July is Disability Pride Month. To celebrate, we thought we would compile a list of 5 skills that people often have to develop when they have a visual impairment, skills that they should be proud of, and employers should notice!
This list has been written by a visually impaired employee and is shaped by her conversations with a variety of visually impaired professionals.
- Good at listening- There are often myths about blind people having super-human hearing. Where this is not true, people with visual impairments have to rely on hearing more, whether this is listening out for cars when you walk down the street, recognising voices instead of faces, or absorbing information audibly, people with visual impairments often have to actively use their hearing more. Being able to absorb any or all of this information audibly is a skill and can benefit you in all aspects of your life, from building your knowledge, to being a better communicator.
- Memory- For many blind and partially sighted people, it may not be so easy to quickly jot something down to help you remember later, or to read cue cards when giving a speech or presentation, even ordering dinner isn’t always as simple as just reading off the menu, rather having to listen audibly and recall what you want. This means that often visually impaired people have to train their memories to be able to do tasks that others may rely on their sight for. Having a good memory can benefit you academically, socially, and professionally.
- Advocating for yourself- There are many situations where individuals will not know or understand your level of vision and what support you need. Therefore, when you have a visual impairment it is important to be able to communicate your needs when it comes to reasonable adjustments, your level of vision, and any other accessibility requirements you have. This enables you to develop your communication skills, your assertiveness, and your diplomacy. These are skills that are incredibly useful in all aspects of your life.
- Resilience and determination: As a visually impaired individual, you have to navigate systems which weren’t designed for you, and need to face and overcome misconceptions towards visual impairment and blindness. It takes perseverance to continue to push through school, university and work when things are not easily accessible. Additionally, it takes resilience to continually explain away misconceptions and misunderstandings towards the nature of your sight and your capabilities because of it.
- Adaptability- As the majority of things are not designed for you, visually impaired people have to come up with creative ways of doing things and need to adapt to new and different methods of approaching situations and tasks. From adapting to absorbing information audibly, to being more tactile when getting around. Being adaptable is an invaluable skill which enables you to be able to cope and succeed with a variety of people and circumstances.