On The Importance of Training for the Experts

By Jennifer Dunnam

"I spent the next week huddled in my basement sobbing. I mourned the vision I had lost, but mostly I cried because I was terrified about what awaited me. I cried out of fear I wouldn't see my two daughters, barely five and two, grow up. I cried about lost future candlelight dinners with my husband and about the burden I feared I would become to him. I cried because I couldn't drive anymore and because I was scared I wouldn't be able to work. I cried over lost sunsets, ocean views, and any other beautiful scenery I would miss out on. I cried until finally it occurred to me that I could still see and that maybe, instead of mourning the unknown future, I should concentrate on Now."

The above is an excerpt from a searingly articulate piece about the early stages of adjusting to blindness, by Ingrid Ricks, that appeared recently in salon.com magazine called "What I Learned by Going Blind." The full story can be found at

www.salon.com/life/life_stories/?story=/mwt/feature/2011/02/19/going_blind_at_37_open2011.

The author vividly describes the all-too-familiar experience of learning that she was becoming blind, her first reactions of fear and sadness, and then her beginning to come to terms with it by holding on tightly to the here and now, learning what things to avoid, and doing all she could to preserve her sight. This story and many like it often strike people as a comforting, inspirational story of someone coming to accept difficulty and embrace a new situation. To me, it is yet another stark reminder of the vital importance of the work we do in the National Federation of the Blind.

This is clearly a very intelligent, capable person, whose world is slowly becoming more and more limited as her sight diminishes. She speaks of things she has learned to avoid; they include treadmills, crowds, dark places, and coffee houses that allow dogs (a tripping hazard).

When she went to her optometrist, his reaction after the diagnosis was to hand her a piece of paper with the number of the center for the blind and basically tell her there was nothing else that could be done. Perhaps even a few words from an optometrist, like "At this center, you'll find you can still do the things you want to do, just using different techniques," could have planted seeds to help her see a brighter future. But optometrists (and ophthalmologists) are focused on the medical and the cure, and when a cure is not available it is seen as a failure. It is implicit in the article that the author did not connect with the "Center for the blind."

It is a good thing to appreciate the present. The sadness and the harm comes when a person avoids dealing with the future because she does not have help to know that the future can be just as full of beauty and wonder. One can see from the story that its author may be coming to accept her blindness by shrinking her expectations instead of finding new ways to meet normal expectations. But is her reaction really any different from what it would be for anyone in her situation? To see things differently, she needs help from people who are supposed to know better — from people who can help her by connecting her with resources and successful blind role models to counteract the pervasive societal conceptions about blindness, and by their own example of positive attitudes, help her begin to see the real possibilities for her. One would hope that if and when she does connect with a rehabilitation agency, she will have a better chance of finding this kind of help. Would that such an assumption were a certainty.

Last year the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota was instrumental in the passage of a law requiring that newly hired rehabilitation counselors (who often come to State Services for the Blind with little to no background in blindness) undergo six weeks of blindness-specific training under sleep shades before working with people who are blind. We are keenly interested to see that the purpose of this legislation — to improve the quality of work with blind people and thereby improve the prospects for true independence and meaningful employment — is realized.

It came to the attention of the NFB recently that the adjustment-to-blindness training process was not going well at all for a rehabilitation counselor at SSB. The counselor displayed unwillingness to meet the requirements of the training program, particularly the requirements of learning under sleep shades. The issues came to light in front of other students in the training program and others. The counselor walked out of the training after only a week.

Of course, we are concerned for the future of the blind people who will work with an individual who behaved this way and who apparently lacked an understanding of the purpose of adjustment-to-blindness training and the need for blind people to develop independence. How would such a person be able truly to think in terms of the independence of blind people? How could she help foster positive attitudes and provide good advice to customers about adjustment-to-blindness training options? How, in the face of the massive misconceptions about blindness held by our society, would she be in a position to help those with whom she works to deal with their fears and doubts when evidently having some strong fears and doubts of her own?

Following is part of a letter that I wrote to Richard Strong, SSB's director, concerning this matter.

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Part of the purpose of the counselor training is to give the trainees an understanding of the way that the adjustment-to-blindness training is accomplished. The training is also a certification process and can serve to show when an individual may simply not be a good fit for a counseling position at State Services for the Blind. On many occasions, you have indicated to us your belief in the importance of staff adjustment-to-blindness training. If this training is to have any meaning, then those who cannot complete it should not work as rehabilitation counselors for the blind.

This situation raises the following larger questions:

1. What is being done at SSB to ensure that potential counselors fully understand the training requirements they must meet in order to practice as a rehabilitation counselor for the blind in Minnesota? Are they made aware that completion of sleep shades training is an expectation — not an option?

2. Do the supervisory staff in charge of preparing the new employees for the training have the background themselves to set the stage adequately and encourage the employees in meeting the challenges of training?

3. What consequences are in place for counselors who do not succeed in the training?

We look forward to hearing from you and to seeing this matter resolved, to ensure that the law is followed and that the customers of SSB are served by knowledgeable individuals who believe in the capabilities of blind people and hold high expectations for their future.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Dunnam, President

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Here is Mr. Strong's response:

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Dear Ms. Dunnam:

Thank you for your letter of February 17, 2011. The issues raised in your letter, centering on concerns with the intensive training under sleep shades requirement and the need for staff, including rehabilitation counselors, to successfully complete the training are of the highest importance to SSB. SSB needs to continue its work to ensure staff have the needed knowledge, skills and experiences for their positions and for the important roles they play in the lives of blind Minnesotans they serve.

On Friday, February 18, we discussed additional steps that SSB might take to ensure the intent of current SSB policy and state law are realized. I have reviewed those steps with key SSB leadership staff and those improvements are now in place.

I have modified SSB's selection process for new hires that fall under the training requirement. The process for such hires now includes an interview question on and explanation of the importance of intensive training under sleep shades. SSB needs to make sure prospective employees have a firm understanding of SSB's standards for its staff and the important role adjustment-to-blindness training plays in the lives of our customers. I believe this change is a step in the right direction and will incorporate additional improvements in our selection process as warranted.

In addition, before starting training each new hire will now meet with the SSB director and their supervisor. They will discuss the importance of alternative skills of blindness, the essential place adjustment-to-blindness training has in gaining those skills and the accompanying positive attitude, and the purposes of and reasoning behind intensive sleep shade training for SSB staff. New staff need to understand the importance of the training to their career with SSB, the significant investment of work, energy and time called for by the training, and the positive consequences of successful completion, a requirement for being an SSB rehabilitation counselor.

I want to make sure SSB does all it can to ensure staff successfully complete the training called for by policy and state statute.

I very much appreciate your letter and your discussion of means for SSB to improve its training program. I request and will welcome your future suggestions of how we can do better.

Sincerely,

Richard Strong Director

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We sincerely hope the author of the Salon.com story, and the many like her who are right here in Minnesota, will be able to get more help from their rehabilitation counselors than they often do from the optometrists or ophthalmologists. The new counselors need the expertise to offer her the real knowledge that indeed blindness need not prevent her from seeing her daughters grow up, or from working at a good job, or from simply going to a crowded coffee house. We appreciate the adjustments in SSB's policies, which are a positive step. We will do all we can to see that those who play such a powerful role in the lives of blind people are qualified to do so.