[nfbcs] Helping a software engineer keep his job

Sat Oct 18 17:07:10 UTC 2014

Mike:

With all due respect, why do you keep insisting upon a standard for what
time a blind person should spend to achieve a "normal" output -- presumably
meaning the same as that of one's sighted colleagues? The blind, as with
everyone else, are human beings with all the variability that this implies.
I submit that while the Department of Labor can come up with statistics for
how much work a particular job should entail, such statistics are
meaningless when dealing with the blind because there are so few of us.

You answered your own question: WHATEVER IT TAKES! If you, the blind person,
can tolerate this, well and good. If not, you can either improve your skills
or go into some other profession.

This is no different than it is for anyone else, given the array of talents
and capacities -- or lack thereof -- that we all manifest.

Mike Freeman

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike Jolls via
nfbcs
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2014 5:06 AM
To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Helping a software engineer keep his job

I am curious as I read these replies about what a blind person should learn
to get up to speed on being efficient, how spending extra time on the job to
compensate for a slower rate comes into this solution?  How much extra time
outside of a normal 40 hour week should a blind person expect to spend in
keeping up, or getting the necessary skills to be able to keep up.  The
obvious answer of course is "whatever it takes" ... but I'm curious if there
is any consensus as to an average time a blind person should expect to spend
each week working to stay even with normally sighted counterparts.  Fifty
hours a week?  Sixty hours?  This time spent can be doing whatever ...
learning new things ... spending extra time on project work ... whatever.
What should a blind or visually impaired person's expectation be to this
question?

As many of you who frequent this list may know, I'm a partially sighted IT
guy.  I already know I'm a slow reader.  I already know I only read about
50% of the rate of a normally sighted person.  Everything in my job as a
Windows GUI/Database application person requires me to see or read.  This
means just about every task is affected by my slower rate, and therefore in
my mind the only answer ... unless I find some different super guru faster
method of taking in the information ... or some way to auto-generate the
code I write (meaning less time to do it)... is to spend more time per day
to compensate for my slower rate.  I use Jaws and while that's helpful, it's
not a cure-all.   There are many times that I fall back to using my vision
and I know that's not the best thing to do.  Using icons, having to read
things on the screen because the screen reader can't do it.  It all adds up
to extra time.

In some ways it might be better if I was totally blind because it would
force me to use non-visual techniques.  When you have sight, you naturally
go back to it.  It's really hard to break old habits.

One thing I get from this topic is that many of you are NOT in a Windows GUI
environment, but rather in a text based command line environment.  Perhaps
for blind people, one answer to mitigating the "extra time" is to not do a
job that will require you use your vision so much ... such as the UNIX and
LINUX environment you guys talk about.  If I'm hearing you right, there
you're in a text based world and perhaps that's better.

But no excuses here.  I'm just saying that because of the slower vision
rate, I have come to the conclusion that I will have to spend extra time per
week to compensate for the rest of my life.  I'm just wondering if that's
been your experience as well and if there is a consensus as to the average
number of hours per week blind people should expect to spend?  Just this
week I spent about 60 hours ... I'm having to learn some new technologies
and still do my normal job.  It means spending a couple of hours a night
after work doing that.  Personally, I'd rather be with the wife enjoying my
evenings, but I have to maintain the workload and still learn the new stuff.
Where I work they want results and the bottom line is that they don't care
what you have to do.  They just want it done.  I just don't see any
alternative unless as I say there's some new way to allow me to do the work
more efficiently in less time.

Oh, and a question about a comment made in this thread.  Someone mentioned
using a variety of tools to get your job done ... including human readers.
I'm wondering if the blind professional has to pay for those readers out of
his or her own pocket, and what the cost of that service runs?  I sure don't
see my company wanting to support that kind of service.  As I see it, they'd
say ... "everyone else has stuff to do and they need to be doing their job
... just deal with your job and get it done".

Thanks for listening.  I'm just a guy trying to get things done so I can
stay employed until I retire.  At that time, I'm thinking of devoting myself
to working in the AT community ... maybe trying to help future blind
programmers.  In the world where I work, it's pretty brutal.

> To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:47:55 -0500
> Subject: [nfbcs] Helping a software engineer keep his job
> From: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> 
> Several days ago I was contacted by a software engineer who is going
blind.
> He uses the Linux operating system, and what he really needs is a way to
> efficiently do the things that are required of him as a programmer for
> Lockheed Martin. His employer seems to be willing to get him any equipment
> that might help him in his job, so they have gotten him Zoom text, the
> K1000, and I think they have even purchased several copies of JAWS for
> Windows for him to use on several computers. Of course all of these are
> based on Microsoft Windows, and what he really needs to interact with is a
> Linux box. He has figured out a way to do some terminal emulation that
lets
> him use screen reading technology, but all of the workarounds really make
it
> difficult for him to do what once was efficient.
> 
>  
> 
> Do any of you have ideas about how to help him? My impression is that he
is
> smart, motivated, well regarded by his employer, but at his wits in as to
> how to do his job and to meet the deadlines that are being offered. He is
> monitoring this list and will appreciate any comments that people care to
> give. I will be monitoring the list, but I will be on vacation and rather
> out of touch for the next ten days or so. I thank all of you for thinking
> about this and giving him your best ideas. His name is Graham Mehl.
> 
>  
> 
> Warmly,
> 
>  
> 
> Gary
> 
> Linix operating system
> 
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