[Missouri-l] Fw: Blind People and Jobs

[John and Donna Weidlich]

If you listened to Charlie Brennan's show this morning on KMOX regarding the Medicaid cuts, you know that he made some comments regarding the jobs that he thought that blind people could and couldn't do. I want to share with you an email that I sent to him on this topic. John 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: John and Donna Weidlich 
To: cwbrennan at cbs.com 
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 8:57 PM
Subject: Blind People and Jobs


Charlie, First, I want to thank you for covering the subject of the proposed cuts in Medicaid to the blind in Missouri. I have been totally blind all of my life and, although I do not need Medicaid coverage, I know some of the people who would be hurt by this proposed cut and I knowhow devastating these cuts could be for them. I was very pleased that a station as powerful and influential as KMOX would give time to this issue. I didn't try to call this morning but I wanted to comment on what you said about blind people and jobs. You are correct that most blind people do not work. All of the statistics say that 70 percent of working age adult blind people are unemployed and that figure seems to be the same for people with disabilities generally. What's worse, that 70 percent unemployment figure has been the same forforty years, despite all of the legislation and advances in technology that have taken place during this period. It would be hard to imagine an unemployment rate like that for any other group of people but that is what it appears to be for the blind. There are many complex reasons for this including misconceptions by employers regarding what blind people can do,laws that tend to encourage blind people to stay on disability rather than look for work, lack of training, lack of transportation to jobs, and the limits we place on ourselves and our own doubts of our abilities. Many new jobs have opened up for us because of technology but many other jobs traditionally held by us in the past have been lost due to these same changes. You are also right that there are many jobs we can't do-cab driver, dentist, airplane pilot, professional baseball player being only a few examples. However, many of the jobs you listed as being impossible for blind people are in fact being performed by the blind every day. You might be surprised to learn that there are many successful blind teachers, attorneys, engineers, stock brokers, business owners, farmers, travel agents, agency directors, computer programmers, social workers, office clerks, athletes, psychiatrists, judges and, yes radiotalk show hosts. I am retired now but I worked at a radio station and hosted a talk show while running my control board for over thirty years. Granted, my console was probably not nearly as complex as yours and I didn't have to deal with commercial breaks but I interviewed guests, took phone calls  and kept the station on the air. So many things that sighted people think can't be done are possible with the right training and the technology to make visual things accessible with speech or touch. Rather than talk about all of the things we can't do, most of us want people to talk about what we can accomplish. I wonder if you might consider doing a show on this topic of the jobs that blind people are doing that sighted people assume we can't do. I'm not an expert but there are some people out there who might make excellent guests for you if you ever want to pursue this. And thanks again for calling the attention of your listeners to these proposed cuts. With your help, I think we can keep this from happening. John Weidlich  
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