How They Did It

Human Services Agency:
Receptionist

BACKGROUND: Jennifer, totally blind since birth, has attended mainstreamed classes and worked hard to complete a series of clerk training classes provided at Schuyler Community College. (She's an excellent touch typist.) Now 23, she's excited about getting her first real job, which she found with assistance from the job coach provided by the local vocational rehabilitation office.

SOLUTION: At the Parsons Center's request, the local Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped (CBVH) sent out an orientation and mobility instructor, who worked with Jennifer and her guide dog to orient them to the workplace. The CBVH instructor also helped Jennifer find an appropriate place to walk Maxie during breaks.

Maxie, demonstrating the excellent training guide dogs get, stays quietly under Jennifer's desk or chair while she's working. Jennifer brought an extra water dish to work, and places it under the desk. (There were no concerns with spilled food on the carpet, of course, since guide dogs eat on a regular morning and evening schedule.) To the office managers' surprise, the dog became a kind of celebrity as clients vied for permission to pet it. (Jennifer had to explain that it wasn't a good idea to pet Maxie while she was working, but Maxie, again showing her good training, put up with it just fine.)

Several inexpensive adaptations helped make the workplace accessible: a small bell ($6) hung on the door let Jennifer know when someone entered. With a Braille label maker ($45) and several rolls of labeling tape ($4 each), Jennifer worked with the CBVH instructor to make labels for all the doors, mail boxes, buttons on the soda machine, and even the candy in the candy machine. They used a tube of raised line paint ($3.50) to mark the touch pad of the microwave so Jennifer could set the cooking time. In order to tell which lunch bag in the refrigerator was hers, Jennifer put a clothespin on hers and staffers maintained the front right corner on the middle shelf for her use.

With a phone light probe ($45) Jennifer was able to tell which line was ringing. She Brailled a list of phone extensions and kept it at her desk. To keep track of the counselors' comings and goings, Jennifer used a small magnetic board ($20) from the office supply store with Braille initials on magnetic craft strips ($10).

The computer at her desk was adapted for speech output ($500-900) and a Braille display pad added ($1,500). This allowed her to type (and spell-check her work) as well as write down and print messages, and she frequently volunteered to help the office secretary with transcription typing since she wanted to use her typing skills. The hands-free headset adapter ($10) gave Jennifer instant access to her keyboard and she quickly realized it was useful to keep all kinds of information (including phone numbers and addresses) on the computer.

When Jennifer came up for her first review at the end of the three-month probationary period, her office manager let her know how pleased she was to have a well-trained clerk who was already familiar with basic word processing, and willing to help out with office jobs. (And Jennifer, excited to be earning her own money for the first time, began to make plans with one of the agency's counselors to move into her first apartment