Reflecting on my career, I've pretty much always been upfront with
potential employers about blindness.
I think for me, if an employer discriminates based on disability even
passively, I probably don't want to work there. Then again, I think I've
been relatively lucky as I haven't had to apply to too many companies
before getting offers.
In contrast, the same kind of question comes up when dating. There, I *did*
have to "apply" to a lot of potential "employers". As a result, I actually
tried a variety of times to mention blindness and kind of figured out my
own comfort level and did what seemed to feel the most natural based on the
situation. ;).
On Fri, Jan 7, 2022 at 9:37 AM QuentinC <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello,
I'm not american and I'm not in the US, so it might be different for you
because of culture, but here's my own experience and the one of a friend.
Generally, I would say that, the later you can tell them about your
blindness, the better it is.
For me, the latest moment is often when the company give me an
appointment to meet them physically at their office.
Since their office is in a city or place I almost don't know at all, I'm
anyway obliged to ask them to pick me up in a nearby bus or metro
station, or in front of their building if I plan to come with a taxi.
That's a good occasion to talk about blindness, that you need a little
help to come to them, and at the same time it's a good test to see if
they are really ready to accept a blind person.
I say it's a good test because, afterall, picking someone up at the
front of their building isn't, or shouldn't be a big deal normally.
If, at that time, they say you no or invent excuses to not do it such as
"it's complicated", "nobody can't/is supposed to do that", "we don't
have time", or even "we'll call you back to organize that" (and often
never call back of course), then we can probably assume that the company
won't anyway take the required efforts to make a good workplace for you.
Too bad. It's useless to go further. Forget about them and move on.
I stress on coming alone to the meeting using public transportation or
taxi, rather than being accompagned by a friend or a family member.
As an employer, coming with a friend might be misinterpreted as "he/she
can't work on his/her own", and of course it isn't a very good argument
to hire you.
I stress also on telling them at least a few days before the meeting.
I know a friend who decided to don't tell them at all. He came into the
company's building by his own means, completely alone. I'm totally
unable to do this myself, but well, some people are adventurous and
confident enough to do it.
So nobody knew he was blind until he came there with his white cane.
Excellent demonstration of being able to manage everything by yourself,
but all people were shocked and totally caught off their guards. More
than that, they felt that they had been fooled, and he looked like a
kind of lier.
He was told "this isn't a place for blind people here, good bye", and
that was it.
Thank you for reading.
With the hope that my little story was helpful.
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