Contrary to popular belief, visually impaired workers are not all massage therapists. In fact, every two out of three visually impaired workers have jobs in sectors ranging from marketing research to customer service.
At a press conference organized by the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday, visually impaired workers from a variety of industries demonstrated that thanks to new tools and technology, blind people can accomplish a variety of tasks.
Chieh-min (傑閔) is an example of someone who is visually impaired, but excels at his job. Born with glaucoma, Chieh-min is completely blind, but still works as a teaching assistant at Zhongzheng Senior High School in Taipei City. He uses a computer system that reads outs the words on students’ exams and can organize and file assignments or documents for teachers using a Braille filing system. He is also responsible for planning school-wide competitions and helping out with student tutorials.
PHOTO: CNA
Asked about any difficulties at work because of his disability, Chieh-min said: “Some people worried at first that I would not be able to perform well on the job because I can’t see, but once I demonstrated to them that I could carry out many tasks in my own way, I gained the trust of my coworkers.”
Chieh-min said that with the help of devices designed for the blind, he could perform almost any word processing job and perform just as well as people with sight.
Employers of visually impaired workers who attended the press conference said blind and visually impaired people had good work ethics, demonstrated professionalism and many were unhindered by their condition. The employers said that compared with workers with normal vision, visually impaired workers changed jobs less frequently and were therefore more dependable.
Council of Labor Affairs Vice Minister Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) said dozens of jobs can be performed by visually impaired individuals, including software engineering, computer systems maintenance, administrative help and education.
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