Op-ed: Don’t shortchange the blind
April 4th, 2008Kirk Adams, writing in the Seattle Times, says Gov. David Paterson’s success should draw attention to the fact that people in the blind community face an unemployment rate that is 65 percentage points higher than the national average.
The general public assumes that the biggest barrier to employment blind people face is their blindness. In actuality, the biggest barrier is assumptions employers make about what blind people can or cannot do.
… Given the right resources, there will be many more David Patersons. One day, the conversation Americans will be having around the dinner table will not be whether a woman or an African American is qualified to be president, but if a blind person is capable of holding the highest office in this land.
And the answer, just like the answer to our present day’s question, will be a resounding yes.
Kirk Adams is president of Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind.
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on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 3:51 am and is filed under blindness, education, employment, public attitudes, success stories, technology, visual impairments.
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