Visionaries: Episode 24, Labor day: Celebrating working peers and those that are seeking placement by Susan Gray

This spring, Aurora of CNY re-instituted both work placement for youth and job placement for adults, working with peers to help them find summer jobs, and adults seeking permanent placements.  Both programs have been active, having several participants looking for work.

Preparing to find a job can be a full-time job.  Resumes need to be drafted or edited, interviewing skills need to be brushed up, and decisions need to be made about what types of jobs participants want to do, and where they can do them.  Job searches must consider the peer’s ability to access transportation on a regular basis, and if this is not possible, pivoting the search to remote job options. 

While it has been wonderful getting to know all the participants, and to feel a part of their team while finding out more about their goals for work, it has also become more apparent why many of our peers decide not to attempt to work.  Many peers are in college or have college degrees, have worked previously, and want nothing more than a chance to prove their worth to a business.  Many peers are over-qualified for the jobs they apply for but accept that outcome because they are unable to be hired in their career field due to bias and ablest mindsets.  Perspective employers discover that an applicant is blind and often pass over them in favor of someone without a disability.  Employers that have had no experience with someone blind cannot imagine how they are able to work without vision.

While we work hard to break the barriers that are preventing our peers from working, we must also keep the spirits up for those that are losing hope that they will be hired.  Many peers looking for work struggle with disclosing their disability on a job application, fearing they will not get called for an interview.  For those that do land an interview, many times the interview becomes about vision loss, and not the peer’s skill sets. 

This is why the team approach of pre-vocational training, job development and cultivated job searches can be an asset to our peers.  They now have a team of people assisting where needed, and able to offer suggestions or support during each phase of the job search.  While even this added layer of support doesn’t guarantee a job, peers are not alone in their efforts.

When we can normalize peers with vision loss as a work force, it will become much easier to compete on a level field for job placements. 

Working together to put our peers to work, lowering the staggering seventy percent unemployment rate of peers with vision loss, remains a priority for our team at Aurora of CNY.