Astrophysicist, businesswoman, physiotherapist, senior civil service policy officer, secondary school teacher… These are just some of the jobs being successfully done by people in Scotland today who are blind and partially sighted.
But despite their example, most people with sight loss still face widespread discrimination in the workplace, a conference in Aberdeen will hear today. Aberdeen South MP Anne Begg will be the keynote speaker.
In a recent Government survey, 92 per cent of employers thought it would be either difficult or impossible to employ someone with impaired vision, points out the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland.
"The unemployment rate for people with sight loss, at 67 per cent, still far exceeds that for people with other disabilities, and is 15 times greater than the figure for the general population," said director John Legg.
"Yet, given a level of support - often a quite modest level of support - blind and partially sighted people can contribute in the workplace and provide for themselves and their families."
Today's conference is being organised by RNIB Scotland and the Grampian society for the Blind. It will launch a new report, 'This Is Working', that profiles ten people with sight loss in Scotland who are sustaining exacting career jobs and gives voice to their aspirations.
Alistair Boak is a trained physiotherapist at Edinburgh's Royal Victoria Hospital who is registered blind. "To those employers who think they can't employ someone with sight loss, I'd say they're putting the disability before the person," he emphasises. "They project their misconceptions of the problems they think the person will have. Beethoven was deaf but still composed wonderful music. Nelson was blind in one eye but was Admiral of the Fleet. It's what the person can do that counts!"
Mary Findlay, a teacher at Braeview Academy in Dundee who has retinitis pigmentosa, agrees. "People with sight loss probably work harder to try to compensate for their limited vision," she says. "They'll use other faculties and are more aware of how they interact with others. They're likely to have very developed communication skills that will enrich their work practice and help any organisation or business to flourish."
17 year-old Ross O'Malley knew what it was like to feel pessimistic about life-chances when he left school. He lost his sight due to a tumour on his optic nerve at the age of two. "Outwardly, I tried to be optimistic but in my head I'd think: maybe it really is never going to happen for me. I applied for lots of jobs but kept getting turned down. I was told it was because I had no experience. So I did a work-placement with RNIB Scotland and this helped me to get the experience for the job I have now with Midlothian Council.
"I'd say to employers, people with sight loss can achieve things if you'll only give them the chance to prove themselves."
Ross certainly has. Earlier this year, he won a 'Midlothian's Best' award from his local newspaper for his work on the Haggeye youth forum that set out to influence the Scottish Parliament on sight loss issues concerning young people.
John Legg hopes more employers will get the message. "'This Is Working' shows how the challenges of sight loss are being overcome in the workplace by some exceptional people and some enlightened employers. A generation ago, blind and partially sighted people might have been condemned to weaving baskets or assembling felt-pens. 'This Is Working' proves they can compete in the labour market and handle complex jobs and responsibilities.
"But too many employers have exaggerated ideas of what the barriers and costs would be to taking them on. We need to challenge these misconceptions. The Government's Access to Work scheme, for instance, is a major contributor to any extra costs and can help and advise on what, if any, adaptions or equipment might be needed to help someone do their job."
Anne Begg MP said: "'This Is Working' shows not what blind and partially sighted people can do or might do, but what they already are doing. I hope it will be widely read by employers and be used to open more doors for those seeking work."
As teacher Mary Findlay emphasises: "It's not eyesight that matters, it's insight."
Download a copy of 'This Is Working 2' (Word, 102KB).
Press Release issued: 17 November 2009.