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From: Chip.Orange@f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Chip Orange)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Career searching.
Message-ID: <18642@bunker.isc-br.com>
Date: 12 Apr 91 15:33:23 GMT
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Index Number: 14793

[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

David,
     Instead of being discouraged you should be proud of yourself.
Loosing ones sight later in life is by far the hardest way to have to
deal with blindness.  The fact that you are trying so hard after only
three years is a very good signb indeed.
     Secondly, don't be discouraged about being unemployed.  Well, I know
how that must sound but what I mean to say is that I have read about
seventy (that's 7 0) per cent of blind people are unemployed.  Even if
you had had your entire life to adapt, it's still{ not an easy thin{g to
become employed.
     Almost every state has some programs (such as operating a vending
stand or small restaurant) which I assume you know about.  That's
probably the easiest way to become employed.  If that's not for you, I
can suggest my thoughts on the matter and what I did that works for me.
     I decided early on that an employer would never hire a blind person
for a job when there were hundreds of similarly qualified sighted
applicants.  So I decided that I would do something that the average
sighted person could not do in order to cut down the competition.  For me
that meant going to college and getting a degree in computer science with
straight A's.  That last part is not bragging, it's critical.  The one
thing that might sway an employer to hire you is that you are obviously
more qualified than his average applicant, and have proven that.
     An underlying premise of this is that you choose some career where
your brain power is emphasized much more than your sight, motor skills,
or ability to process paperwork.  While computers and adaptive devices
such as reading systems help a lot, I'm afraid they don't help much when
it comes to drafting plans or reviewing design graphs.  I'm not a career
counselor, but I'm trying to say that I beleive your former career is not
a promising one any longer.
     Well, I've gone on long enough, but if you'd like to chat further,
leave me a day-time and evening phone number and I'll give you a call
some time.

     Chip Orange

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