Fall 2007

George Jacobson, President

Photo with caption: George Jacobson, President Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind

In reflecting on what the Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. offers to the community, it all comes down to choice. We are invested in offering real options to people who are blind, Deaf-Blind, and blind with other disabilities. This simple concept has driven us forward for over ninety years now, and it will continue to drive us to expand our programs and opportunities into the future.

For this quarter’s president’s message, I thought I would share with you an excerpt from the statement I wrote for Seattle’s Best-Kept Secret: A History of the Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. which illustrates why we need choices in the blind and Deaf-Blind communities today:

When I imagine the future of the Puget Sound region I see a community that has been positively affected by the Seattle Lighthouse, a community of employers and workplaces where people who are blind and Deaf-Blind are an integral part of the economy.

I also imagine a community where it is commonplace to see blind and visually impaired people working at all sorts of jobs. Where young blind people have the same opportunities as their sighted classmates to land the first summer and after-school jobs. A community where blind professionals with advanced degrees are holding the same positions as their sighted peers and where seeing computers with Braille displays and speech programs in offices and computer labs are no longer unusual events.

On the surface, this vision might seem easily attainable, but the reality of unemployment statistics and ever-present poverty tells us we have a long road to travel. According to the National Organization on Disability, more than seventy percent of adults with severe disabilities are not in the workforce. This compares to thirty-three percent of the non-disabled population. Only one in ten adults with severe disabilities own their own home, compared with seven out of ten persons without disabilities. More than one-third of adults with severe disabilities are living below the poverty line. If we focused solely on Americans who are Deaf-Blind, these disparities would be even more alarming. The most disturbing thing about the above statistics is that they have not changed appreciably over time. The rate of unemployment for blind adults has remained near seventy percent for decades, both before and after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1992)...

The best way the Seattle Lighthouse can help other employers who are committed to leveling the playing field for blind people is by showcasing examples of successful blind employees. The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. is a successful manufacturing company, committed to creating jobs throughout an organization that is accessible to blind people. This means ensuring that appropriate training, technology, and systems of accommodation are in place. We also can show other employers what that training, technology, and support can look like.

Some examples:

• By fitting electronic calipers with a simple and inexpensive voice synthesizer, a blind machinist can measure parts.
• By using a scanner and special software a visually impaired receptionist can scan the mail and read it with screen magnification.
• A blind customer-service representative can access customer databases and fill out order forms using a computer equipped with a braille display.
• A brief orientation session will allow a new blind employee with blindness skills to navigate safely and effectively around a place of employment using either a white cane or guide dog.

These examples take place at the Seattle Lighthouse every day.

While providing other employers with blueprints on how jobs can be made accessible, the Lighthouse continues to maintain and create job opportunities at the Lighthouse itself. We at the Seattle Lighthouse strive to create opportunities so that blind and Deaf-Blind individuals can lead independent, self-sufficient lives.

I am confident that the Lighthouse will remain a place where blind people can find jobs that fit a variety of interests and skill levels, but we can’t become complacent. Until blind employees have choices equal to those of sighted persons, our work is incomplete.

The Lighthouse for the Blind is about much more than a place to earn a paycheck. It provides employees with whatever training, technology, and services they need to succeed. For one group in particular, our Deaf-Blind employees, these accommodations can become complex and expensive. However, we are committed to maintaining and expanding our Deaf-Blind program. We anticipate increased demand for our unique Deaf-Blind services, especially one-of-a-kind computer training that gives Deaf-Blind people the tools needed to use the Internet and e-mail. Just imagine the doors that will open when a Deaf-Blind person can access the information and communication power of the Internet! As word spreads that Seattle is a place where a Deaf-Blind person can lead a life of independence and self-sufficiency, I am confident that the local Deaf-Blind community will continue to grow.

Essentially, the Lighthouse is about choice—providing blind and Deaf-Blind people with real options. The right to the pursuit of happiness, as our forefathers wrote, must apply to all. We at the Lighthouse want to be part of a community that extends the same range of choices to its blind and Deaf-Blind members as it does to its sighted and hearing citizens.

The Seattle Lighthouse will have been successful when blind teenagers in our community compete equally with their sighted classmates for those first entry-level jobs. It may not be flipping burgers. It may be data entry, operating a telephone switchboard, or doing Internet research. We will celebrate that success when those young blind people take their job experience and education and seek the next highest position. And we’ll know that our vision has become a reality when those same blind individuals have to make tough decisions about which job offer to take.

Until that day arrives for the majority of blind people in our community, we at The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. will strive to create more opportunities for independence and self-sufficiency, and continue to seek others who are committed to doing the same.

To receive your copy of Seattle’s Best-Kept Secret: A History of the Lighthouse for the Blind, please contact Annual Fund Manager Jennifer Moore at (206) 436-2253 or email jmoore@seattlelh.org.

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