RNIB Logo Factsheet Employment of Visually Impaired People __________________________________________ Twenty five per cent of visually impaired people of working age are employed. Compared to the population as a whole, this group occupies fewer professional or managerial posts and more semi- skilled or unskilled posts. There are many reasons why there are so few people with impaired vision in employment. These include a lack of training, a lack of support and equipment, a lack of confidence on the part of blind people and negative attitudes from sighted people. People with impaired vision require training to do most jobs, just as sighted people do. In some cases, they may need more training and this training needs to be in a form suitable to each individual's needs. They might for example, require manuals to be printed in braille or on tape. In some cases, the job may also need to be adapted slightly to suit them. This might involve something as simple as moving a desk so as to get maximum benefit from the light. Some people with impaired vision may require specialist equipment to enable them to do the same job as a sighted person. This equipment can range from a thick, black felt pen which is easy to read through to a sophisticated word processor which presents information in braille or synthesised speech. Many people with impaired vision don't have confidence in their own abilities. This lack of confidence is compounded and reinforced by the prejudices of other people. If enough people tell you enough times that you can't do something, you tend to believe them. Many people are ignorant of the needs and abilities of those with any kind of disability. Sighted people don't understand blind people or visual impairment. They think blind people can't work or else they think they can only do certain jobs that blind people did in the last century like piano tuning or basket weaving. In the past, people with impaired vision were channelled into jobs that sighted people thought appropriate. These included very basic manual jobs, as well as begging in the street. It is still the case that many blind people work in sheltered workshops or from home but some possess very considerable skills. A piano tuner, for example, has to acquire inter-personal and financial skills if he/she is to stay in business. Nowadays, people with impaired vision can do most jobs, provided they are given the right training, support and help. The job that an individual can do depends on many factors, including how much he/she can see, the training, equipment and support he/she gets, whether the job can be adapted to his/her needs, and whether or not he wants to do that job. After all, not everyone wants to be king, sighted or otherwise! Jobs The following is a selective list of jobs that can be undertaken by people with impaired vision. The jobs have been deliberately chosen to include those that might seem unlikely to a sighted person. Accountant Actress Author Bicycle repairer Board game designer Boat builder Business executive Caterer Civil servant Computer programmer Dancer Disc jockey Doctor Dress maker Engineer Farmer Factory worker Hotelier Fast food outlet manager Inventor Interior decorator Journalist Judge Lathe operator Landscape gardener Lord Lawyer Nurse M.P. Photographer Painter Physiotherapist Physiotherapist Piano tuner Pop star Probation officer Sculptor Secretary Social worker Teacher Telephonist Vicar There are some jobs which people with impaired vision would find difficult if not dangerous. These include driving buses or piloting airplanes. July 199