[nabs] Houston, we have a problem - Please Read

Tue Oct 4 22:32:20 EDT 2011

Caitlin,

This problem makes me wonder if your supervisor has even taken the time to 
consider what strategies a person with blindness would use in such a 
situation. We are often expected to be "resourceful" but very common sense 
is exercised by the people expecting that resourcefulness from us. I'd say 
you should address the supervisor directly, which is probably a suggestion 
that causes you more anxiety--I'd feel the same way--but it may be necessary 
in this case. The suggestions everybody else have offered have been useful, 
but I still tend to agree with Anthony on this one. It's a bit ridiculous, 
and you're not overreacting. I'm sure you can find a way to deal with this, 
but your supervisor also needs to be educated on the physical limitations 
that come with being a person with blindness, and the difference between 
those limitations and handicaps placed upon you by certain working 
conditions. Personally, if a boss even implied that he/she thought I would 
need my hand held in a job, they'd get a piece of my mind--a very diplomatic 
piece maybe, but a piece nonetheless.

As a final thought, I think that for the sake of time constraints, you might 
want to employ some sort of strategy that would have the clients coming to 
you, rather than walking around all day and trying to figure out where a 
certain person is, or if they've even shown up that day.

Good luck with your internship.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Patricia Kepler
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 8:32 PM
To: Discussion list for NABS,National Alliance of Blind Students.
Subject: Re: [nabs] Houston, we have a problem - Please Read

Caitlin,
You said your supervisor escorted you to the consumer and introduced you
directly.  Perhaps he is worrying that you are going to  expect all staff
will   be expected to provide help to this  degree.   There is nothing wrong
with you going up to a consumer who's voice you recognize in the middle of a
conversation and saying, "excuse me, but  when you are done here can we meet
to update yur records".   Do you think you might be overthinking this a bit
because you are new and  naturally anxious? It sounds like you have only
been there a week,  so take some dep breaths and think  of  how you interact
with others  in other settings.
Patricia

>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-bounces at acb.org [mailto:nabs-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf Of
>>> NABS
>>> SecondVP
>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 11:09 AM
>>> To: nabs at acb.org
>>> Subject: [nabs] Houston, we have a problem - Please Read
>>>
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>    If I may, I'd like to draw on your collective wisdom and
>>> experiences. I have a bit of a quandary. Here's the set up.
>>>    As I have mentioned before, to get my MSW I need a student
>>> internship. I'm interning at a facility that provides therapy,
>>> housing, employment, and other sorted services to people who are
>>> mentally ill, or who have a dual diagnosis of mental illness and
>>> substance abuse. This is my second full week there, and I think I have
>>> a pretty good understanding now for the lay out of the building.
>>> Yesterday, I met with my supervisor and we talked about the different
>>> roles I'll be filling at the facility. Because I'm new, he wants me to
>>> get acquainted with as many participants as possible, which I am so
>>> happy to do. To do this, I'll update their personal data in the
>>> computer system, which is totally accessible to me (WOOO!).
>>>    Yesterday, I met with one of the individuals on my list to update
>>> his data. My supervisor helped me locate this man; the supervisor
>>> guided me to him, introduced me, and then me and the participant went
>>> off to do the updating of his file. My supervisor gave me a list of 33
>>> participants that I have to review their files. Great, fine,
>>> wonderful, whatever you want.
>>>    The problem comes in with locating the participants. Some
>>> participants come five days a week, some come Mondays/Wednesdays only,
>>> some come only Tuesdays and Thursdays, etc. I'm only there on Mondays
>>> and Fridays, and have no idea which participants attend programs each
>>> day. My supervisor told me I could ask a staff member to tell me from
>>> my list what participants were around that day, which is fine. But
>>> then he said he wants me to locate the participants independently.
>>> Actually, he said that I needed to develop a "professional persona" at
>>> the agency. He said that the staff was willing to help me however I
>>> needed, but I couldn't rely on them all the time, and that he
>>> certainly wasn't going to lead me to every person on the list. I got
>>> the feeling he was intimating I was relying on the staffs help for too
>>> much...I didn't know I was, but may be I am, who knows? He said that
>>> the other staff is there to help me, but that isn't their sole
>>> function (well, duh) and that at every job I'd have to develop ways of
>>> doing things to compensate for my blindness. This, I totally agree
>>> with, of course. It sounded like he didn't want me to use the staff to
>>> seek out participants with me. THis is very concerning because I don't
>>> know these participant's voices, so I can't just wander around the
>>> facility shouting "hey, Lorraine, I hear you, let me interview you!"
>>> or barging in on a conversation if I hear Mark's voice.
>>>    Let me explain to that between classes the participants wander all
>>> over the building. Some are out back smoking, others hang out and play
>>> pool, watch TV, or socialize in the massive room where there are
>>> chairs and tables for meetings. I have no clue how I'm supposed to
>>> seek out these people without sighted assistance. I won't know if the
>>> people I'm looking for are in a group/class, hanging out, or out back
>>> smoking. It doesn't sound like he wants me to utilize the staff to
>>> help me find them, so the only other thing I can think to do is go up
>>> to random people in the hallway, hope they're participants and not
>>> staff, and ask them if they've seen Person X or Y. But I'm not sure if
>>> this is creative or goes along with helping me build a professional
>>> persona.
>>>    This whole thing is giving me a tremendous amount of anxiety and I
>>> have no brilliant ideas to resolve it that might appease my
>>> supervisor. My fiance, who is sighted, said that me doing the activity
>>> entirely by mself would be like me walking around, poking people to
>>> see if they're breathing and asking them if they were John or Hilda;
>>> entirely ridiculous, but maybe he's right.
>>>
>>>    So my question, oh wise group members, is can you think of a
>>> solution for me? Am I being entirely over reactive about this? And
>>> what can I say to my supervisor, if anything, because I'm not sure if
>>> I should let him know how entirely freaked out this makes me.
>>>
>>> Please and thank you for any help you can give,
>>> Caitlin
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