hOI!!!

It amazes me to see all the changes that have happened on FA since I started at my new job. Notably is how journals now require a maturity rating and how private messages also have a layer of protection for content. All good things, I'm sure, but still makes it a bit of a bother when you don't know what to expect when you are 100% blind, relying on a screen reader, and the screen reading software reads you things that were never there before. :)

As you all may have guessed, my new job is still really taking it out of me. However, I am getting a little better at trying not to think about it when I'm not officially on the clock. Though, it is tricky when there is so much involved in helping people through the various stages of receiving government services through BBVS.

One thing that I knew, but really can say that I have had reinforced, is how and why so many people are not employed who have disabilities. The goal of my job, which also drives the metrics that determine whether I am a success, or failure, in being a VRC is finding people with visual disabilities gainful employment. The problem is that a lot of companies are not really aware of what people with visual disabilities can do. There is also the transportation issue of getting to and from a workplace. Lots of people that I onboard into BBVS share how they want to have a job where they can work from home, but these jobs are few, far between, and typically come with accessibility issues that prevent assistive technology software from allowing the individual to successfully perform the job.

The biggest issue that prevents people with disabilities from taking jobs is how doing so causes them to lose very important insurance benefits. Forget what you may have heard about disabled people living off of social security payments. Social security barely pays enough to keep your head above water when it comes to survival. However, Medicare and Medicaid are the best insurance around. In some States, you can merge Medicare and Medicaid to get an insurance plan that, at no cost, will provide you transportation assistance, medical supplies, home refurbishments, and many other amazing benefits that really make living life with a disability a whole lot easier.

There are jobs you can take that will allow you to retain Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits, but they are low level positions that are, typically, part time and barely put the gainful into being gainfully employed. To take on a job, like the one I chose to do, causes you to lose everything, puts you in a position where you have to pay back social security, and have benefits through your employer that are costly and many times inferior to what you got through being on Medicare & Medicaid.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that many people, especially government agencies, forget that obtaining truly gainful employment does not make the disability that someone is afflicted with go away. The extra costs that someone with a disability must burden do not disappear by taking a job that puts all their talent, experience, and education to full use. This is quite unfortunate. It is also what makes making my metrics as a VRC extremely difficult. How do you convince someone to take a job when taking that job would only put them in a worse situation than they are already in? Who wants to work long, stressful hours for insurance benefits that you must pay for that are inferior to what you were getting while you were still eligible for Medicare & Medicaid?

This is all just me quacking on about little things that I learn through the combination of all of my professional working experiences. I do enjoy my current job. However, the loss of those services that I had with Medicare & Medicaid have proven areal hardship. Most notably the transportation assistance that could get me to and from work without having to pay between $20 to $80 to have reliable transportation to and from the workplace I am assigned to be at.

Overall, it would be nice if those of us with disabilities were not punished for taking on employment that would truly allow us to thrive both personally and professionally.


Your Pal,

---Yosh E. O'Ducky ;)