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Employer Attitudes towards Persons Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired: Perspectives and Recommendations from Vocational Rehabilitation Personnel
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | McDonnall, Michele Capella Zhou, Li Crudden, Adele |
| Copyright Year | 2013 |
| Abstract | In almost any culture, the importance of employment to quality of life is recognized. Low levels of employment for people who are blind or have low vision (i.e., with a visual impairment) is an ongoing problem. Recent national data from the Current Population Survey illustrate the severity of the problem: in 2011, 31.3% of individuals with a visual impairment ages 16 to 64 were employed compared to 67.0% without a visual impairment (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). In addition, persons with a visual impairment have a much higher unemployment rate compared to the general population (17.1% vs. 9.0%). Negative employer attitudes are generally thought to be one of the reasons that persons with disabilities have consistently had low levels of employment, and employer attitudes are considered one of the major barriers to successful employment for persons with a visual impairment (Crudden& McBroom, 1999; Crudden, Williams, McBroom, & Moore, 2002; Kirchner, Johnson, & Harkins, 1997; Salomone & Paige, 1984). Research also indicates that employers believe it would be very difficult to hire a person who is blind for specific positions they most frequently fill; they consider it more difficult to hire a person who is blind than a per son with other disabilities, with the exception of moderate or severe mental retardation (Gilbride, Stensrud, Ehlers, Evans, & Peterson, 2000). Addressing negative employer attitudes may be challenging, but one method to do this is with the interactions that state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies have with businesses. VR agencies have always interacted with employers in their efforts to assist persons who are visually impaired to obtain employment. Traditionally, these interactions have focused on job placement efforts, which generally involve placing one consumer in a specific job. Recently, interactions focusing on establishing long-term relationships with employers have received increasing attention. Establishing relationships with businesses that can provide the potential to place a number of consumers with the same employer is believed to be a more effective way of helping consumers attain employment. This concept has been discussed in the rehabilitation literature for more than 20 years, as a component of demand-side employment (e.g., Gilbride & Sensrud, 1999). Fifteen years ago an Institute on Rehabilitation Issues (1RI) report was devoted to the topic of developing effective partnerships with employers (Fry, 1997). Although it is not a new concept, there is an increasing emphasis for state-federal VR agencies to focus on business interactions; this concept is currently most often referred to as the business relations model or dual customer approach. Most agencies employ staff who are responsible for making connections with businesses, and in almost every agency rehabilitation counselors are also responsible for interacting with businesses (McDonnall, 2012). Although state-federal VR agencies and their service providers are on the front line of facilitating employment of individuals who are visually impaired, only a few previous studies have examined effective strategies that VR service providers could use to overcome the barrier of employer's attitude towards this population. Employers in one study (Kirchner et al, 1997) identified the provision of federal or state tax credits for hiring persons with visual impairments and providing on-the-job training to consumers (paid by the VR agency) as effective strategies to encourage businesses to hire people with visual impairments. In another study, rehabilitation providers identified two primary methods of addressing employer attitudes: educating employers about visual impairment and increasing contact between employers and individuals with visual impairments; with the idea that the rehabilitation counselor should first try education, then move to increasing contact once the employer was more comfortable (Crudden, Sansing, & Butler, 2005). … |
| Starting Page | 17 |
| Ending Page | 17 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 79 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.blind.msstate.edu/research/nrtc-publications/2011-2015/pdf/22.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.ntac.blind.msstate.edu/courses/files/Employer%20Attitudes%20(for%20web).pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.blind.msstate.edu/research/nrtc-publications/2011-2015/pdf/4.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
