Fred Schroeder: the next individual on our panel is Robert Newman. I’ve known Robert nearly thirty years. I still had hair when I first met Robert, so it’s been a long time ago. I’ll let Robert introduce himself. Here he is:
Robert Newman: Thank you very much. My name is Robert Leslie Newman. The name might ring a bell to you because I am the guy who writes and puts out the “Thought Provoker.” You know, the little short stories on blindness issues that I post, solicit discussion and comments about, and place on the NFB listserv for parents, and on other NFB mailing lists as well. So, I am the guy who puts those things out. Professionally I am a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. In December I will have completed my 34th year of employment with the commission, and I still like Monday's. Fred and I started out in rehabilitation together and we’re both still doing it. I am a member of the Omaha, Nebraska, Chapter of the NFB; the NFB Writers Division; and the NFB Rehabilitation Professionals. I was born with normal sight, but at age 15 I was in a car accident and became totally blind.
My part on this panel is to talk about the importance of employment while you are a student and how that has consequences for the future. Those of us who are in the business of finding jobs for blind individuals—doing job placement, helping blind guys find employment—are aware of a pattern of low employment rates for young blind adults when they get out of high school. We feel that if you are aware of this pattern and take it in hand, that you can change it. Together, we can increase the number of blind folks who get jobs right out of school. Our experience shows that success in achieving post education employment is dependent upon having had employment while attending school. Unfortunately, young blind youth are not getting this type of job experience. Getting good grades, yes, you bet—a lot of blind kids do get good grades in high school and college. And that’s important, but other students are also getting good grades and at the same time they are also getting valuable job experience for the future.
In 1989, the results of the National Longitudinal Transition Study conducted by the Office of Special Education Programs, U. S. Department of Education, was published. That study looked at eight thousand disabled youth, ages fifteen to twenty-six, from eleven disabilities groups over a period of years. I want to discuss with you some statistics from a portion of that study called, “A Comparison of Visually Impaired Youths and Youths with Other Disabilities.” Let me illustrate the reality of these statistics or figures about students, education, and employment for you in this way.
Let’s say we had a hundred high school students from the regular population off to my right, and we had a hundred blind high school students right here in front of me, and then a third group of a hundred other students with disabilities off to my left. Then, I say to these three groups of students, “Those of you who are going to graduate from high school with a diploma, please step forward.” Seventy of the students from the general population of students step forward, sixty-four of the blind student group step forward, and from the group of students with other disabilities, forty-six students step forward.
Now, let’s look at how many from the regular population and the blind population of students goes on for additional education. I ask the students who are going on to a four-year college to step forward, and twenty-eight from the general population step forward, and twenty-seven step forward from the blind population. As you can see, and it may surprise you, there isn’t much difference in educational attainments of our regular population and our blind population.
But now let’s look at employment rates of students still in high school and college. How many are working? Let’s look again at the general population and the blind population. I ask the high school and college students who are between the ages of about fifteen to twenty-six to step forward if they have a job, if they are working. There is a big sound—thump, thump, thump—from the general population group as sixty-two students step forward. And from the blind population there is barely a sound as ten—that’s right, only ten out of a hundred—students step forward.
Now, let’s look at the three groups again: general population to the right, blind population in the front, other disabilities on the left, and it’s a year of so after graduation. How many are employed and now have a job? I ask the students who have jobs to step forward, and there is this huge surge as eighty-seven from the general population on our right come forward. About half that number—forty-six—step forward from the disabled group on the left, and in front of us are twenty-four blind folks who have stepped forward. That’s right—this is the statistic—around seventy percent of the blind are unemployed.
I like my job. I really like helping young people get started in their careers. But it is really, really disheartening when I help a bright young person fill out applications and put together his or her resume and I find out that under the area of job experience he or she has very little to offer. Do you know how much time a human resources person spends looking at resumes and applications and what part they look at first? Well, they spend about fifteen seconds on each application and the section they look at first is—the job history.
Knock, knock. This is the wake-up call. Employment, employment, employment. The working game starts early and is played often. If you wish to have it to build your life on after the completion of your education, then you must engage in it during your years as a student. So, yes, getting that diploma is important, and so is getting high marks in your subjects, but don’t lose sight of the importance of that other subject area, the one outside the classroom: employment. Getting A’s in school is great, being an honor student is admirable, but being the most educated person in the unemployment line is not much consolation.
So, what do we do about it? Parents, educators, and rehab professionals, you need to help the student get blindness skills, you need to give them responsibilities, and you need to expose them to a variety of employment activities. Use the resources of the school district and the state rehabilitation system to help find appropriate part-time employment during the year or summer jobs. Look to other networking possibilities, such as places where family and friends work, and don’t overlook your state NFB affiliate.
The difficulties for the blind in finding employment is not a new challenge at any stage of life, but employment during the school years will increase opportunities for employment upon graduation, the time of life when all of us wish to be out on our own.
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