fuck yes

So, before I was a freelance writer, I worked as both a barista and cashier. Yes, I had to count down my drawer and keep track of our readouts at the end of the day.

While we eventually got a touchscreen Square POS, we used talking cash registers before that. As for stocking and inventory, we used bar code scanners and apps on our smartphones, which are extremely fast and accurate.

In fact, there are blind people all over the States who operate their own food service businesses on their own. While many choose to hire line cooks, some do all the cooking themselves. What's more, all of them independently manage their business—including payroll, ordering, and vending machines.

In short, with adaptation, blind people can do damn near anything our sighted peers can. The largest obstacle is ignorance. Unfortunately, the only frame of reference many people have of blindness are dramatized depictions of blindness in popular culture.

Consequently, many people look at us with some form of pity and infantilization. We're perceived as less capable overall.

Even the simplest achievements —like walking to a nearby coffee shop—becomes this tear-jerkingly inspirational accomplishment for no other reason than the fact we're blind.

So, OP and any other sighted person, my challenge to you is that you conceive of blindness as a mere attribute, like brown eyes or curly hair. Yes, we can do many of the things required of us at lots of jobs. We just have to find nonvisual ways of doing them.

Lastly, I'd encourage any newly-blind or any blind person to seek out training so you can develop the confidence and skill to handle any work-related and non-work thing that comes your way.

OK, I'm getting off my virtual soapbox now…Oh, but remember to always be adaptable and willing to learn. #ThankYouForListening

Without argument yes. Employees don’t want to take on the expense of buying accommodations and see blind people as liabilities. But it’s getting better

Yes. Sighted employers can't imagine how they would do the job in your shoes so they assume you can't do it. You have to work harder to get your foot in the door but it's worth it.

The short answer is yes. The average bear can luck into a job. You can be jo shmo and someone is going to give you an entry level job because you are capable of existing.
That rule goes out the window for a person with a visual impairment though. All of a sudden people start worrying about things that are total myths and not even part of the job.
The best advice I can give is you have to get your foot in the door. A history of working is going to speak louder than any qualifications you get or degrees you earn. As soon as you are capable, get an after school job. Start building a resume. You need one person to give you a chance so that the next person feels more comfortable giving you a chance.
Oh... and be damn good at whatever you choose to do. You have to be able to out perform your peers in order to outrun the prejudice.

The short answer is yes. I had many doors slammed in my face by licensing boards, but now I’m working in a private special education day school working towards my behavior analyst and special education teaching licenses.

Eventually I want to get my LCSW and do school based pediatric behavioral clinical social work, but one thing at a time.

I’m a nurse, so YMMV. I work in an extremely competitive specialty 💁🏻‍♀️

Absolutely yes! My boyfriend is legally blind, and has issues with his cornea.. He is constantly on and off work, but more off than on. He got a job a couple of months ago after being unemployed for two years, but was let go due to financial issues..

It’s hard getting hired, let alone keeping a position, while visually impaired

Tell me what you want to do, and then show me your resume.

In the UK local government employers will iirc guarantee an interview for people with disabilities. They are also more likely to be experienced with Access to Work than your average business. Even if you don't end up working in local government for long, it's a foot on the employment ladder. Look at your local councils' employment webpages and see what's available.

Personally I never had trouble finding jobs as a programmer even without a high school diploma and with just 10% of sight. I found my first job at 17, and what worked for me was having participated in a free software project which opened a lot of doors. As far as my own experience is concerned, employers never cared about my lack of sight as long as I could do the work, and some of them were very eager to provide accommodations even though I didn't need any. This is not even a cultural thing here in Portugal since I had job offers from France, Germany, Belgium, The UK, and the US despite being very clear about my disability in my resume. The key is to accept the disability and specialize in something that it doesn't hinder.

It likely depends on circumstances. My vision is such that people first think I'm socially awkward, not visually impaired (I am socially awkward as well). I have found that if I tell people I am visually impaired but that it hasn't affected my work quality, which is true, they seem to not care. The trickier conversations have been asking about accommodations, if needed, and transportation in the area. I haven't found a smooth way to approach these conversations. Going forward, I think my strategy will be to state my condition and any needs as quickly and efficiently as possible, but to not make a big deal out of them. Practicing this conversation with someone else would probably help. Also, do your research outside of the interview, so that you have fewer questions to ask, and can focus your questions on the job.

Edit: Above all, do not use being visually impaired or blind as an excuse not to succeed.

Of course.