Career Opportunities for the Blind
Such a simple question, "So, what do you want to be when you grow up?" and such a difficult one for many children and young adults with visual impairments to answer. Unfortunately, the expectations of many in the larger society are that young people with disabilities are not likely to go to work when they grow up. The reality is that blind and visually impaired children can look forward to doing almost anything when they grow up - just like their peers with good eyesight.
The article, So, What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? , introduces a new technology that is a resource for individuals who are blind and/or visually impaired.
This technology is a job-seeking tool that was created by the AFB or better known as, the American Foundation for the Blind, to help “open many career doors that were once closed for adults with visual impairments…”
The name of the site is called AFB CareerConnect. The site is free and is easy to access.
Once an individual registers with Career Connect website, there is a section where one can place their resume on the webpage and fill out a personal data sheet. There is also a link to a mentor database that connects people in different careers who share their experiences working as a visually impaired or blind individual. This mentor system will try and find a good match to someone in your location.
CareerConnect also provides information that will link users to different types of technology that is used by visually impaired individuals in the workforce. These various types of technology include ‘screen magnification systems, Braille technology, synthetic speech systems, optical character recognition equipment, video magnifiers, and more.
Does this Web Resource provide results?
This technology seems like a great tool for people who are blind and or have some type of visual impairment. However, for those individuals who are blind, someone would have to navigate the webpage for them. Is this web resource effective? Are there mentors for everyone? Well, the site provides links to different success stories of mentors and mentees from a variety of ages.
Check out this link to read about Dr. James. A Kutsch and how he went from working for AT&T to becoming the president of the prestigious seeing eye dog school, The Seeing Eye
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=7&TopicID=267&SubTopicID=76&DocumentID=3102
This is one of many success stories that will inspire not only children who are blind and visually impaired, but adults as well who ever felt as though they couldn’t have a challenging career due to their disability.
References:
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/fall04/grow.htm
American Foundation for the Blind/ CareerConnect
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=7
Note: This page was contributed by: Kai Blackwood