In this video you will meet Carla Boose, Assistant Manager Diversity and Inclusion at Scotiabank and her supervisor Deanna Matzanke and her guide dog Trek.
The video includes a montage of clips showing Carla going to work, meeting with colleagues and working at her desk using assistive technology.
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Carla: My name is Carla Boose, I work at Scotiabank in Corporate Human Resources, in the Diversity and Inclusion team. I’m an Assistant Manager there.
I went to Wilfred Laurier University where I studied Spanish and I’m currently studying human resources at George Brown College.
So with my eye condition I see straight ahead of me but I have trouble with contrast and I have trouble with certain lighting situations as well.
Deanna: What makes Carla a great employee is really her empathy. She brings a humanness and well-rounded approach to any issue that she takes on and she’s very dedicated and passionate about doing a good job, regardless of what that job is.
Carla: This career, [it’s] not just a job, has meant so much to me. It has given me the confidence that I need, and created so much independence, just in terms of getting to work every day and doing things on my own and working towards something. It’s very empowering.
Deanna: The accommodations we have made for Carla are not enormous by any scale, but they’re really important, especially to her and to her success.
Carla: I work with ZoomText Software on the computer and I work with a scanner as well to scan hardcopy documents and make them into e-format. And the simplest accommodation I have is a big black pen!
Everyone I work with writes me messages with this pen and that works really well.
I would disclose during the telephone interview and advice that I am coming to the interview with a Seeing Eye dog and I would need an accommodation for that. And that also gives the employer the opportunity to know in advance and there’s no surprises.
Deanna: There’s a lot of motivation on behalf of employees who are looking for work, and they want to be here, they want to succeed, so that lends itself to finding solutions when you need them.
And you find out your worries [as an employer] in a lot of cases are either unfounded or they get resolved very quickly.
Carla: People don’t realize that colleagues become like your family during the day and they become like a support system for you too. And that was really surprising to me.
You know part of the key to your success is owning your independence; the onus is on you!