Associated Press report in the Detroit News:

The most recent available statistics suggest that only about 30 percent of working-age blind people have jobs. That figure was calculated more than 10 years ago, but the major groups lobbying on behalf of blind Americans believe it remains accurate despite numerous technological advances.

“Most people don’t know a blind person, so they assume that blind people are not capable of doing most jobs when in fact that’s not true,” said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.

… “Unfortunately we’re still living in an age of misperceptions of what blind people can do,” said Carl Augusto, president of the American Foundation for the Blind. “We’re hoping that an employer considering hiring a blind person will say that if David Paterson can be governor and be legally blind, maybe this applicant who is blind can be a good computer programmer.”

… In theory, those people are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which among its many provisions requires employers to give fair consideration and treatment to visually impaired employees and job applicants. But Augusto said employers routinely turn down blind applicants without incurring legal sanction.

… “If someone’s blind, there’s a huge stigma to overcome and all kinds of myths and fears in the employer community,” EEOC spokesman David Grinberg said.

“The fact is that in the 21st century workplace people who are blind are just as able to do a job as anyone else - they just need to be given a chance,” he said.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 2:54 pm and is filed under ADA, NOT2BEMISSED, blindness/visual impairments, employment, public attitudes, stereotypes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post