Networking Forum

Before I respond without knowing George and having worked in customer service, I believe he is probably doing good work. Now on to the questions:

First, how does he help his co-workers feel comfortable with his visual impairment?

How comfortable are you, George with your impairment. When a disease or condition progresses or changes there is additional stress and the requirement of adapting to a new situation. Before he can help his co-workers be comfortable, he must first be comfortable with his situation.

Second, how does he handle situations when he truly needs help from his co-workers (or when it appears he needs help and he actually doesn't)?

When he truly needs help he should ask for it and when it appears he does but does not, he should have the right to say I have this. It is communication between George and his peers and supervisor. It needs to be honest and truthful on both sides.

Third, how does he avoid creating resentment and tension among his co-workers because they feel he is using his vulnerability as a way to get what he wants?

Pull his own weight and do his job to the very best of his ability. Their resentment he will not have control over but their respect he will earn as he demonstrates his mastery of his knowledge and customer service skills.

Fourth, how does he gain back his self-confidence on the job?

This will be a process that may require some time. I have worked customer service with monitored calls and although I made mistakes for the most part I was dead on the money with solving the customer's needs. The need for text based information on the screens is a critical adaptation that George needs to address if he has not already. Ask to have calls monitored so that errors can be addressed. George's listening skills are probably excellent and he can use them to solve the problems that he cannot see.

Fifth, how does he resume his journey in carving out a career niche for himself in today's job market so he can reach his full potential?

Wow the customers, work with his team and have a sit down with the boss so they can understand each other.

Sixth, how does he project himself as an adult in an adult world that will bring adult responses from others?

He is an adult, he is capable and he needs to engage the world from the place in which he finds himself. for those who choose to give anything other than adult responses, he may need to simply let them go.

George has the ability to do this job or he would not have been hired. He was hired for his ability so he needs to build on the strengths he has and do this job in a manner demonstrates clearly how good he is at what he does.

I have to agree with everything Barney says in his answer , he's right on.

Before anyone ,including George,with or without a disability can instill competence in his supervisors , mentors or fellow co-workers he has to be able to accept his disability and the changes that are occuring. Be upfront with his mentors, after all that's what mentors are there for to help you when you have a problem and offer suggestions how to navigate it.

Next he might consider having a workshop done on Jaws for his "team" all the coworkers.Sometime busyness appears to be productive but really isn't. Many people , team leaders, mentors, CEOs have no concept of the adaptive devices people who are blind or visually impaired use or how they can make people and or teams more productive.

On Monday, when I was at my evaluation for my computer , the technician realized my skills on Jaws were abysmal and went back to look and realized I'd never been trained for Jaws , that I had literally had to teach myself and I wasn't proficient. So he's getting me hours of training on Jaws after the new year so I can ultilize my new computer more efficiently.

My driver and friend who was with me was invited to sit in on the evaluation and she was fascinated with Jaws and other adaptive technology available.

What we seem to be encountering in a few of the case scenarios ,that people are reluctant to be " open" and communicate proactively and openly about their disabilities but then expect their bosses, mentors and team leaders and colleagues to be mind readers and adapt to them, when of course most people whether in customer service, IT or any other kind of employment really have no clue , unless they are shown and taught how adaptive technology works.

It's not the mentors, team leaders or work colleagues attitudes and reactions that must change it's how George and others reactions from reactive and negative and fear based to postive , pro-active and knowledge based.

When George totally accepts his disabilities, his strengths and ultizies 5 years of experience as a competent professional and behaves like an adult he'll be treated as such. George and others we've read about, must learn to be to open to crticism and open to learning new things on the job he 'll be viewed as a valued member of the team.

As we age , whether we're disabled or not , some of skills become rusty , our memories fail when we need it the most. There are things we can do to help, new meds to take if we have to, but we must always leave ourselves open and learn to communicate effectively to help us explain our needs and as well as be open to new information. We can also use our senses of humour to make people who have disabilities less scary and more empathetic.

I would suggest a book by a Canadian job coach Randy Taylor, Life Before Can't that all people whether we are disabled or not read and follow his advice. Sometimes we let our can't voice ruin new opportunities that are open to us out of fear.

Great suggestion's have been made. George could, along with his Supervisor, benefit by requesting from the, State, Agency for the Blind provide a Professional, Job Site, evaluation. This type of Evaluation will determin his strength's, and weakness, and then, free of charge, will gain practical Solution's.

C. Fred Stout

San Antonio, Texas

All thoughtful and insightful comments. I'd like to address the question from the "Employers View". As a PWD with a 28 year professional career in public/private sectors and non-profit management, I think it's necessary to re-state several viewpoints previously posted related to "Employers" especially, in this time of economic downturn, layoffs and the unforeseen issues that PWDs will experience as a result of these adverse economic maladies, specifically:

1) We need set aside any notion that Corporate AAmerica cares that we as PWD's have a disability. With economic maladies facing 95% of the American business community, the focus of anything we do is, "What am I doing to enhance the organization's bottom line"? If, we as individuals with disabilities can't come-up with at least five compelling contributions on how we positively affect our organizations, we'd better know where the door is as, it's likely in the not too distant future, we'll be directed to it. With Corporate AAmerica needing to do more with less, it is up to the individual to develop cost-effective, efficient solutions that don't negatively impact the organization's bottom line in order to demonstrate we understand their issues/concerns and are ready, willing and able to be a team player and foster solutions.

2) It's about that time of year when many of the major HR Publications read in all industries will publish their "Top List of Employer Diversity programs". Several have already been published and a quick Google of the term, "Diversity Programs" or "Disability, Employment, Innovation" will provide links to a myriad of material on this subject. From those published September 1st, one common thread has been carried in each discussion, "Corporate funds aren't available to promote diversity programs agressively". Quite simply that means, if a PWD is seeking employment, you'd better be able to present a stellar package to the perspective employer! With limited or, non-existant resources the very last thing a HR Representative wants to consider is the added cost to accommodate you. You need to know what cost of accommodation are; what is the organization's history in providing accommodations and, what can you provide if offered the position and opportunity to start immediately. Whatever the individual can do to masterfully market their knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) to positively affect the organization is the critical selling point.

3) Is the future bleek for PWD's seeking employment? It'll be a bit tougher but, not impossible. There are a variety of readily accessible resources that monitor from week to week employment patterns in a variety of industries ranging from the U.S. Department of Labor's Website (www.dol.gov) to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (wich can be accessed via the DOL site). Career Builders, Job Accommodation Network, Diversity Inc and many customized private industry and disability sites still have position announcements each week. A well written resume, cover letter and networking are still the linkages that make the connection.

4) Additionally, organizations such as the Sr. Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE), local chapters of the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) and industry related professional organizations still are available to provide up-to-date info on what's going on in a particular industry and region. Quite often, SCORE and SHRM Members are willing to give pointers on networking or options to reinforce skill sets in order to position oneself to take advantage of opportunities once the financial downturn subsides.

One final thought, in a recent Wall St. Journal Career Journal article, it was noted the most precarious career paths to be in at present are "Hospitality", "Customer Service" and "Property Management/Maintenance". Why? Because individuals who have resources are protecting them and, not spending on eating-out, internet shopping or household services such as lawn maintenance, etc. Similarly, the 2008 Christmas Shopping season is expected to be the first in several years where the internet and telephone sales of merchandise are likely to be down. If, you extend the logic of the downturn out to a logical conclusion, less sales means fewer employees and, those being retained are those whose value is the greatest to the overall organization, i.e. it's bottom line!