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Siouxland Blindness Works Conference 2010
More than 100 employers and blind and visually impaired Siouxland area residents came to Sioux City April 21 to learn about assistive technology for the blind and to create employment opportunities for the blind.
Organized by the three blind state agencies in the tri-state area, the Blindness Works Conference featured more than 20 tables displaying low- and high-tech aids and devices that help the blind and visually impaired perform at work and complete tasks at home. Screen-reading software, for instance, allows a visually impaired person to use a computer effectively without using vision. Talking devices, such as cell phones and blood-pressure readers, keep a blind person independent. White canes and training on how to use them help with mobility and confidence.
Services such as the Iowa Radio Reading Information Service (IRIS) and NFB Newsline provide audio readings of daily newspapers and magazines to a blind or visually impaired person can keep up to date with current events. The Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped provides free circulation of audio, Braille and large-print books. And the three state agencies--theIowa Department for the Blind, the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the South Dakota Service to the Blind and Visually Impaired--provide training and assistance in job placement, independent living and blindness skills.
A keynote address was delived by Sioux City finance executive Richard Crawford, who has been blind since he was 10 years old. He urged the audience and especially employers to take a chance on hiring blind people. "Don't be afraid to give handicapped people an opportunity," he said. "If you will let us try, you will find a handicapped person does not take his job for granted."
"You will find most blind people have the desire to work," he said. "We don't have to see to do great work."
Sioux City mayor Michael Hobart signed a proclamation declaring April 21, 2010 Blindness Works Day. The proclamation was read during the luncheon portion of the conference. Read the full text of the proclamation.
Many conference attendees came to see the latest in assistive technologies. A human resources employee from Hy-Vee grocery stores said she was hoping to learn more about devices that could help her two blind employees have an easier time on the job, though these particular employees, she added, were stellar workers.
