Although he holds two degrees from UCLA, Darren Gresham, left, is having trouble finding a job and is undergoing additional training at the Braille Institute

August 3, 1999
Web posted at: 1:39 p.m. EDT (1739 GMT)

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From staff and wire reports

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- In a labor market so tight that many employers are pleading for workers, most blind people in the United States who want a job can't find one.

Considering that more than two out of three employable blind people cannot find work, Darren Gresham is not optimistic about his chances.

"I feel like I can't get any job, because as soon as you step in, employers think it's going to be tough," said Gresham, a recent graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles.

He and other visually impaired students hope they can land jobs from skills they learn at the Braille Institute, which offers classes in everything from communications to ceramics to sewing.

The Los Angeles-based institution has offered services to the visually impaired for more than 75 years.

"Give us the opportunity," said student Marina Garcia. "We'll try even harder than the average person, I think, because of the impairment."

While the nation's overall unemployment rate is close to a 29-year low at 4.3 percent, the level of joblessness among the blind has remained stagnant for about a decade, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Ralph Council spends his days flying his kite, finding it difficult to convince an employer that he can navigate the workplace despite his visual impairment

In addition to the 70 percent of the blind who are unemployed, 30 percent of those who are working are considered underemployed in relation to their qualifications, the Labor Department says.

Advocates blame discrimination, a drop in Braille literacy and high-tech changes in the workplace for the low employment rate.

Converting text to Braille, once a painstaking process, can now be done by computers, and some office equipment is available with Braille-embossed buttons. Other technology, however, has hurt the employment chances of the 750,000 blind people in the United States.

Many blind people once worked as receptionists, taking dictation and answering the phone for managers and executives.

But voice mail and e-mail have changed the job description, requiring more computer skills. And software that needs the user to move around the screen with a mouse and click on icons is nearly impossible for blind people to learn.

Another obstacle for blind people trying to find jobs is employers' attitudes.

"There's this conception of blind people, or misconception, that we can't do it," said student Julie Helliwell.

John Zamora of the Braille Institute said such employers are missing out on quality workers.

"These individuals will stay in the job longer. They will be more dedicated to the company. They'll be more meticulous," he said.

Correspondent Siobhan Darrow and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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