Previous Interviews
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Interview
Name: Betsy Whitney
Company Name: Dolphin Press
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I was born in California. I attended public schools. When I started college, I contacted my local vocational rehabilitation department for financial assistance with tuition, books, and funding for paying readers. At that time we didn't have computers and many of our textbooks were not available in Braille or on tapes. I paid students in my classes to either read to me or read onto a tape. It worked well because the other students needed to do the reading anyway, and most students are looking for some sort of work while in college. They said it was like getting paid to do their studying.
After a short break to marry and have children, I went to work as a long distance telephone operator with Pacific Bell, which changed to AT&T. Eleven years later, I found myself with a back injury after an auto accident and unable to continue working for AT&T. Twelve years later, I decided to try my hand at producing materials in alternate formats. At this time, Dolphin Press produces Braille, large print and audio formats of many types of documents. All of the people who work with Dolphin Press as independent contractors are people with disabilities. My coworkers live in Hawaii, Florida and New York. It's the perfect job for me because I can work at home, where I can take breaks when needed and I don't have to deal with transportation challenges. I also save lots of money by not having to purchase work clothes.
I have been an advocate for myself and people with all kinds of disabilities since I can remember. I was fortunate that my teachers had to find ways for me to be included in all class activities. I learned to think of ways to achieve a goal, rather than focusing on the things that I had to do differently.
What kind of jobs have you had?
Babysitting, Long distance Telephone operator, receptionist, and owner of Dolphin Press.
What do you do now?
I started Dolphin Press in 1997. It has been a great learning experience and I really love my job. I especially like helping others to have a positive work experience. I love figuring out how someone who wants to work can fit into our Dolphin Press team.
Do you have any advice for people trying to find employment or for starting businesses?
I would strongly recommend that a person concentrate on finding work doing something that you enjoy. Think about your interests, hobbies, and kinds of books you like to read, games you like to play and activities that you enjoy. I suggest that you try some volunteer jobs to help you understand the work environment. Volunteering will also help you find out if you really like doing certain types of jobs. If you are volunteering, offer to do things that you know you're good at so that you feel productive and others see your abilities. If you are volunteering or in an actual job, always be thinking about how you could perform other jobs in the work environment. Often if you have it all figured out to begin with, others will let you try more things. They'll think you're really smart because you figured it out.
When I decided to start Dolphin Press, I went back to my local vocational rehabilitation Services to see if they could help me with some equipment to get started. After I prepared a business plan, attended workshops presented by the Small Business Administration, and found a way to pay for some of my equipment; they did help me get started. I also was helped by another person with a disability, who believed in me and loaned me one-third of the money that I needed to buy the most important piece of equipment, a Braille display. I did find it amusing that my VR Counselor, on the day I received my year-old computer, said "I just don't see how you are going to do this work." I smiled and explained in much detail exactly how I saw it. She said she was willing to help me because I seemed so sure that it was going to work, even though she really didn't understand it.
Interview
Name: Linn Sorge
Company Name: The Hadley School for the Blind
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am a fulltime instructor at the Hadley School for the Blind. I began fulltime employment here in January of 2001. Before that I was employed at Northern Illinois University as a service provider for persons with disabilities. I also did some part-time teaching while there for the Programs In Vision within the Special Education Department. I am also a certified braille transcriber. My undergraduate degree is in music education. My graduate degree and extra coursework is in teaching persons with visual impairments. I have been totally blind since birth due to optic nerve atrophy. I went to a residential school because mainstreaming was not available then. The education from the school was excellent! I had already completed college-level music history and two music theory courses before I finished high school. I have also done and still do some private music teaching.
What kind of jobs have you had?
See question 2 above. I have also done teacher's aide work while in college. I began teaching private piano to sighted children when I was a senior in high school. I also did substitute teaching for a while before returning to college to get my graduate degree. I tried management of a vending stand which was a full cafeteria setting. Money was excellent, but it was not something I enjoyed. Sometimes loving a job may mean earning a little less money, but feeling content and right about what one is doing.
What do you do now?
See question 2 above. For hobbies, I read, play and listen to music, enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, birding, canoeing, etc. I have also been swimming with dolphins several times--an experience that is beyond description. I began weaving about 14 years ago. I have my own floor loom and have had my artwork accepted in juried exhibits.
Do you have any advice for people trying to find employment or for starting businesses?
Learn to write and speak well. Good communication skills can help you get and keep a job. Dress appropriately for interviews and work. Get new training when needed. If a job requires computer skills, go to the interview with the skills needed in place. Be as independent as you can when interviewing. If at all possible, get to and from the interview on your own rather than having a family member "take" you. Strive to find a job that you believe in and that you think you would enjoy.
Interview
Name:
Irwin Hott
Company Name:
Newsreel Magazine
What types of employment have you had over the years?
Worked with my Grandfather Mastering, Duplicating and mailing tapes for Friendly World Broadcasting.
Co-founded the Central Ohio radio Service and worked there first as a technician and then as Director of technical Services.
Did phone Tech Support for Blazie Engineering in the late 1990's.
Started helping Stan Doran edit Newsreel in about 1986 on a part-time basis, and took over as Editor in about 1997. It is still a part-time job.
What is your current job?
Newsreel Editor
What are some of your responsibilities?
Newsreel is an audio magazine produced on 4-track cassette, MP3 CD and as a MP3 download from our website, http://www.newsreelmag.org. It is unique in that most of the articles are sent in by subscribers in their own voices. I take the articles, (still mostly on cassette), record them onto a PC, and then edit them. I edit the articles into a 3-hour monthly issue. I produce the Master cassette and the files for the CD and Download versions. I copy the cassettes. We have a staff of 4 part-time people, so I have lots of help. We also have some very active volunteer assistance.
Do you have any advice for those seeking employment or those starting businesses?
Never stop reading and learning. Try to do the very best you can with your job. Unfortunately, I think it is still true that if you are blind, you have to be able to do the job better than just about anyone else. Keep thinking of ways to make the job easier whether it's using technology or simple inexpensive solutions.
What were some of the obstacles you have had to overcome?
The main obstacles were attitudinal problems. People not believing that I could do a job in the first place.
Interview
Name: Frank Casey
Status: Retired
My name is Frank Casey. I was born, May 22nd, 1949, in Albany, New York. I attended school in the Albany Public School system through the seventh grade. In September, 1962, I became a student at the New York Institute For The Education Of The Blind, (now known as the New York Institute For Special Education), in Bronx, New York. While attending the New York Institute, I majored in typing, public speaking and radio electronics. It was through the radio electronics program that I was able to study for, and obtain, my amateur radio license which I still hold, today. I graduated from the New York Institute, with a high school diploma, in June, 1968. Shortly after graduation, I accepted employment as an emergency radio dispatcher with the County of Albany. Initially, emergency dispatching was relatively simple. I received and disseminated police, fire and ambulance calls with the aid of a Perkins Braille writer and a manual typewriter. As the years grew on, the electric typewriter overtook the manual typewriter. While in the field of emergency dispatching, I experienced just about any type of emergency one could imagine, both tragic and humorous. Perhaps, the most tragic was the crash of Mohawk Airlines Flight 405, traveling from New York City to Albany, on the evening of Friday, March 3rd, 1972. Flight 405 was a popular flight for business travelers, bringing people home to their families, after a day’s work in New York City. This night, Flight 405 developed mechanical problems, as it approached Albany. The aircraft crashed into a home, in the western section of Albany. While I say the aircraft “crashed into the home,” the home, actually, wound up landing ontop of the aircraft, due to the force of the crash. Sixteen people onboard the aircraft and one person inside the house lost their lives in the crash. Out of the sixteen fatalities on the aircraft, eight were employees of General Electric. Miraculously, there was no fire, most likely the reason for so few fatalities. The only thing I was thinking as I sat at my control console was, “Planes don’t crash in Albany!” Well, I know I was wrong. ABC, NBC, CBS, you name it, even the BBC, were calling, wanting to know details on the crash.
Then, there were the more light-hearted calls, but they, too, had a serious side to them. There was the person who called to report a horse in a well. Now, one might think that emergency personnel only rescue people who fell down wells. My job was to send help to rescue the beloved horse and to make sure that no person, or persons, fell down the well attempting to rescue a horse. So, out went the fire trucks and, yes, out of the well came the horse, a little scared but, nevertheless, safe. Then, there was the 80-year-old lady who lived alone and called to say her kitten was stuck under her refrigerator. Ok, it probably sounds like the “cat up in the tree.” Yes, I dispatched the fire department. I had to take into account two important factors. First, I had an 80-year-old lady, alone, probably trying to move a refrigerator, trying to remove little “Fluffy.” I knew that if that refrigerator ever fell, “Fluffy” and owner could, perhaps, be killed and, then, the real tragedy would have occurred. In short, every call I received was, indeed, an emergency to me. Emergencies, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. When one accepts a job as an emergency dispatcher, they accept all shapes, sizes and the things that go with them.
In October, 1994, the County Of Albany introduced Enhanced 9-1-1 to its residents. For the emergency dispatch community, our way of dispatching changed, for ever. Everything we did, prior to the start of 9-1-1 was “out the window.” We never dreamed that we, as emergency dispatchers, would be required to walk callers through CPR. We never knew we’d be called upon to guide a caller through the process of delivering a baby. Nevertheless, the brave lot we are, we learned and we learned quickly. As a visually impaired dispatcher, I was faced with a major challenge. Our 9-1-1 center, like many others throughout the country, used “EMD,” (emergency medical dispatch) cards. This meant that the cards had to be translated into Braille for me. Since there wasn’t much time for me to comply with the need for the use of the EMD cards, I had to Braille all of the EMD cards. I had to accomplish this task in a way which would allow me to use the cards as quickly and as accurately as my normally-sighted counterparts. Then, the company who produced the EMD cards wanted to make sure that I could use the cards as reliably as a normally-sighted emergency dispatcher. This meant that, in addition to the certification which all 9-1-1 dispatchers received, the company insisted that I take their own individual training course. So, knowing that I needed, and equally important, enjoyed my job, I completed the certification training and was able to use the EMD cards as accurately as my co-workers were able to use them.
In 2001, I decided that I had accomplished all I had hope to in the field of emergency communications. Thus, I retired. It was, for the most part, an enjoyable career.
Now, I am enjoying my life of leisure with my Wife, Kathy, to whom I have been married to for 23 years. I am still a ham radio operator, with the call sign of W2JIO. I am active with the Albany County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, (RACES), a volunteer organization which helps provide emergency radio communications to local authorities, when conventional means of radio communications, phones, radios, Etc. fail. My Wife and I are active with the American Council Of The Blind.
In closing, I would say that any blind and visually impaired person should make the most of their life. Get the best education possible to prepare yourself for the employment world and do your best to achieve your employment goals. In doing so, be a realist. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Remember, not everyone’s going to wind up in the White House. However, every person has a purpose in life. Everyone has a contribution to make. As the old saying laments, “You may be one person in the world, but you may be the world to one person.” You, as a blind or visually impaired person, can make a difference. Give yourself a chance and, yes, give others a chance. That’s what helps us as blind and visually impaired individuals move forward in life. If we, as a visually impaired community, are not willing to help ourselves, we can’t expect others to do it for us.
Interview
THOMAS J.OLZAK
Braille Institute
Manager
Youth/Career Services
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF?
From 1978-1992, I was regional sales manager and a gemologist at Gordon’s Jewelers. I supervised 13 stores on the West Coast. In 1992 due to a hereditary eye disease, I became legally blind at the age of 41. I went back to school and received a Bachelor of Arts in behavioral science and then went to law school and graduated in 1999.
I worked as a disability rights advocate for six years representing clients that felt they were denied their rightful benefits. I helped them get through the process whether it be Social Security, Medicare, HUD, or EEOC. I was able to assist them in attaining the benefits they deserved.
I worked for California Reimbursement Enterprises for two years. I was manager of operations and I started their advocacy program.
For four years, I worked at Westside Center for Independent Living. I was part of the DIAL project. The DIAL program “Deinstitutionalization is About Living” is a pilot program implementing the Olmstead Act.
Currently, I am manager of youth and career services of Braille Institute of America, Orange County Regional Center. My job is to coordinate the design and implementation of innovative programs for students ages 6-18 and 19-30. These programs are designed to teach them the fundamental skills they need to attain their goals of complete integration into the sighted community.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT?
1. Know what your passion is. If you’re not passionate about what you do, you won’t want to get up every morning and go do it
2. Network as much as possible.
3. Most Important! Don’t Quit! It’s not easy out there. If you stay with it and you have a passion for something, you will work hard enough to go get it and succeed.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE YOU HAVE HAD TO OVERCOME?
To get over the mental aspect of becoming comfortable with whom I am as a person who is now blind.
At the beginning the mental part of being blind was the hardest. The mechanics of how to be a blind person when you’ve been sighted for 41 years is fairly easy. You learn how to use a computer, the adaptive equipment, orientation and mobility. That’s the easy part. The hard part is between your ears. Understanding that 1) you can no longer see anymore 2) it’s not that big of a deal. Blindness is not something that can’t be overcome. It’s not something that you can’t use an opportunity rather than an obstacle.
CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON YOUR CURRENT OCCUPATION?
I make sure my youth consultants and the staff that work for me design programs that enable our kids to attain their goals of integration. We teach the kids socialization skills and the things they need to be successful in the sighted community. We assist individuals that are seeking jobs. I do not find people jobs, I teach them the skills to find jobs. We have a Job Club program. We immediately tell students how going to work will affect their benefits. A lot of people are afraid to work because they are afraid of losing their benefits. We show them that even if you go out and make money and lose your cash benefit, you’re still making more than those 800 dollars, because it’s two for one. Secondly, you’ll maintain your medical insurance as long as you have a job that doesn’t pay you over 32,000 dollars a year. If you’re making over 32,000 a year, you’re probably getting benefits from your employer.
We also teach how to put a resume together, how to write thank you notes, how to prepare for an interview, how to post resumes on websites, how to do online job searches and how to follow-up. We teach them these skills so that when they leave here it’s not that we found them a job, it’s they have the skills to find a job.
I also supervise the access technology department. Basically, I supervise individuals who teach our kids how to use adaptive equipment that they need to succeed and put them on a level playing field in school and at work. I am also supervisor of the Braille Institute Technology Loan program. We have 88 students who borrow equipment that they use in school from age 6-18 years old.
I am also on the Braille Institute Speakers Bureau. I meet with different entities to tell them what we do here at the Braille Institute.
Primarily, my job is to try and make an impact on student’s lives. To let them know that if a man who at the age of 41 ends up losing his eyesight can go through school and get a law degree and be successful then a 6, 8, 10, 18 year old with all these great things going on can do anything they want to do. If they can think it they can make it happen. The only thing that limits them is the limits they place on themselves. As an organization, we empower our kids to dream and not settle.
DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED COMMUNITIES?
Don’t put any limitations on yourself. Dream big. Prepare yourself. If you are prepared and an opportunity arises, you will be prepared to take that opportunity. Don’t quit, stay with it, find what you want to do and make it happen. The ability to do so with all the technology we have today is out there. You just have to want it bad enough. It’s called the want it factor. Learn the skills you need to succeed in the sighted community and then dream big and make it happen.
Interview
Name: Mark Andrew Marvel
Company: Blind Ambitions Groups
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF?
I was born in Salisbury, Maryland and lived for the first twenty five years in Georgetown, Delaware. As I grew, I always wanted to be a firefighter and emergency services person in the fire service. At the age of fifteen, I was like the fire company boy wonder. I helped with the clean up when the guys got back and cleaned up the masks and hoses. It was great to hang out with the guys at the station. I became a member of the fire department and later became an instructor of the fire services in structural and industrial fire fighting. My greatest thrill was teaching techniques of vehicle rescue and the Jaws of Life. In 1993, I moved to Dallas to work for the Fire & Emergency Television Network selling the Satellite Training to the fire departments in Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Maryland. I later, used my instructor skills and was promoted to implementation for FETN so I could train the trainers how to use the program and integrate this system into their existing training programs. I left the FETN Company in 1994 to pursue the insurance industry with little success but a lot of knowledge about networking and meeting people. I learned a lot about business and business people. I was able to use this in the rest of my life’s adventure as I stepped into the role of team leader in the Wal-Mart stores. I think that this was the time I learned about how to treat people. We were taught the ten foot rule where if a customer is within ten feet of you, you are to engage them with a hello and a “Can I help you find something?” I had always been an extravert and friendly but this forced the issue and made you meet all people and be not so selective. I later, left to work for my own internet business magazine but did not get the funding to get the project off the ground. I went into the gym business as the trainer manager and sold people on the benefits of personal training and personal trainers. This led me to work with the Palm Beach Tan Company of Dallas. I was hired as a manager in 1997 and later became the district manager in 1999. I enjoyed the tanning industry more than almost anything except running into burning buildings. In either job you ran the risk of getting burned. In early 2001, I started getting sick and later found out I had been suffering from diabetes and began to fail in health from complications. My eyes became blurry and my kidneys began to fail. On April 1, 2001 I was legally blind and on my way to total blindness by the end of that year. I began dialysis in September of 2001 and nearly lost my life to a strep infection in my right leg in November of the same year. You could say that 2001 was one hell of a bad year. Let’s back up to May of 2001. I was watching the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. That night I heard the person who would change my life forever. That man was Erik Weihenmayer. He had just climbed Mount Everest and he was blind. Throughout the interview, he talked about the challenges of the climb and the teamwork. All of this was very inspiring and then he said the one thing that got me fired up. He said the Climbing Mount Everest was a great accomplishment was more amazing was the fact that when he was going blind, he couldn’t find the bathroom. I had not made it to the bathroom more than once and was embarrassed over the results. When he said that, I said to myself “If this guy can wet his pants and climb Everest Blind, Then I can do any damn thing I want to do. It was then that I lost that pity Party attitude and started to find out more about life in the blind world. I found out that my wife’s daughter’s little girl from down the street had a father who was blind. He told me about the Lighthouse and then the lighthouse told me about the Commission for the blind
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE YOU HAVE HAD TO OVERCOME?
I would have to say that the lack of understanding of someone who really wanted to get started was a challenge. At first, when I was going through dialysis, I had a lot of challenges and a lot of struggles with health. I think everyone thought that I would just sit home and be out of the way. The frustration from that lead to my divorce and a lot of bad feelings about me being treated like an invalid. It happens in the and outside the family. Others have treated me like poor Mark who puzzles me as I have never been one to act, seem or display helplessness when I was able to do something. I may ask for help but I am in no way helpless. Health challenges have hindered me from reaching some of my goals. I spent a major portion of time in the hospitals from December of 2007 even up through the end of August of 2009. I have a toe amputated, then the other four, and finally on June 17, 2009 I had a below the knee amputation. But they are only challenges and ones that I have faced and will conquer.
CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON YOUR CURRENT OCCUPATION?
I am the Job Developer for Blind Ambitions Groups serving the Dallas and Fort Worth Metroplex. I work with individuals who are blind or visually impaired and help them to find jobs. I work with them through a contract called Job Readiness Training and Job Placement for the Division for Blind Services. WI teach them personal and socialization skills, Resume Writing skills, Application skills, Job Seeking skills, Interviewing skills, and finally, Job retention skills. I do this with students for twenty hours and when they have completed the course, they have the skills they need to go out and find work. If they choose, they can also retain metro to assist them in finding jobs as well. I have been doing this for Blind Ambitions Groups since September of 2005. In January of 2009 blind Ambitions Groups and I signed a contract with the Division for Blind Services to work with Support Employment consumers to help them find jobs. We are looking forward to serving this community as well in the coming year.
DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED COMMUNITIES?
Be very strong and don’t let people walk over you. As so many people in this world were determined to make sure I understood I was blind and that couldn’t do things on my own, I was determined to make sure people didn’t realize that I was blind because I did all the things I wanted to do. I want you to know that there is a life out there to be lived and a place for all of us. We are people too. We just happen to be blind. Maybe we can’t see the faces of the people around us but we can hear what they say. As horrible as some of the things that come out of their mouth about us is not important. What is important is to speak up and to tell your story if you hear someone say something about that blind guy and it happens to be you. Talk to them. Say hello. Say things like “I couldn’t help but hear you comments and let me explain something to you about my blindness”. It is a warm way of educating the blind. You may even just have introduced yourself to your next employer.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT?
I do. As I stated in can you tell more about your job, I am a job developer and an employment consultant for Blind Ambitions Groups. I would say, always be, look and act your best. Talk to everyone around you that you can. At a quiet moment on the bus or train, ask what it looks like outside, and strike up a conversation. Get business cards and network with people around your area and in your area of expertise. Get up every morning and test the bus line. Bring a resume with you and put them in a computer bag or just under your arm in a nice little folder. I give the idea that you are going to work. Take the same trip every morning so you see the same people. Talk to the people around you on the bus and get to know the people around you at the bus stop as well. Go to every job fair, but not to get a job, but to practice your introduction skills. Go to group meetings and talk about jobs and ask who is working in the group and where and who is the H.R. person and would you put in a good word for me or will you be a reference for me. Lastly, don’t give up. There is a job for you, even in this time we live right now with people out of work. I know the jobs are there and I have seen them in just about every state. Listen to my radio show every Wednesday and all day Thursday on www.acbradio.org and click on main stream. You will find the show Eyes on Employment is airing and that is me talking to you about how to find jobs. You can also go to my website and find all the shows from the past with guest who has great tips for employment. www.blindambitionsgroups.org is the website. I hope you will check it out. My contact information is on the website but you can also call me toll-free at 888-760-9252 or email me at mark.marvel@blindambitionsgroups.org any time. There is a place and job out there for all of us. I can help you think it if you will give me a call.
Interview
Name: Marci Lopez
Company Name: Christal Vision
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF?
I began my life as a working person as a receptionist for a sheltered work shop in Austin, Texas in 1985. Three years later I took a position as a PBX Operator for the Austin Police department where I was able to assist emergency operators with Spanish speaking callers. I was selected as employee of the year by the Austin Police Department in 1988. In 1991, I learned COBOL at El Centro College’s Computer Programmer Training for Persons with Disabilities and programmed computers for two major companies for nine years after course completion. Since then, I have held positions as a personal banker, and an Associate Service Trader with a major brokerage firm where I obtained my NASD Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.
A good friend of mine, now my manager at Christal Vision, created a class to teach assistive technology at Brookhaven College and I worked as his assistant for five semesters. In July 2004, I took a job at a help desk, answering employee requests by e-mail and taught access technology part time. I have been Christal Vision’s Product Specialist for almost 5 years and have traveled across Texas presenting assistive technology to colleges, educational service centers, independent school districts, and libraries. I teach assistive technology throughout Texas for Christal Vision, a company which provides instruction to private and state consumers. I enjoy reading, playing the flute, singing, computers and the internet, meeting people, foreign languages, fragrances, positive quotes, family and friends. I have a large bell collection. I absolutely enjoy life, a precious gift from God.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE YOU HAVE HAD TO OVERCOME?
Learning my way around new places. The ways I overcome this obstacle are by being good friends with a wonderful mobility instructor. For a dinner or for the gift of fragrance, she teaches me to become familiar with these places. Another way to overcome this obstacle is with a sparkling personality. When you voice your needs to people, they are very willing to assist. I have met some wonderful people in Texas with a friendly smile and a positive “hello.”
CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON YOUR CURRENT OCCUPATION?
I have the opportunity to assist people to become productive, empowered and independent, or to get a piece of the pie. It’s a great experience to teach people that they can communicate with their families by e-mail, they can surf the internet and find the information they need. They can create spreadsheets and produce beautiful documents. I am their teacher. I have many wonderful recommendation letters from the students I assist. I enjoy helping people make positive life changes.
DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED COMMUNITIES?
I heard a speech which I never forgot. The speaker said that we should take the Alphabet of blindness with us wherever we go.
We should A = access technology. Be familiar with the access technology we need to make us be good students and employees.
B= Braille. Know how to read and understand what we are reading.
C= Cane. Have excellent cane or dog guide skills or the positive personality to obtain help from people in unfamiliar places.
And D = don’t be afraid to dream. When you believe you can achieve.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT?
Prepare a thirty to sixty second elevator introduction. In this speech let people know who you are and what skills you have to offer. Kindly ask if they know people who can use your skill set. Be prepared to write down or record some numbers and e-mail addresses. Join organizations of people who perform the jobs you are interested in doing. Ask to shadow someone who is currently doing the job you want whether that person is blind or sighted. Network.
Interview
Name: Anna Dresner
Company Name: National Braille Press
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF?
I’ve been blind since birth. I love music, reading, and spending time with friends and family. I’ve been married for 15 years and have an eight-year-old son. We live in Pittsburg, Kansas. I recently started producing a children’s radio show on The Legend, at http://www.legend-oldies.com.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE YOU HAVE HAD TO OVERCOME?
The two times in my life where I had no job or an auwful job were pretty rough.
CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON YOUR CURRENT OCCUPATION?
I write and edit, mostly computer tutorials. I‘m working on a book about social networking sites at the moment.
DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED COMMUNITIES?
Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t, but when something comes up that you can’t do, acknowledge that and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT?
Do what you like to do, even if you start out volunteering your time rather than getting paid. Focus on doing what you enjoy as well as you can. Opportunities will probably arise out of doing this as you develop skills and people get to know you and what you can do
Interview
Name: Alissa Auer
Company Name: Division for Blind Services
Tell us a little bit about yourself? I am 37 years old, am married, have a 12 year old son and a daschund dog named Snickers. Some days I don’t know which of the 3 makes more work! I have a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. Once I was with the state I obtained my Masters in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling while working full time. I definitely recommend you get work experience before getting a master’s because it was so much easier and applicable. Obviously when I finished my Bachelors degree I had NO idea what I wanted to do for a living.
What kind of jobs have you had? My first job was a carhop at Sonic and thankfully it was the 80’s so that was the period where we didn’t have to wear skates, as I am quite clumsy! I worked a lot of jobs to get through college from daycare to catering.
I always tell people I kind of “fell into” the field of rehabilitation. After finishing college with my bachelors, I was looking for a job and I saw an ad for a job coach for people with disabilities. I got the job and found out I do NOT like job coaching-I’m not patient enough-but I was good at the job placement side of things so they kept me on.
What do you do now?
I am a Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. I have worked for the Division for Blind Services for 12 ½ years. I love my job and feel very blessed to do a job I believe I was called to do. The agency really supports counselors and allow us to do whatever we need to do to help our consumers out. I firmly believe that I am here to empower my consumers to live the best life they can live.
Do you have any advice for people trying to find employment or for starting businesses?
I do- network network network- it’s not just a buzz word we like to use-its reality. If you are looking for a job, there are job clubs everywhere- not even ones for people with disabilities- but for all people who are looking for work. Check out the local workforce center, community centers, and local churches. A lot of them have groups- some even geared towards certain professions. For example I know there is a group in the Dallas area that is for people in the engineering field who are looking for a job. If you go and make contacts there and impress someone, when they go to work for a company they will remember to contact you if there are openings at their place of employment AND can put a good word in for you. If you don’t have local places- look online. I know Monster has specialty groups.
The same goes for starting a business. We are fortunate in Fort Worth to have a business assistance center that offers classes that business owners need and networking groups as well.
Another piece of advice is to not give up hope. Right now the economy is such that employers have 100 resumes for 1 job whereas before they might have gotten 10. You might not have made the cut for reasons other than your disability. It’s a numbers game- just keep on sending resumes and applying for jobs. It will happen. The right job is out there waiting for you.
When you go to an interview, be able to have a positive disability disclosure statement. Of course when someone discloses is a personal choice and I believe in that. I just recommend that you put together something ahead of time so you appear confident when you do disclose- either in the interview or after the job offer.
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