These are notes I took from 2010 Employment Conference that Dr. Fred Schroeder spoke at. Dr. Fred Schroeder is a Professor at San Diego State University. He is a very good speaker and provided excellent information. Here are some quick notes I jotted down:
People thought I was only able to compete as much as amount of vision as I had to compete.
Do the things in life that you want to do.
It’s about attitude and not technique.
If the training is not hard then you didn’t put enough into it. Its an opportunity to learn about your blindness and how its going to be the rest of your life.
Challenge your own fears about blindness.
It’s an opportunity to get into the habit that you can do the things you want to do.
Staff cares about you individually.
Gain individual and professional experiences from other blind individuals.
Have to do the work for the next generation, move blindness forward, Collective momentum.
In the face of low expectations that are around all of us, if we are to achieve our goals we need a support system, we need to know other blind individuals.
If we collectively succeed we don’t seem so powerless anymore
It sustains us by being collectively together.
Society has low expectations for blind people.
Expectations are that blind people are “car pool dummies”
If staff is not pushing you then they are not doing their job for you.
You need skills but you need more than skills to succeed.
Networking and being active with a consumer organization is important because they have already dealt with the same issues.
They key element is thinking what your dream is in life and assuming that there is a solution.
Don’t hide the days when you feel discouraged about blindness. Go talk to staff when you feel discouraged about blindness.
Under the law, Employers can not use blindness or disability as a reason to hire or fire someone.
