Guest Editor's Page

Abstract

People with or without disabilities seek satisfaction in their lives. It is through employment, in large part, that many are able to achieve that outcome. Jobs enable individuals to earn money, meet others with similar interests and talents, and contribute meaningfully to the larger society and the economic security of the nation within which they live. Over the last century, there have been impressive advances in society--legislatively, technologically, and socially--that have benefited people with disabilities. In most countries, individuals who are blind or have low vision can receive educations, marry and have families, own properties, vote, and earn money; in other words, live typical lives. Many countries provide special education and rehabilitation services to support the integration of people with visual impairments. Some countries have legislation that protects the civil liberties of people with vision loss, including their right to seek work and participate in community activities. Some also make provisions to offset the expenses associated with adaptations to the environment or acquisition of tools and technology to facilitate employment and work-related activities such as training. However, employment has proven to be an elusive goal for people with visual impairments throughout the world, as indicated in the articles and reports included in this issue. What is causing the overall statistics regarding employment for people with visual impairments to be so unimpressive? Although the articles collected in this issue provide some insight into what works and what can seemingly be done to improve the employment situation, they have only scratched the surface. Professionals, in partnership with people who are blind or have low vision and their families need to work together and evaluate what is currently being taught in special education and rehabilitation programs and further analyze the factors contributing to successful outcomes and what competent individuals and their families bring to the equation to find the best way forward, since what has been done to this point has not been sufficient or satisfactory. When promising programs or possible correlations between factors that seem to enhance the likelihood of success are discovered, they must be replicated empirically to determine the validity of using the approach in many environments. Then the observations and findings must be shared broadly--to encourage others to do likewise. Serious effort needs to be put into hiring and promoting competent individuals who are visually impaired, and other prospective employers need to be made aware of successes in that area. Whatever your role is in the transition and employment of youths and adults with visual impairments, this October-November Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) Special Issue on Transition and Employment is intended to provide you with information that will help you adjust your own work and improve outcomes. The authors of the lead articles in this issue attempted to find characteristic behavioral and societal patterns that enabled the participants studied to achieve and maintain employment in a developing country. The articles describe the quantifiable and then the qualitative results of a study of employed Nigerians. The information shared in these articles can be used by professionals to help others in similar situations achieve employment. The following three articles address the impact of rehabilitation services on employment outcomes for adults with visual impairments. Steinman and his colleagues share their investigation into what associations might exist regarding employment outcomes and disability-specific rehabilitation agencies with decision-making control over policies and procedures and general-disability agencies without such authority. Geisen and Cavenaugh report on the individual and economic factors that seem to impact employment outcomes achieved by Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries (that is, adults with work experience) who have completed rehabilitation services. …