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Systems engineer here with over ten years of engineering experience. I think what you proposed is your answer. He can make top level decisions based on performance measures without viewing a drawing. I'd recommend quality and reliability engineering. The design usually goes through rigorous stress testing that can be performed by engineers and technicians. The data that comes out can be analyzed from a spreadsheet, which a blind person can do. Having design experience is absolutely crucial in this role. He will know what to test, how to break it, and what performance measures are necessary.

Another angle is your guy knows the stuff. With a sighted assistant/intern, he can still do a goodly amount of interaction with diagrams or plans that aren't easily made accessible through tech. He'd be a fantastic resource for less experienced people and a great team leader as well. He's got many options and you have a valuable resource to explore especially since you're looking at the situation from a value maintained/added perspective. This is still a rare phenomenon in the disability community.

You may find that his changed vision opens new ways for all of you to look at how you work.

As for sight conservation, there used to be a number of theories about how not using your sight saved it for later. As someone who was put through some of those ideas, I can say they're bunk. Eyes that are failing aren't going to stop because you use them less. He will likely want to see All The Things while he can rather than rest them and hope for more days. This is natural.

Letting him know you want to help him maintain his place at your company and asking him how he wants to proceed will be a HUGE relief to him. You can make contacts and tell him what you've learned about his options but don't he surprised if he's working on other angles, too. You engineers are tenacious like that.

Voc rehab is a mixed bag. While you may come across a gem of a counselor with ideas aplenty, you are just as likely to meet someone with a less than supportive approach simply because scant resources or lack of knowledge of a field limit a counselor's perceptions on how a blind person can do a job. Be prepared for either response. Funding is a big consideration for them. Be upfront about your determination to keep him and that you're providing financial resources for any accommodations he needs and ask for help in the areas where your expertise is lacking. You may still find yourself experimenting to find what works. Put some feelers out within your field, too. You can't be the first with these questions. You may find solutions out there and your solutions could (will) change someone else's life, too.

Good luck with everything. I'll be chanting for you and your employee.

The place you are looking for, is the State Department of Rehabilitation. Every state has one and they will have counselors that specialize in blind and low vision. They will do the evaluations and give the best referrals.

He will need to get the papers filled out, but they do that for you if you are visually impaired. They will get all the technology training lined up to learn to use the crazy patchwork of products.

>Would getting the software that reads aloud help delay his eyesight degenerating go slower?

Probably not, depending in his condition. You should probably make sure that he has the kind of glasses that reduce glare from the screen.

>Does anyone have recommendations on software

Window 10 has a boatload of built in things for the visually impaired. iPhones do as well, so I am assuming that Macs are similar. However, Zoomtext is the Cadillac of magnifiers with a built in reader. It's pricey, but worth every cent. Department of Rehab gave me my copy.

What is super important is that he gets into programs that are going to teach him the life skills he will need to get by, It's not going to do you much good to work on his job skills if he doesn't have the life skills he needs. He needs to learn mobility and orienteering so he can find his way around the office. People who see just don't get it sometimes, that things that they take for granted, like picking clothes or socks that match, are really tough and they get to you.


Any teaching center for the blind is going to have group discussions and it sounds drippy, but they really help. For the first year that I went through this, I had a bottle of oxy just waiting for the day that I couldn't read a book anymore. It's great that you are so supportive, but there are just times when you need someone that had been through it.

I might visit https://www.maxiaids.com/

You can get digital magnifiers, mice that magnify. Things that he can carry around the office if he needs to look at something.

Check out Lighthouse for the Blind in Chicago. They have a suburb campus as well. They are an excellent source for blind rehabilitation services.

If he is a Veteran, the Hines VA is an excellent place for blind rehabilitation. This is where the field of blind rehabilitation really took off.

Second Sense is also in Chicagoland. They also do rehabilitation.

I’ve worked for the state, and the services we have are... ok. The state can provide a councilor through the Bureau of Blind Services. They can hook him up with rehabilitation training as well, but, I have to say, the services are somewhat lacking. From my previous client’s perspectives, the one facility that people tend to go to, ICRE-Wood, is really more geared toward people with multiple and cognitive disabilities.

I am an Orientation and Mobility Specialist. I teach people how to travel with a cane when they are blind. Feel free to ask me anything.