Information to Businesses

Training schemes for company staff, executives and occupational doctors

by Malika BOUBEKEUR





Context

This is a regional action undertaken under the scope of a covenant governing the joint action of the Guinot Association and the Ile de France regional division of the Agefiph. This covenant is renewable on a yearly basis and has existed in its current form since 2000. The team is composed of a full-time task manager.

The objectives of the Support Service are two-fold:

Objective 1
- To assist (on request) integration agents and companies and direct them to service providers specialising in visual impairment

- To assist specialised service providers and direct them to general integration agents.

The Support Service makes every effort to bring these two networks into synergy for the benefit of visually impaired individuals.

Objective 2 - The organisation of awareness sessions on visual impairment for all integration agents involved in career guidance, placement, follow-up and maintenance in employment of a visually impaired individual.

This is the point we wish to discuss today.

There is not ONE but rather SEVERAL different types of visual impairment. Pathologies vary greatly from one individual to another; therefore there are various professions open to the visually impaired, subject to a minimum of technical and functional adaptations and the appropriate training.

The Support Service of the Paul Guinot Association proposes to professionals in the field of disablement to go out and discover more about the available tools and methods and the service providers who implement them.

To do this, it organises: awareness sessions.




Back to Contents


Awareness Sessions

The Support Service offers theme sessions for integration professionals and general sessions for sectors of the public identified by the PRFTH (The Regional Training Programme for Disabled Workers).

These half-day sessions include talks by professionals in the particular topic of discussion.

The Service prepares the topic of their talk with them to ensure focus on the concerns and specific expectations of the invited audience.

The sought-for objective is dynamism and efficiency so that the audience's efforts in the field result in the most appropriate response for the visually impaired individual and so that they help in " no longer, out of ignorance, place a ceiling on a candidate's career project " as one participant so aptly put it.

All sessions are substantively prepared in advance by the individual speakers, with the help of the task manager.

To ensure correct focus, speakers are informed of the list of participants and their jobs before the session.

A de-briefing in the form of assessment questionnaires (written comments) and oral comments made by participants is organised at the end of each session.

The different topics are discussed in depth but in a lively manner. We try to convey the technical information in a fun and appealing way through the use of a variety of media such as video films, transparencies, glasses to simulate blindness, etc.

Participants at each session are provided with all the useful documents.

To encourage particular groups of the public to take part in the sessions, the Service carries out extensive preliminary work of communication and information. Those groups are composed of task leaders from:

- the Cap Emploi 1 network (employment services)

- the Pdith 2 (and all of its various branches such as the Reception Service, Maintenance in employment, Alternating work/study courses for young people, Arousing awareness in companies contacts, etc.),

- corporate physicians, etc.

- and the sectors of the public identified within the context of the PRFTH3 of Ile de France.


They are invited to the sessions personally, by letter and register by returning a reply coupon.

Sessions approach : Theme sessions targeted at integration agents: Cap Emploi (EPSR/OIP) agencies, the branches of the PDITH, Cotorep, company physicians, companies, etc.




Back to Contents


Sessions to Demonstrate Adapted Equipment

The purpose of this session is a practical presentation of the computer hardware and software used by the visually impaired within the context of the daily activities, and particularly their professional work.

The equipment presented is of two types:

    - equipment for use by the blind (Braille touch-typing keyboard, voice synthesis and other software that enable these uses)

    - equipment for use by the partially sighted (screen magnifiers and character magnification software).


The session lasts half a day, from 0915 hrs to 1245 hrs or from 1415 hrs to 1800 hrs. The session also allows participants time for dialogue.

To complete the technical demonstrations we offer participants the possibility to visit the transcription service, which gives them a brief overview of its work which includes transcribing the documents from black to Braille and the Embossing functions (Braille printer).

Task managers from OIPs (Organisations for Integration and Placement) and EPSRs (Preparatory Team for the disabled consecutive upon re-classification) are strongly represented at these sessions, along with Cotorep4 members, physicians and managers: this meets the desire of the the Support Service to invite " careers guidance counsellors " so that their decisions are made in as full knowledge of all aspects of the handicap.




Back to Contents


Ergonomy Sessions

Similarly to the sessions just described, we note a strong representation of task leaders from OIPs and EPSRs as well as physicians from the Cotoreps.

We also had a very favourable reply from the corporate physicians we contacted.

This session is related to demonstrations of adapted I.T. hardware and software. Although the adaptation or re-adaptations of a visually impaired individual's workstation done by experts in ergonomics is not limited to I.T. equipment, this is often an important component of that work.

The topic of workstation adaptation answers some of the very practical questions considered by task managers in their accompaniment of visually impaired individuals (in the development of their professional projects) and when assisting companies (for instance to maintain a visually impaired person in employment by re-adapting the workstations or assist with possible appointment, by adapting the workstations).




Back to Contents


Locomotion Session

This session increases participants' awareness of the problems encountered by the visually impaired and the need to make specific arrangements to ensure that both the exterior and interior environment are accessible to them.

It also provides information on the different guiding techniques and the vital and essential work of locomotion instructors.




Back to Contents


Ophtalomology Session

The purpose of this session is to give a " medical " approach to visual impairment. It is particularly intended for medical professionals such as company physicians, the physicians of Cotorep, medical secretaries, etc.

When aimed at integration agents, the content of this session is modified accordingly. The sessions emphasise the need for functional assessments and how, on the basis of those assessments (to determine the disabled person's visual capabilities) rehabilitation work may be proposed to help the person acquire maximum possible autonomy.

This stage is very often needed before developing a professional project, it is therefore an essential tool for integration managers.




Back to Contents


Psychological Approach to Visual handicap

The topic of the psychological approach is the most sensitive and therefore the most difficult to approach.

The objective of this session is to help task managers when assisting a visually impaired individual in their path towards employment.

A judicious balance is sought between providing " theoretical " content which is generally understandable (i.e. to agents with some background training in psychology and others who do not) along with simple, practical content (laced with plentiful illustrations). The aim is to better help them understand the difficulties encountered by the visually disabled - difficulties that they may or may not mention to their helpers.

The sessions are extremely well received by the Ile de France organisations. This year, several task leaders from one particular team (up to 4 task leaders at a time) participated in a whole series of sessions!! Despite very busy schedules and a caseload of visually impaired individuals to follow, amounting to approximately 4% of the total members of the public in attendance.

This task managers involved were from Cap Emploi where teams vary in size from 4 to 8 employees, on average.

We often see 100% of Pdith workers participating in the sessions, since their missions are often for 1 and more rarely 2 or 3 employees at most.

This year, we noted the willingness in task leaders to participate in the entire series of sessions on offer and no longer just those that are "immediately profitable in the professional arena"

We can congratulate ourselves on the interest shown in these sessions and more broadly consider the forum for exchange that the sessions offer (which goes far beyond merely increasing the awareness of a handicap) and which these professionals seem to need and appreciate.

The sessions are not the only link that we have with the integration professionals, the link continues or is created by telephone, fax, email or contact by ordinary mail when they ask for information or request our assistance.

Such contacts are often provided by agents who do not attend the sessions (due to a lack of time or other reasons) yet who call upon the Support Service from time to time on a case-by-case basis depending on the people they are helping at that particular time.





Back to Contents


General sessions aimed at the sector of the public identified in the context of the PRFTH

General sessions are proposed to referring parties from the public and other contacts identified in the PRFTH (see note).

The missions of the PRFTH are defined under a three-sided contract between the Agefiph (Ile de France delegation), the State (the DRTEFP of Ile de France) and the Region (Ile de France regional Council).

The objective of the PRFTH is to encourage the integration of disabled workers by developing their inclusion into the ordinary offering of in-service and " sandwich " training courses.



2 networks are identified :

"Referring parties" are resource persons identified within training organisations in the Ile de France region.

Contacts are resources persons identified within reception, guidance and placement organisations for those seeking jobs.

The PRFTH provides them with training within the handicapped network for various types of disabilities and asks us to organise general services based on the visual impairment.

In 2002 almost 600 structures have been identified and have taken up invitations extended to them by the Support Service.

We have been astonished and very agreeably surprised by the favourable reception given by this sector of the public whereas other sessions on other types of handicap are proposed to them and the probability that they could accept a visually impaired individual remains low.



Participants' comments

In the majority, written and oral comments indicate general satisfaction with the proposed content (a brief overview and the various aspects of visual impairment) but also the desire to delve more deeply into the topics touched upon. Some of the participants considered a half day session to be too short and said that they would appreciate further information even if accepting a disabled person, and even more so a visually impaired person, might only be a possibility envisioned for some future time, perhaps.

The theme sessions are not actually aimed at this sector of the public however proposals have been sent out to interested contacts and referring parties inviting them to attend, since 2001.



General findings

Over the period 1st April 2001 through 31st December 2002, 32 sessions took place, prepared and co-ordinated by the task leader with talks by 8 speakers. 314 people attended.



Notes

Cap Emploi is a label that covers both OIPs ( integration and placement organisations) and EPSRs ( Preparatory teams for the disabled consecutive upon re-classification)

PDITH : Departmental Programme for the Integration of Disabled Workers

PRFTH : Regional Training Programme for Disabled Workers.

COTOREP : Technical Commission for Professional Guidance




Back to Contents



Back to "European Employment Conference" Contents