Hi Kelly and All,
As a Rehabilitation Teacher for persons who are blind or visually
impaired,
I teach both Braille and Assistive Technology. Many of the adults I teach
lost or began losing their vision as adults, so were starting from scratch
to learn Braille. My philosophy is to give a person all their options, and
respect their decisions; although when laying out their options, if I
believe in their situation it would be beneficial to learn braille and make
it a part of their life, whether for work or non-work purposes, I will be
sure to fully explain my reccomendation.
I know people who are blind who work and do not use Braille as part of
their job (or use it minimally), and many who do. Both approaches can be
effective in getting the job done. In general I think it is a good idea for
people to try Braille if their vision
is poor enough or likely to head that way, but if their fingers aren't
sensitive enough, if their learning/working style and Braille don't seem to
mesh well, why should we insist that they cannot be employed, when in fact
they have skills that will allow them to get the job done? If a person
with sight is dyslexic and relys heavily on tape recording, digital
recorders, etc., with little to no use of print, and uses secretaries or a
program like Dragon Naturally Speaking (voice input software) to transcribe
their spoken material into print, should this person not be allowed to work?
And what about those already working, who are learning skills to keep the
job they have. For some people Braille can take a good long while to learn,
but learning to
effectively use a computer with voice or large print now, may take only a
small amount of time. Should that person be fired because they don't know
Braille? I don't think so. Assistive Technology using a screen reader or
screen magnification software is an excellent equalizer for many people, and
Braille, perhaps with a refreshable display or braille printer or a
combination of voice output and braille for others may be warranted. People
are different, and their individual skills and strengths should factor in.
Patty Arnold
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly Pierce" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2002 6:39 PM
Subject: Do Good Technology Skills But Poor Braille Skills Spell No Job?
> Echostar (The dish Network) has denied a customer service job to a blind
> job candidate because he is a slow Braille reader even though he has good
> technology skills. The government is suing Echostar after the company's
> attorneys aggressively insist that the candidate is unqualified. This
> lawsuit centers around the issue of whether an employer has to
> demonstrate that having good Braille skills is essential for a blind
> worker to perform adequately on a customer service job even though he is
> skilled with adaptive technology. Are we putting too much faith in this
> technology and expect too much from it and not recognizing the benefits
> of Braille or are other options just as effective as Braille, depending
> on the learning style of the person?
>
> Kelly
>
>
> March 21, 2002
> EEOC Files Suit Against EchoStar
>
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> DENVER (AP) -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in
> U.S. District Court Thursday accusing EchoStar Communications Corp. of
> violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing
> to accommodate a blind job applicant.
>
> The satellite TV company said it had not seen the lawsuit and could not
> comment.
>
> The law bars employers from discriminating against qualified applicants
> with disabilities and requires them to make reasonable accommodations.
>
> The lawsuit said Dale Alton applied to be an EchoStar customer-service
> representative in February 1999 after six months of training.
>
> Alton said he told EchoStar about adaptive software that could be used to
> accommodate his disability.
>
> The lawsuit said EchoStar would not give Alton an application and said it
> could not accommodate his blindness.
>
> After Alton filed a complaint with the EEOC, EchoStar invited Alton to
> take two employment tests. EchoStar provided Alton with a test in Braille
> but not with someone to read the test to him, as Alton had requested.
>
> Later, EchoStar allegedly told Alton it would not hire him because he was
> too slow at reading Braille. Alton has said he has poor Braille skills.
>
> EEOC regional attorney Joseph Mitchell said the ability to read Braille
> is unrelated to working as an EchoStar customer service representative.
>
> The lawsuit seeks unspecified back pay for Alton or pay in lieu of hiring
> him and asks EchoStar to provide equal employment opportunities for
> applicants with disabilities.
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
> "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
> VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly Pierce" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2002 6:39 PM
Subject: Do Good Technology Skills But Poor Braille Skills Spell No Job?
> Echostar (The dish Network) has denied a customer service job to a blind
> job candidate because he is a slow Braille reader even though he has good
> technology skills. The government is suing Echostar after the company's
> attorneys aggressively insist that the candidate is unqualified. This
> lawsuit centers around the issue of whether an employer has to
> demonstrate that having good Braille skills is essential for a blind
> worker to perform adequately on a customer service job even though he is
> skilled with adaptive technology. Are we putting too much faith in this
> technology and expect too much from it and not recognizing the benefits
> of Braille or are other options just as effective as Braille, depending
> on the learning style of the person?
>
> Kelly
>
>
> March 21, 2002
> EEOC Files Suit Against EchoStar
>
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> DENVER (AP) -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in
> U.S. District Court Thursday accusing EchoStar Communications Corp. of
> violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing
> to accommodate a blind job applicant.
>
> The satellite TV company said it had not seen the lawsuit and could not
> comment.
>
> The law bars employers from discriminating against qualified applicants
> with disabilities and requires them to make reasonable accommodations.
>
> The lawsuit said Dale Alton applied to be an EchoStar customer-service
> representative in February 1999 after six months of training.
>
> Alton said he told EchoStar about adaptive software that could be used to
> accommodate his disability.
>
> The lawsuit said EchoStar would not give Alton an application and said it
> could not accommodate his blindness.
>
> After Alton filed a complaint with the EEOC, EchoStar invited Alton to
> take two employment tests. EchoStar provided Alton with a test in Braille
> but not with someone to read the test to him, as Alton had requested.
>
> Later, EchoStar allegedly told Alton it would not hire him because he was
> too slow at reading Braille. Alton has said he has poor Braille skills.
>
> EEOC regional attorney Joseph Mitchell said the ability to read Braille
> is unrelated to working as an EchoStar customer service representative.
>
> The lawsuit seeks unspecified back pay for Alton or pay in lieu of hiring
> him and asks EchoStar to provide equal employment opportunities for
> applicants with disabilities.
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
> "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
> VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
>
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
|
