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18.2.2.6 Braille Times Table

The Braille Times Table chart from the Braille Superstore is an 11 in (4.3 cm) square chart giving the multiplication tables up to 12×12 in Braille.

18.3 Employment

In considering the social integration of disabled people (and other minority or marginalized groups), access to employment is often considered to be of particular importance. There are a number of reasons for this, including the need for a good or at least an adequate income and the self-respect gained through being selfsupporting. In addition, employment can provide a structure to the day and sense of purpose and often also a sense of identity, as well as providing the opportunity to make social contacts. For instance, a survey of young people with and without disabilities in the UK found that non-disabled young people had greater self-esteem and a slightly greater sense of control than young disabled people of the same age, but that the differences disappeared for young disabled people in employment (Hirst and Baldwin 1994).

However, employment rates for blind and visually impaired people are considerably lower than those for the sighted population, in most countries. Although employment and unemployment data is generally based on sample surveys of the labour force or households, it is frequently difficult to compare the data in different countries, due to different definitions of blindness, visual impairment, employment and unemployment. In addition, there may be different definitions of the working age and economic activity in different countries.

A survey for the European Blind Union performed in 2001 (EBU 2001), found that many of the 17 member organisations that responded were only able to provide estimates of the number of working age blind and visually impaired people, and that their unemployment rates were very high across Europe. Typical figures were 77% in Hungary, 87% in Poland, 72% in Germany, 55% in Finland and 68% in Norway. The two exceptions were Sweden and Spain with unemployment for blind and visually impaired people of only 5.5% and 4.2% respectively. However, in Spain 85% of the members of the national blind association ONCE who are in employment sell Lottery of the Blind tickets. Clearly, this type of employment does not have a career structure with promotion prospects and it is unlikely that it is matched to the skills and interests of 85% of blind people. Unfortunately in the employment area, governments and other organisations have tended to focus on getting disabled people into employment of any type and give little attention to issues of job satisfaction, career structure and promotion. Barriers to the employment of blind and visually impaired people include (EBU 2001) a lack of qualifications and experience, high general unemployment, employers’ prejudices and poor legislation. Barriers to employment found in an Australian survey include discouragement, discrimination and lack of information about suitable career choices (Smith 2002).

Comparative statistics for visually impaired and non-disabled people or the total population are available in a number of countries, though not all the data is recent. For instance, in the UK in 2001, some 44.3% of blind and visually impaired people were in employment compared to 78.9% of the total population or 85.3% of the non-disabled population of working age (16–64 for men and 16–59 for women) (Smith A and Twomey 2002). In the USA, some 30% of legally blind people and 40–45% of blind and visually impaired people compared to 82% of the non-disabled population of working age (18–69 years) were in employment in 1994/1995 (Kirchner et al. 1999).

An Australian survey of blind and visually impaired people identified the critical role played by assistive technology, with 21 of 25 respondents using some form of assistive technology, particularly to access computers and the Internet. Respondents who were required to travel as part of the job were confident about travelling independently (Smith 2002), indicating that improved orientation and mobility training and improved confidence in this area may overcome this barrier to employment for some blind and visually impaired people. Although just over two-thirds of the respondents believed that they had been treated fairly with regards to career development, the remaining just under one-third considered they had experienced discrimination and that there was a ‘glass ceiling’ or barrier to further advancement for visually impaired people (Smith 2002).

18.3.1 Professional and Person-centred

This category covers activities in a wide range of different employment fields, including the health care professions, therapy and counselling, the legal profession, management and personnel, accountancy, banking, religious organisations, translation and interpretation, journalism and creative writing, acting, dancing, music and social and community work. The main requirements for modified or assistive technology in the workplace are related to information and communications technologies, particularly access to print media and computers and the Internet. There are a number of professional associations to support blind and visually impaired people working in these areas, particularly in the USA and some of them are listed in the Resources section at the end of this chapter. For instance, the National Association of Blind Lawyers provides support and information on employment, techniques used by blind people and laws affecting them, as well as advocacy.

Owing to the increasing availability of assistive technology for accessing print and computers in many countries, one of the main remaining barriers to blind and visually impaired people obtaining professional of person-centred employment is likely to be attitudinal, including expectations about suitable employment for them, rather than practical. For historical reasons, physiotherapy is one of the professions in which blind and visually impaired people are best represented and a brief case study is given below. Music has been another popular profession amongst blind people and there is some research evidence that musicians who were born blind or become blind early in life are better at distinguishing the

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pitch of notes, particularly those that are close in pitch or of very short duration, than sighted musicians or those who became blind later in life (Gougoux et al. 2004).

18.3.1.1 Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy has been a significant profession for blind and visually impaired people for a number of years, at least in part due to its historical relationship with massage (French 1995). In Japan, massage was practiced solely by visually impaired people for several hundred years (Yoshimoto 1901). In the UK, the Association of Blind Chartered Masseurs was set up and became the Association of Blind Chartered Physiotherapists (ABCP) in 1953. There were about 50 certified visually impaired masseurs in the early 1900s and more than 900 visually impaired people, including 200 ex-servicemen blinded in action, had trained as physiotherapists through the RNIB by 1987. However, there was some opposition to visually impaired physiotherapists from the profession, partly on gender grounds, as many of the early visually impaired physiotherapists were male (ex-servicemen), whereas the rest of the profession was female. Visually impaired physiotherapists also threatened professional status and distance from the people being treated by being disabled and often being of working class rather than middle class backgrounds. The NIB (which became the RNIB in 1953) included medical electricity in its syllabus in 1919, but the professional body only agreed to examine electrical treatments other than ultra violet light in 1934.

With the development of the profession, technology became more important and RNIB scientists developed a number of Braille and audible devices for use in the profession. The Braille galvanometer (the historical name for a moving coil electric current detector) was a device that allowed blind and visually impaired people to carry out treatment with continuous direct and interrupted alternating current (then called galvanic and faradic current respectively). An audible device was developed to tune the short-wave diathermy machines used to induce heat electrically and give muscle relaxation. An erythemameter, which used audible signals to indicate the redness of the skin, was developed in the early 1950s and this allowed blind physiotherapists to use ultra violet light in treatment. However, in practice, few physiotherapists used the erythemameter and some considered it was developed for political reasons and would only be required if both the physiotherapist and client were blind and totally isolated from sighted colleagues. The statement that visually impaired physiotherapists had met the requirements ‘in accordance with the syllabus for blind candidates’ was dropped in 1975 and the identification of visual impairment on the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) register ceased in 1988. Blind physiotherapists now face an increasing number of barriers, due to the inflexible environments and structures in which they work rather than changes in the profession, as a result of which a high proportion of visually impaired physiotherapists practice privately from home (French 1995).

18.3.1.2 Theatre

There are theatre companies of blind people in Croatia, the USA, the UK, Slovenia and Spain. The oldest is New Life in Zagreb which was set up in 1946 and had its first performance in 1948. It has toured all over Europe and organised the First International Blind and Visually Impaired Theatre Festival in 1999. Theatre for the Blind was set up in New York in 1979, originally as a sighted company. Each actor receives a version of the script in an appropriate format on the first day of rehearsals. This includes scripts in Braille and on tape, as well as very large print (40 pt). Rehearsals last longer than those of sighted companies to give performers additional time to familiarise themselves with the script and stage set. The designers create stage environments which are helpful to blind actors. For instance, one production had a tiny almost invisible rim at the front edge of the stage, to inform actors where the playing area ended. High contrast colour schemes are also used to aid visually impaired actors.

18.3.2 Scientific and Technical

This category includes employment activities in engineering, technology, computing science, programming and information technology, mathematics (other than accountancy and banking) and the natural, physical, social and human sciences. In addition to access to information technology and print, activities in this area often involve laboratory work and accessible laboratories are the focus of this section.

18.3.2.1 Laboratory Work

Both education and employment in engineering and the physical sciences, amongst other areas, require practical or laboratory work. In the educational context it is important that laboratories are fully accessible to both disabled students and staff, including blind and visually impaired students and staff, so that students can participate in the same educational experiences as other students and staff are able to carry out teaching and research effectively. In the employment context laboratory accessibility widens the range of career opportunities open to blind and visually impaired, as well as other disabled, people.

Although different types of laboratory involve very different types of equipment, the following principles of accessibility, most of which have been derived from a mini-laboratory accessibility project (Hersh et al. 2004) are relevant in all cases:

•Adequate and appropriate lighting, an uncluttered layout of the laboratory and designated places for all equipment, to make it easier for visually impaired and blind students to find the equipment they want.

•As far as possible, using only one model of each type of equipment, for example, only one type of oscilloscope from the many types that are available. This means that for each type of equipment blind people only have to familiarise themselves with the layout of one rather than multiple devices.