Everyone's worried and concerned about work. I'm no exception. I've been in andd out of the market for the past two years. Here's what my experiences has shown me, (it may not be the case for everyone though) there are people that will help you and there are people that will use it against you. I've been in situation where I had someone tell me that it's coz your eyes just so I would take the fall when it came to the cut. I was quite upset from that phoen conversation only to realize I became the target of discrimination against my condition. If I had realized it sooner, I probably would have recorded the conversation and sued them for it.
But on the other end of the spectrum, I've also had managers that were understanding and saw past the superficial and was willing to give me a chance. So like any sighted person, its all about seizing the opportunity. There will be obstacles, but then nothing is ever easy no matter who you are. Don't think that you are any different, granted yes there are certain jobs we may nto be able t odo as well (maybe like data entry or cashier) but for the most part, no one can take away your smarts and ultimately tha's what it counts. With a little luck and some hard work, there is no limit as to what you may be capable of.
The key is understanding what you want, what your strengths are, what your interest is, and evaluate what would be a good career choice in which your eyes will have minimal influence on your performance.
For me, I've settled between what I want and waht I can and good at. I went into the marketing. It hasn't been easy, but in some ways I've always known that its not that I can't find a job, its that the right job hasn't come along. Not everything is about SD, the issue of working is just the same for everyone else, its just people like us has an extra sense of insecurity to overcome.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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You'll meet both kind of folks - one who will be supportive, and other who will use it against you, make it difficult for you ( at times I wonder if they are really humans?!)
ReplyDeleteI always was able to perform better than others at work. I have two years of industry experience, now I used screen magnification. It is important to be good in what you undertake, especially for us, because we have one functional limitation to deal with as well. I've been a French-English translator, always worked with words. Reviewing is so stressful an activity for me at times, because I cannot scan through. But with focus and determination, nothing is impossible.
I'm getting back to academics, something I always wanted to do, but left it due to lack of counselling and difficulties with reading books. I will still have more difficulties as my disease has progressed further, but I am ready to struggle at something I always wanted, I always liked :)
It is nice to go through your blog, maybe I should start writing about it, because it is very crucial to know about your disease, in order to set priorities about your life/career etc. I've had a bad experience due to lack of counselling and medical help. And It is always difficult to cope with vision loss when it starts affecting your daily life.
Thanks for sharing your experiences,
-b