Professions Accessible to the Blind

Report presented in Taipeh (Taiwan) on 7 November 2003

by Philippe Chazal
President of the EBU Commission on Rehabilitation, Vocational Training and Employment






Introduction

If we ask the general public: " can blind people hold down a job?" rare are those today, in the industrialized countries at least, who would reply in the negative. If we go a step further, however, and ask : "but what jobs can they do?" we that find most of those surveyed are at a loss to reply. After some hesitation they usually mention switchboard operators, masseurs or musicians, however the list will not extend beyond 13 of these traditional professions. That ignorance of our aptitudes can no doubt be explained by the historical reasons that we will discuss shortly, but also because no-one can be interested in absolutely everything and therefore it requires particular reasons for public attention to be drawn to the problem of blindness or those affected by it. We ourselves know no more of the circumstances affecting those who suffer other handicaps, immigrants or gypsies, for instance. Indifference, prejudice and the predominance of economics over social life are the source of many types of exclusions.

For more than eighteen hundred years, which is a very long time, blind people were regarded not as people but rather as freaks to be exhibited at fairgrounds and laughed at. Their lack of sight necessarily, or so people thought, deprived them of reasoning. Therefore, like domestic pets, it was thought that all that was needed was to feed, care for and house those affected by the disability. Specialist shelters were reserved for them, the best known of these being the "Hôpital des Quinze-Vingt" founded by Saint Louis in 1420. Not until 1792 when Valentin HAÜY opened the very first school for the blind in Paris did society finally realize that the blind were capable of learning and thought. Thanks to this philanthropist, they were raised from their animal status and able to start to have a life. A few years later, Louis BRAILLE, himself a blind person, opened the doors of reading, writing and communication for his fellow unfortunates. The system he developed remains today, throughout the world, the most secure means of social integration for those that use it.

Having overcome this barrier, and now that the blind were recognized as men and women in their own right, they quickly wanted to organize themselves into associations, do away with assistance, lead a normal life and work. Their right to achieve those objectives continues even today. Recognition and the ability to exercise a profession remain dreams that are still unattainable today for hundreds of thousands of people suffering blindness or severe visual impairment, particularly in Africa and Asia. In Europe or America, steps must be taken to combat discrimination in the workplace, to impose quotas for the appointment of disabled workers in companies, to reserve jobs or professions for the visually impaired or the blind; despite this, almost everywhere other than Spain and Italy, the employment rate among blind people of working age does not exceed 30 to 35% and is a matter of concern for the States or organizations such as the Council of Europe, the International Organization for Work or the United Nations Organization which are adopting legislative texts, recommendations, declarations or charters to improve the situation.



Blind People at Work

This is the title of the book published in France in 1999 at my initiative, with the prime aim of broadly informing the general public about our professional potential. Whether future employers, members of the various commissions in charge of deciding our orientation, people who lose their sight at some time during adulthood and have to envision some new form of employment, all are largely uninformed in this area, which risks being extremely prejudicial to us. I cannot tell you yet whether the objective has been achieved, all I know is that more than four thousand copies have been sold, in the four available formats :

    - In ordinary print, one publisher has broadly disseminated the book in bookshops, with massive promotion simultaneously in radio or television broadcasts ;

    - full and abridged versions in Braille,

    - audio, cassettes, compact discs ;

    - electronic formats : text, word.


Part One entitled " Conditions for Success " discusses general topics such as Braille printing, functional rehabilitation, careers guidance tests, legislative measures to encourage employment, the adaptation of workstations, student life for the visually impaired, the background history of professional training, protected work. The example of a well-known company (MICHELIN) finally persuades the reluctant, insisting in particular on the " added value " that a blind worker can contribute to the work of a team.

Part Two, by far the larger section, presents 106 case studies of people exercising their activity in fourteen different sectors. Two conditions were required to " qualify " :


    - they had to be completely blind, i.e. with absolutely no sight remaining that they could use in order to work ;

    - they had to draw sufficient income from their activity, i.e. not exercise their work as a "dilettante"

Below is a brief overview of the kind of jobs that are available, knowing that in no way do we claim the list to be exhaustive, merely that one day we had to stop researching and actually publish the book. Since then, we have found a few other activities exercised by non-sighted persons: sex therapist, fisherman, schoolteacher, bicycle repairer, for instance. We would also like to emphasize that :

    - The experience acquired by a person before losing their sight can open up horizons for them that would be totally inaccessible for others ;

    - Today, it is more appropriate to reason in terms of the tasks that are accessible, rather than the profession, as each is composed of multiple activities. A blind secretary, for instance, cannot do some jobs such as sorting and filing mail, typing notes hand-written by the boss, whereas his or her performance in others may give proof of outstanding performance: receiving, sorting and answering emails, preparing minutes of meetings, making appointments for meetings.

    - In these conditions it will be rather difficult to put in place " mass " training courses such as the kind that used to be organized for switchboard operators or masseurs. Better, therefore to seek to promote the integration of non-sighted persons in universities, training centers, schools or professional colleges open to all-comers. The medical and social role of specialist establishments however must not be ignored, which makes them absolutely essential for the trainees, students or pupils who need psychological support, visual rehabilitation, to learn to use Braille, specific technical aids, and assistance in locomotion. The ordinary environment and specialist establishments therefore, rather than being in competition, are complementary to one another, just as are Braille and voice synthesis, just as are the salaried personnel and unpaid volunteers in our associations, just as are blind and sighted people in our society as a whole.





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1. Reception-Communication

In this sector, the profession most frequently exercised by non-sighted people is that of switchboard operator. There are several thousand of these in Italy where, as you know, jobs are specifically reserved for this profession. This, in our opinion, is an excellent method and one that we would like to see if not generalized everywhere at least in broad use. In France and many other European countries, training courses remain for this profession, even if technological progress has somewhat reduced the number of professionals who, additionally, have to be increasingly skilled and often speak at least one foreign language. Contrary to an all-too-widespread belief, we think that the " reception & communication agents ", as they are called today, rather than be phased out, will actually increase in numbers in government departments, hospitals and companies, where they often constitute the " showcase " for the users or customers who " call " them.

Blind secretaries are most often employed in government departments after they succeed the competitive recruitment tests. A few of them work for private companies where, when accepted and well-integrated by their colleagues in the teams, they accomplish work that is appreciated. Recent progress in computer technologies (the use of the mouse), the widespread use of graphs and images in formatting and presenting texts, research to be undertaken on websites that are not always accessible, causes us to wonder whether this profession will continue to be accessible to the visually impaired. Happily, though, a survey conducted at the European level last year has encouraged us to maintain this training which, like others, should evolve in step with the requirements of employers.

A few interpreters exercise and enjoy their profession, however the job requires more concentration of them than of their sighted colleagues and they encounter difficulties familiarizing themselves with all the documents remitted to them. Preparing translations of documents using dictionaries or databases accessible on the Internet offers interesting prospects.

Lastly, in the early 80s, a large French mutual society asked me about the possibility of employing non-sighted telephone consultants. After in-depth study of the position, this was found to be possible and approximately 30 were therefore appointed to a call center in Paris, a further fifteen or so in Lyon and a dozen in Marseille. Since then, the profession has evolved so that they no longer are expected solely to provide advice over the telephone but also to manage customer accounts, inform them of the follow-up to their claims, and propose new products to them. Other insurance companies, the Social Security contributions fund, France Telecom and a mail order sales company, have followed this example. A training course leading to this new profession was opened by a call center in Nantes, however the main obstacle to be overcome remains the accessibility of the software packages used by the various employers, which often remain rather problematic. Whether selling, providing advice or information, the profession of telephone consultant will certainly open up interesting prospects in the forthcoming years. We are already looking at the possibility of opening up to professions in tourism, which is seeing strong growth these days.




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2. Government Departments

Several non-sighted persons enjoy successful careers within Government departments: Social Services Inspector, Work Inspector, Director of a Social Security contributions fund. After following the relevant training and with the help of the secretary’s offices generally allocated to the jobs that they exercise, these workers generally accomplish all of the tasks expected of them without too much problem: examining dossiers, seeking information, making decisions, preparing and monitoring sometimes hefty budgets, personnel management. Their career is exactly the same as that of their sighted colleagues, three of them have even passed the prestigious competitive examination of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration to accede to the grade of Civil Administrator.


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3. Agriculture

The story of one witness, a totally blind farmer, is particularly remarkable. Determining the weight of a cow by touch alone and with a very small margin of error, recognizing the different animals in the flock, milking, cutting hedges are just some of the tasks that he manages to perform without help. His is an example to be followed by those who prefer country life to city dwelling, who like the land and want to work with animals. Within a protected work establishment, several non-sighted persons participate in farm work, more particularly with raising sheep.

In Brittany, two blind brothers together run a large chicken farm. They explain the adaptations made to the installations to enable them to collect the eggs, clean and feed the chickens. The progress made in mechanization facilitates their work. Still in the same region of Brittany, a specialist Agricultural Training Centrex for the visually handicapped has been in existence for more than 30 years. It delivers official diplomas to the students, most of whom though, it must be said, are poor-sighted rather than totally blind.


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4. Arts and Entertainment

The general public, wrongly as it often happens, believes all blind people to be musically gifted. This is not true at all true; however in our schools, in addition to general studies, the teaching of music theory and the practical use of instruments (piano, violin, organ, the accordion) generally has a predominant place. In these conditions, therefore, it is not astonishing to find many musicians plying their profession: a few orchestra conductors (classical music or variety) some of whom have even made a name for themselves and become stars. Although we have no testimonies from pianists in large hotels or cabarets, or playing synthesizers in restaurants or on the beaches at holiday resorts, these musicians are nevertheless in great demand during the season and a lot of them could be non-sighted.

A few actors, one storyteller, two writers and a sculptor have made more than honorable careers for themselves. Certainly, this requires a vocation, however, if you feel so inclined, why not try your luck, exercise your art, enjoy yourself on the theatre set or write a novel ?


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5. Arts and Crafts

We must admit that in this day and age it is very difficult to find well-paying activities for manual workers outside of the protected work structures which, thanks to Government aid, compensate for the low productivity of the workers. The globalization of the economy, leading to the importation of products manufactured at low cost in Africa or Asia, the use of machines or industrial processes which multiply profitability three or four fold, are just some of the brakes on the sale of basket work, brushes and seating " hand-made " by blind workers. Such training courses continue to exist today because customer demand remains high and it often takes several weeks to have a chair caned or stuffed. In the future, if they wish to remain competitive, these craftspeople must inevitably adapt to the new manufacturing processes (industrial caning), produce luxury or highly decorative products (fine basket weaving) or make items that meet specific needs (brushes, etc.).

Piano tuners are still trained at the National Institute for Blind Young People, they work either as self-employed or with customers whose houses they have to visit, or in companies who manufacture instruments, however there are less and less of them. It is impossible to say at this time whether this trade is destined to disappear, but because of the many journeys to be made in increasingly difficult conditions, the profession will certainly be less and less accessible to the blind.

Because of the clever adaptation of his work tools, one son of a baker who has lost his sight has, despite his disability, been able to take over his parents’ bakery. The computer system with voice synthesis enables setting the temperature of the oven, dosing the water and the flour, monitoring the baking in total safety. It is surprising and unexpected; hence this story sets an example not only for this profession but undoubtedly, too, for others that might not readily come to mind.


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6. Sales and Marketing

We will not go back and discuss the job of telephone salesperson which we have already mentioned in relation with that of the telephone consultant, however in our opinion this profession is likely to see a good future in the coming years.

At IBM, a blind sales engineer who followed solid training and possesses more than average skills is now the Sales director. He manages a large sales force, visits clients throughout Europe, and defines a product distribution strategy. Others can do the same.

Similarly, in the banking sector, a non-sighted operator in the exchange hall makes the sales and purchasing orders transactions ordered by the customers, monitors exchange rates and finds the his disability is not an obstacle he cannot overcome. For him, as for the previously mentioned person, the job-experience period during his university studies was decisive, in enabling both of them to come into contact with the work environment, but also and above all to prove to their future colleagues that they were perfectly able to perform their role within the company. We cannot emphasize enough the extreme importance of this kind of practical course, whatever the level of the person benefiting from it: switchboard operator, secretary, legal expert, social worker; they also fairly often result in the person being appointed to a job which is why, whenever possible, the jobs must be sought close to the trainee’s own home.

A few of the blind people we interviewed have had the courage to set up their own companies, thus becoming company managers. The fields of activity are various: sale of computer hardware and software, adaptation of websites, translating companies, printing companies. The important thing is to be able to monitor the employees’ work, relations with customers and suppliers, and the accounting.

Neither can we ignore the thousands of lottery ticket sellers who, in Spain, on behalf of the ONCE, walk up and down main city streets making well over average salaries. In many countries, games of chance are developing, it is a shame that more countries are not following the example of our Spanish friends for this is a progression that would be accessible to many if this type of walking sales were more generally accepted into broad use, and if it lost the negative connotation of begging that it has for some.


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7. Teaching - Education

Since the end of the last century, it is in specialist institutions that the blind started teaching others like them Braille or music. They still do this today, but after knocking down barriers and opening the doors to elementary schools, secondary schools and universities, which has considerably broadened their area of competency. Many, therefore, are literature, language, mathematics, economics and law teachers, more rarely history or geography or sports teacher (yoga, judo.) If the help of an assistant is sometimes necessary, particularly in correcting homework, the teachers are generally responsible for discipline in their classrooms and lecture halls, for preparing and giving lessons, giving oral examinations and following the progress of the students, particularly by taking part in the various meetings. In a word, teaching careers are largely accessible in many disciplines and at all levels.

The progression of document transcriber/adapter often requires the use of sight to interpret and reproduce in Braille or in the form of graphs and images in relief, the documents to be transcribed. A few non-sighted persons however can enter or correct texts for printing companies or departments specializing in producing texts in Braille.


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8. Industry

As with the craft sector, the professions in industry that are accessible to the blind in the ordinary production sector are extremely limited. Employers generally hesitate to place a non-sighted person in front of a machine for fear of an accident. They forget that it would often be easy to make the changes or add the necessary protections to allow the person to work in total safety. The testimonies of the wiring technician or the machine operator are therefore unlikely to be heard. At the present time, visually impaired manual workers work mainly in the protected sector. They perform subcontracting and/or conditioning work such as simple assembly, folding or bagging. A Centre for Aid through Work near Paris enables totally blind workers to operate machines to make wooden pallets, two others, in Lyon and Lille, use blind workers to run their printing presses. These establishments ensure that the machine serves man rather than just be a tool for productivity. In Eastern European countries, many non-sighted workers work in co-operatives, they also perform assembly work (electrical equipment) or produce items of their own (plastic items or bottle caps, for instance).

The testimony of totally blind laundry workers in the United States can, perhaps, open up prospects, although this work is particularly physically demanding.


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9. Legal Professions

Law studies and the legal professions afford non-sighted people excellent opportunities to succeed their professional integration. Although some jobs (that of notary, for instance) are inaccessible for practical reasons, others (attorney or magistrate) can, on the contrary, be successfully performed. Large corporations can also employ blind people as salaried legal advisors or human resources administrators. The ability to concentrate, listen and observe others are plus factors that they bring to the job. Networks with legal databases such as legislative and regulatory texts, decisions from case law, articles of doctrine greatly facilitate the work of blind professionals in this sector, who use equipment such as scanners to familiarise themselves with written documents.


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10. Medical/ Paramedical

Blind people compensate for their visual deficiencies with a particularly well-developed sense of touch, so it is only normal for them to use their heightened sense of touch to serve their patients. In 1906, Dr. Félicien FABRE, a French doctor who had recently lost his sight, opened the very first school for massage therapy under the auspices of the Valentin HAÜY association. The school is still in existence today. Because of the availability of that training, several hundred blind masseurs / physiotherapists today work in France either as self-employed persons with their own consulting rooms and customers, or in hospital departments. The school awards the State Diploma after three years of study on top of the baccalaureat, and the training for the blind is strictly identical to that received by non-handicapped candidates, which is something we are very proud of and want to continue. In other countries (Italy) this is a two-tier profession with masseurs who do not have university level studies and rehabilitation therapists who have followed higher training after obtaining the baccalaureat. Those who seek the advantage of promotion can become health managers after one year of additional studies after gaining the State Diploma. Lastly, we should mention one other specific discipline, osteopathy, which in France in the process of being recognised by the medical administration. This area also opens up some interesting career prospects. The discipline is all the more accessible for the blind since it is based on palpation of the body, massage and physical exercises.


Professions based on listening to patients are also very open to us, although the number of blind and visually impaired exercising them remains limited because the medical studies continue to be inaccessible for us. Psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist or even dietician, all of these professions provide new and promising paths for us. Some shining examples of blind people working in this field prove to us that blindness is not an obstacle to exercising these professions.

Less spectacular, and gradually being phased out as a result of technological progress, is the manual profession of X-ray development technician working in the dark room which used to provide jobs for approximately ten non-sighted persons. These jobs, however, are currently becoming automated which limits the need for human intervention, thus depriving us of a useful and interesting outlet.


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11. Politics

"Many are called and few elected" is an essential feature of political functions above a certain level. However, like all citizens, blind people can also be persevering, tenacious and determined to seek the " good of the public ". One of the best-known among us who has succeeded in this field is the Home Office Secretary in England; however we also find several deputies, one diplomat (not yet appointed at the time of writing this book, so he was unable to provide us with his testimony), mayors or deputy mayors. All fulfil their role with dignity, are well regarded by their colleagues and have truly blossomed in their role. Similarly, the high ranking Civil Servant posts and the benches of parliamentary or local assemblies are slowly opening to non-sighted persons. To succeed in this field they have from a very young age to work actively in political parties, unions, human rights defence organisations… stubbornness and in-service training will do the rest!


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12. Press and Audio-Visual

It might be thought that professions in the sound industry would be very accessible to us, however few blind people work in this area. A few attempts have been made to open up the sound engineer training courses. However, in France at least, they have not yielded the anticipated results in terms of professional insertion.

In recent years, though, the increasing number of private radio stations has provided several non-sighted persons with new job outlets. Some blind journalists have fairly enviable careers on the radio (France) in television (Spain) or in the press. In this latter case, the journalists’ blindness is even, at times, unknown to their readers. One blind journalist writing in Brittany actually refused to provide us with a testimony so as not to reveal his handicap to his readers !

In Paris there is one radio announcer who lost the use of his vision, but this does not prevent him from chatting on the phone with his listeners or programming the disks or advertising. Here again, it is unsure whether, despite his pseudonym (MALFAIT, which means "poorly made") the listeners know of his visual deficiency. Switzerland has a blind radio producer who has met the top classical and show-biz stars. More original are the professions of radio documentalist or voice off, whose testimonies are definitely of interest also.


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13. Science, Research and Information Technology

Once again, it was the Valentin HAÜY Association which, in the early 70’s, opened the first evening classes to train non-sighted analyst-programmers. Since then, they have been taken over by another Centre in the Paris region, which manages fairly easily to find jobs for its qualified trainees. The Y2K bug, the switchover to the single currency, multiplied the needs in this field. It is to be feared, therefore, that demand from companies may diminish somewhat, however this does not seem to be a concern for the specialists.

A few blind I.T. engineers perform high level work in the banking sector, at IBM, on behalf of the Paris airport, to mention only a few examples. Far from being the " brain-deprived blind " mentioned in my introduction to this presentation, on the contrary they use their mental faculties to the fullest in order to hold down their place. The way is open to them, in France and in many countries. Even if reserved for a somewhat intellectual elite, this branch of work is no less important.

Research directors in physics or chemistry may surprise you, due to the very nature of the disciplines that they occupy. The field of mathematics, which essentially calls for faculties of reasoning, has enabled a few non-sighted persons to attain exceptional levels. This is not really astonishing when you know a very famous mathematician who was deprived of sight. We can also mention a statistician at the National Sickness Benefits Fund, who is highly satisfied with her job there, or a Research director in language sciences who skills have enabled him to preside over some very closed university circles.


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14. Social Work

In the United States, the number of non-sighted persons employed as social workers is surprising. There are fewer than five in France and yet a non-sighted person working in a team can well make a place for him/herself. We find a disparity here that is comparable to the large number of blind legal experts we found working in Germany (they have even formed an association to bring their members together), whereas in our country there are only two or three attorneys and as many magistrates exercising their profession. Workers in the social services must listen to, understand and seek solutions for people in difficult circumstances or encountering problems, and nothing says that a blind person would not be fully effective in doing this.

The specialist educator remains an isolated case, however we have already mentioned the Braille or music teachers who over the past century have effectively found themselves a place in specialist establishments. Few schools for educators have openings for the disabled though, since people hesitate to believe that one can take charge of the more fragile members of society when one is blind oneself. However, if the necessary precautions are put in place, there is objectively no reason why the profession of specialist educator should be closed to us.


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Conclusion

Although having come to the end of this brief discussion, we do not claim to have given an exhaustive overview of the subject. We merely sought to give some examples of the kinds of professions that are available for young blind people who might desire to join them if they know that the possibility exists, so that potential employers no longer hesitate to appoint them and so that their families no longer feel that their handicap will restrict the visually disabled to too narrow a range of potential activities. A photographic exhibition is scheduled some time soon that will present to the general public these " blind people at work " who too often remain invisible and unknown.

Although technological progress will no doubt increase the range of available jobs, it nevertheless remains true that not everyone will be capable of doing every job. The skills of non-sighted people are just as diverse as that of sighted people. The problem being that although the sighted have a fairly broad choice and can become craftspeople, salespeople, taxi drivers etc, the same it not true for us, and it is to be feared that there is no remedy for this situation. If technical aids take on increasing importance, it is nevertheless up to the blind person him or herself to gain the employer’s trust and evolve in the job. The work contract is above all related to the individual, which is why job candidates must have confidence in their own abilities and a feeling of self-worth. Rather than insist on what they cannot do because of their visual impairment, they should dwell on all the positive compensatory aspects such as keenness of concentration, excellent memory, capability to work hard, listening skills, etc.

Work in the protected environment still has a promising future: work with the telephone for instance, with its advantages and drawbacks, can be ideally suited for some blind individuals, particularly those who have difficulty getting around due to lack of transport facilities within reach of their home.

To close, I would like to quote the sentence taken from the book which served as the guiding thread of this talk : Gilbert MONTAGNE, the renowned blind variety singer wrote this for us : "If you have the opportunity to mix with blind people, children, friends or family members, you should know that they will become what you want them to be. In a word : believe in them. "


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