S3 is a comprehensive half-day course aimed at educating sighted trainers and other company professionals in the corporate environment to work with Blind or visually impaired employees Participants learn from someone who is blind what it is like to get oriented to a new workplace environment. This course is a flexible design and can be tailored to meet the needs of any corporation that seeks to actively hire people with visual impairments.
During this half-day course, participants have the opportunity to learn from someone who is blind exactly what it’s like to get oriented to a new building or campus, and to fit into corporate culture and norms. Participants get the chance to have hands on demonstrations of proper sighted guide technique. Also discuss are reasonable accommodations and methods for achieving company standards for the new blind or visually impaired employee. Because the presenters are blind them, they can speak from experience about the challenges facing today’s blind and visually impaired workforce. Overall, the goal is to create an open atmosphere for sharing thoughts and asking the hard questions that employers may not feel comfortable asking new hires with vision impairment.
The workshop focuses on what it’s like to be blind and newly employed the challenges of navigating new surroundings, and the need to fit in to the cultural norms of the work place. Dress code can be a concern if the new hire is totally blind. They can’t see what everyone else is wearing or may not know that there shirt has a stain on it etc. We focus on learning appropriate ways to communicate these types of issues. For example, if a blind man has a stain on his collar, a male trainer or supervisor might approach him discreetly and let him know about it, saying “I wanted you to know that you have a stain on your collar on the left side.” This would alert him to the situation and let him know where it is so he can try to remove it. Another concern is learning new buildings and office space. When a sighted person enters a room they take a quick look around then know exactly where an empty seat is, where the windows, computers, and other people are in the room. A hands on exercise focuses on correct ways to help orient someone to the room and further surroundings such as rest rooms and the cafeteria. Also covered during this portion of the course is: understanding Sensory deprivation, learning differences, as well as inclusive accessible strategies for trainers or supervisors.
This workshop is a flexible design that can be tailored to meet the needs of any corporation that seeks to actively hire people with visual impairments. This program is a very effective tool for HR, training, managerial and supervisory staff seeking to gain a better understanding of how to work with people who have a visual impairment.
Combine this half day course with the T3 (Technology Training for the Trainers) and you have a fully compatible complete event to orient all your staff related to introducing employees with disabilities to your work place. Be sure to include Human Resources, Trainers, Supervisors and Desktop Support or Information Technology staff members to the event!