Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

November/December, 1995

Vocational Help for the Visually Impaired
by Maureen Halsey-Wright, KADE

JUDY WOLFE AND MARY BETH WALSH from the Maine Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired made an informative presentation at the NADE National Conference on vocational help available for the visually impaired client. This agency offers help to those in need in both daily living and vocational areas. Judy is a vocational evaluator and Mary Beth is a computer access specialist.

There are six variables to consider when developing a rehabilitation program for the visually impaired. They are: 1. Age of onset - if prior to age three, person does not recall enough about environment to have a memory of shape, color, size, etc. 2. Reduced acuity. 3. Constricted visual fields. 4. Loss of color. 5. Illumination problems. 6. Fluctuating vision. The visually impaired can do a wide cross section of jobs yet unemployment and underemployment are two major problems for this population. These people often have limited knowledge, limited transportation, and limited influences.

There are many areas of job modification for the visually impaired. Examples are: equipment, access, communication, work station and training modifications. The necessity for individualizing the approach is so important as each person and each job is so different.

Computer access has opened many doors for the visually impaired. Computers can be modified with large print, speech synthesizer, glare reduction, larger monitor, headphone jack, closed circuit TV, electronic braille display, scanner, etc. There is a scanner that scans the material into the system and then reads aloud what is scanned. Such equipment is very helpful to the visually impaired individual. There is an annual resource guide available for all of the innovation modification equipment on the market.

This session was very informative and gave us a real feel for the services available and vocational possibilities for the visually impaired.