prepare experiment materials and see that students who volunteer to
participate in experiments receive their incentive for doing so, usually a
credit towards completion of a course that requires experiment
participation.

I did ask once if I could assist with data analysis, because I saw that they
were understaffed in this area at the time, but I was told that the
professors in the lab weren't sure that was a good idea. I don't want to
make assumptions about this response, now. At the time I had only just
learned how to use SPSS, the statistics software our department uses, but I
don't know how this professor would have known that. I don't think he knew
my schedule that semester, or my year in school off the top of his head. I
think it's possible that he was concerned about my ability to use the lab
computer, or read the data correctly and enter it all correctly. While this
upset me a little, I do realize that the work I am currently doing is by no
means "easier" or "less important" than data entry. One deals with the
beginning of the research process, and one deals with the end. I do need the
experience, though, so I think I'm going to try to demonstrate my competence
with SPSS, and the new command line software we're using, "R". I imagine
that's what you'd need to do with any employer who isn't sure of what you
can do, though I guess it's a bit harder if you haven't even landed the job
yet.

Best,

Jamie

On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 7:04 PM, Anjelina <anjelinac26 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> I thought exploring jobs as students would be an interesting thread.
> What types have you held as a student?
> In high school I worked part time at taco Bell. I believe most jobs are
> feasible for a person who is blind. The barrier is finding employers who are
> willing to think outside of the box. Even at Ataco Bell I had to work my way
> up to washing dishes.
> It was mentioned it may be difficult for a blind person to flip burgers do
> to sanitary regulations. I'm not sure about Burger joints but most fast food
> items are precooked/prepackaged which just required dropping the meat into a
> thermalize.
> Since I have not yet faced the full-time world of employment,I cannot offer
> any advice. It is disheartening reading accounts of capable willing job
> candidates who also face discrimination. We know what we are capable of;
>  the obstacle is being given a chance.
>
> Anjelina
> Sent from my iPhone
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