by Bob Branco
Many of us are familiar with the struggles that blind people often go through when looking for employment. For some of you, it is old news. Therefore, I won’t dwell on it. However, there is an important aspect of employing the blind that deserves a little more attention.
I have been meeting with a job specialist with a quality organization that devotes its time to the client’s efforts to find employment. During our meetings, we often talk about what would happen if someone hires me, only to wait for my adaptive technology to arrive at my workplace. I believe this is an issue of concern, and supporting agencies such as commissions for the blind need to do what they can in order to cut through as much bureaucracy as possible. If an employer decides to hire a blind person, what happens if the employer has to wait for the adaptive technology? During the period of time that he’s waiting for the technology, the work still needs to be done. He did not hire the blind person to do nothing. He hired the blind person to work. Employers normally want the work done in a timely manner. Under those circumstances, is it discriminatory for an employer to say, “I can’t wait any longer for the technology. I need the work done, so I am hiring a sighted person.”
I know how that sounds, but I feel this can be a logical problem. It’s not about how the blind person performs, and it’s not about how the adaptive technology will help the blind person perform better. It’s about the waiting game. This is why my job specialist requested a meeting with me and my vocational rehabilitation counselor with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind in order to discuss ways to make the process more efficient for employers who have good intentions when hiring the blind. There has to be complete cooperation among the client, the employer and the supporting agencies. If the adaptive technology doesn’t arrive in enough time, thereby forcing the employer to move on from the blind employee, where do we place blame? The employer wants production. The blind person wants to work, and the agency needs to have the technology at the workplace immediately.
I think this is an excellent conversation to have. We all know about government bureaucracy, and how it exists on many levels. How do we avoid this bureaucracy in order to make this employment process go more smoothly?