On May 8, Jeff Mittman, president and CEO of NIB associated nonprofit agency Bosma Enterprises and president of the National Association for the Employment of People Who Are Blind (NAEPB), spoke with FOX 5 DC, the network affiliate in Washington, D.C., to discuss NIB’s recent Advocacy Day and some of the challenges people who are blind face in the workforce.
Mittman shared the value people who are blind bring to the workplace, explaining that innovation is a way of life for most. “Blind people are creative. Everything I do, I have to figure out how to do it because I don’t use as much sight as somebody else does. So when you bring that into the employment scenario, you become very productive, very, very creative in what you do,” Mittman said. “There’s nothing somebody who’s blind really can’t do.”
According to Mittman, the biggest obstacle people who are blind face in their job search is the misperceptions held by employers. “They think it’s going to be hard … they think it’s going to be expensive,” he asserted. “Quite frankly, 60% of all accommodations for people who are blind cost absolutely nothing.”
Mittman encouraged employers to contact NIB; its talent management enterprise, NSITE; or their local NIB associated nonprofit agency for information and assistance with integrating people who are blind into their workforce.