Nonfiction Published in Kind Magazine

 

My nonfiction story meant to highlight the capabilities of young, blind, professionals, who are often overlooked as viable job candidates in the workforce, has been published in Kind Magazine, Issue 3, 2017.  Here it is.

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Seeing is Believing

By Cathy Beaudoin

 

 

Building a career isn’t easy for anyone. Imagine trying to do so when you’re also blind. Declared legally blind at the age of forty-three, my challenge was simply to figure out how to continue using my well-honed accounting and finance skills. After losing most of my vision, I went back to school for a doctorate degree. When I graduated, demand for accounting faculty far outstripped supply, and finding a job wasn’t too hard. Like most new professors, I taught and did research, and ultimately achieved tenure status. Though not easy, I managed to transition from operating in a business setting to leveraging my knowledge in an academic environment. However, the ability to establish, or sustain, a career doesn’t seem to be the norm those who are visually impaired. In fact, only 28.0% of adults with a visual impairment are fully employed (2015 Disability Status Report published by Cornell University).

 

It was through my affiliation with Achilles International, an organization that helps make endurance sports accessible to athletes with disabilities, that I became aware of the challenges younger, visually impaired adults face in the workforce. I wanted to help. Initially, I listened to their stories. Many of the Achilles athletes were in their twenties and were either in college or had graduated from college. Many expressed the frustration of wanting to be judged as equally capable as those with full vision. Then I had the chance to conduct an interview with a talented, well-educated, visually-impaired woman about her experience trying to jump start her career. Her story is personal. That is, not all visually impaired people have the same desire or ability to build a career, or face the same obstacles in getting hired. But there does seem to be something systemic driving an unusually high rate of unemployment amongst adults with a visual impairment. By publishing this interview, my hope is light will be shed on the fact that workers with a visual impairment are normal people doing normal things.  Just watch them. After all, seeing is believing. 

 

Note:  I have not used EC’s full name below because she is still trying to find full-time employment.    

 

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

Can you tell me a little bit about your background?  Where you grew up?  Where you went to school?  How much vision you have, that sort of thing?

 

EC:

 

Sure. I grew up in Southern California, Pasadena, with my parents and an older sister. I lost most of my vision by the time I was three and a half years old. I have a little bit of light sensitivity in one eye, but that’s about it. I went to a very small, progressive all-girls high school. There were only 57 girls in my graduating class. From there I went to Connecticut College.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

Connecticut College?  Why go to the East Coast for college?

 

EC:

 

I knew I wanted to go to a small liberal arts college, and I liked the East Coast. I had relatives that lived in the Northeast and was comfortable going to school there. When I visited Connecticut College, the feel of the campus sold it for me. It was a very easy campus to get around, and most of the students stayed on campus on the weekends. I didn’t want to be on a campus where everyone left for the weekends. Also, the school had a very serious honor code. There was a level of trust there that mattered to me. 

 

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

Did they have good disability accommodations?

 

EC:

 

My decision to go there had nothing to do with established disability support. There was a welcoming atmosphere. But I had no idea what the accommodations were. I knew I was very adaptable to pretty much any situation. It didn’t matter what they had.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

I know you live in New York City now. How did you choose that?

 

EC: 

 

I moved to New York City after I graduated from Connecticut College because I wanted to be closer to the publishing industry. I did internships at Norton and Columbia University Press. But I couldn’t get a full-time job anywhere. I graduated in 2008, so job prospects were tough for anyone who was just graduating from college. It was very frustrating.  Eventually, I took another internship position at Symphony Space, doing social media for them. When I still couldn’t get a full-time job, I started my own social media consulting business. It worked out because my sister was sick at the time, and I wanted to spend time with her. Social media consulting was something where I could work remotely with clients. It didn’t matter where I was. The business was small, but I was still running it.

 

Still, I knew I wanted a full-time position in the corporate world, and I decided to get my graduate degree. I applied to the Teachers College at Columbia University and got in. I majored in psychology and human relations at Connecticut College. I thought it made sense to get my graduate degree in Human Capital Management at the Teachers College.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

What was your experience like when you were there?

 

EC:

 

Honestly, it felt like an honor to be there. It was a very welcoming place. All the other students were motivated and happy to be there. When your interest is in human capital, you care about people. The people were the best; the class made the experience.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

Everything you describe seems normal to any young woman’s experience growing up.  How is it different being blind?

 

EC:

 

To me, life isn’t different. How I do things may look different. Let me give you an example. I use my iPhone to text just like anyone else. But I don’t need my screen on because, obviously, I can’t see the screen. I text using the voice-over technology that is built into the phone. That technology is different from Siri. When you touch the screen, a voice reads what’s under your finger. So, when you’re texting, the technology tells you the letters that you are pressing. Since I usually have my ear buds in, people have no idea I know what I’m doing. More than once, when I’ve been on the subway, texting with my friends, someone will inevitably notice the black screen and tell me my battery must be dead. I’ll politely respond the battery is fine, and they’ll insist it isn’t because the screen is black. Or, even worse, they’ll lean over and touch the home button to get the screen to come to life. I don’t get it – who does that?  It must be some deep need to have to ”save the day.”  It’s very frustrating.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

When you say your life is normal, it’s just how you do things that’s different, can you give some more examples?

 

EC:

 

Sure, I pay my bills online or using my phone just like everyone else. Like I already mentioned, I text and email my friends.  If the technology thinks I’ve made a typo, autocorrect makes a sound when it thinks there is an error. The software is pretty good at predicting what you’re trying to write.

 

I have a screen reader installed on my computer. It helps me navigate around the screen using different keystroke commands. There are screen readers you can pay for. I use one that’s available free, and it works just fine for me.

 

I adjust to my reality. For example, when it comes to buying clothes, I tend to stay away from prints and designs. Now there’s an app where you can take a picture of something, and the software will tell you what it thinks it is, like ”white shirt.”  I do the same stuff sighted people do, I just have a system to help me figure things out, or stay organized. 

 

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

What’s the most daring thing you’ve done as a blind person?

 

EC:

 

Hum.  Well, a couple of things come to mind. Doing the half ironman race in Old Orchard Beach, Maine was pretty daring. That challenged my physical abilities for sure.  Rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park when I was in elementary school. I was one of the best at that. Being blind was an advantage. I got the information I needed through my feet and hands, not from vision. Plus I had more body awareness than the other kids. When I was 14, I went to Costa Rica as part of an exchange program.  I stayed at a lodge and got to go on the zip lines and water slides in exchange for cleaning up the trails and working on a farm.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

What kind of job are you looking for?

 

EC: 

 

I want a regular, corporate job, just like anyone that graduated from Teachers College. Most of my classmates went into consulting. I didn’t want a lifestyle that involved constant travel. But a corporate job, yes.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

What about a government agency that focuses on the blind, or a not-for-profit?  Have you thought about those places?

 

EC: 

 

Not interested. I want a regular, corporate job.  I don’t mind an entry-level position, but I want to be in the mainstream, for-profit workforce.

 

INTERWIEWER:

 

When you go on a job interview, what do you think people’s perceptions of you as a blind person are?

 

 

 

EC:

 

People perceive my life as being really hard. I think that’s because they can’t imagine how they would cope if they were blind. So, the problem is getting people to see past that idea that my life is difficult. Is my life that much different, or harder, than anyone else’s? I have no idea.  To me, I’m just normal.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

What is your biggest challenge in job interviews?

 

EC:

 

Fighting the daily biases, the one where people think my life is so difficult. It’s a real challenge.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

When you’re in a job interview, how do you know biases are prevalent?

 

EC:

 

Well, this is a very extreme example, but it really happened. During one of my job interviews, a female executive asked me if I would need someone to escort me to the toilet when I needed to use the bathroom. I mean, who asks that kind of question in an interview? I pretty much knew right then and there I had no chance of being considered for the position. I was pretty disappointed.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

When did you get you graduate degree from Columbia University?

 

EC:

 

May 2016.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

How many resumes do you think you’ve sent out and how many job interviews have you gone to?

 

EC:

 

I have no idea.  I promised myself I wouldn’t do a final count until I get a full-time job. I was keeping track of the numbers for the first few months, but it got depressing. Let’s just leave it at that.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

If you could change the mindset of people interviewing a blind person, what do you want them to see?

 

EC:

 

That blind people are just like any other job candidate. That they look at a situation, and just say, “Okay, how do I work through this?” That every time we succeed, we gain confidence in self-management. We’ve developed coping skills and toughness along the way. We know how to face big obstacles, we do it all the time. Most important, that blind peoples’ lives are not the tragedy you think they are.

 

INTERVIEWER:

 

Any last thoughts you want to share?

 

EC:

 

I’m just a normal person doing normal things. Inside, I usually accept the challenges I faced with. I just keep asking myself: How do I work through this situation? But this job search, it’s really starting to wear me down. 

 

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