Using this Website to Help Clients Who are Partially Sighted

The following section covers how to best use this site with two different groups: Individuals who are congenitally partially sighted (born with partial vision loss) and individuals who are adventitiously partially sighted (have lost partial vision later in life).

Adults who are congenitally partially sighted (born with partial vision loss)  

Not unlike their counterparts who are congenitally blind, individuals with partial sight from birth often have mastered the skills and techniques required of them for daily living and accessing the academic environment (reading, writing, listening, speaking, and calculating). Completing the Living Independently checklists may bolster your clients’ confidence or indicate areas where further work is needed. 

If your clients are comfortable with their ability to take care of themselves and their living space, have good orientation and mobility skills, and good communication skills but feel they need further training to find employment, they may want to review the post-secondary Knowledge page in the Learning and Education section. 

Here they can review both academic and vocational training options and the disability-specific skills needed to successfully engage in post-secondary programs. Before attending a post-secondary program, encourage your clients to complete the checklists for gaining entrance into programs of study. 

The job search

If your clients are ready to begin looking for work, direct them to the Preparing for Work section. For those who are living independently and have completed their post-secondary education or training, this is where they can find out how to evaluate their current interests, abilities, values, work personality traits, and challenges to gaining employment. 

For someone with partial sight from birth, the section on Career Exploration may also be critical to review. Without good sight, it’s very difficult to learn about the vast array of jobs available – most of this information is learned by fully sighted people through casual and incidental observation. Never assume that because your clients have some vision that it is enough for them to pick up on subtle visual information about work and careers. 

The job search section includes information on finding job leads, producing acceptable applications and résumés, and interviewing for jobs will be important to review closely with your clients. You may want to provide direct assistance by showing examples of fictitious job candidates’ work or examples from your own job seeking efforts. 

You can either hand these examples off to your clients, who’ll read them with optical devices or enlarge them from electronic text or with a tool such as a video magnifier. This is important for someone with partial sight because they may never have seen another person’s job-related paperwork to understand what such documentation tells an employer about a job candidate. 

Share how you or your fictitious job candidates chose what to include and how to frame what is included on such paperwork with your clients. Provide instruction, if necessary, on how to complete paperwork appropriately; then, review and edit paperwork or electronic submissions that your clients produce before they’re submitted. Be sure to check for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you’re a service provider who is blind or partially sighted, consider sharing how you have navigated these waters without the benefit of good vision. Your feedback will be critical.

If you’re interested in establishing a small group-learning experience to guide your clients through the preparation for work, find out more about  the train-the-trainer curriculum, Pre-employment programme.

Share your experiences

You may be able to help by sharing some of the more subtle information about professions that you’ve learned, likely without conscious effort, such as: 

• how much time and effort workers expend is physical versus mental
• how competitive certain jobs and fields are in comparison to other areas of work
• what the remuneration is, which is in evidence by what people can purchase or afford with their salaries
• what the observable benefits or perks are (private cars or jets versus a free meal, for example, as a difference between the CEO of an international company and a restaurant worker)

Working life

Encourage your clients to review the Working Life section, which deals with job maintenance and career advancement. This section includes information about workplace accommodations for people who have partial sight. Although your clients may think they know everything about the tools and equipment available to help them accomplish work tasks, a careful review will ensure that’s the case. If either you or your clients would like to know more about products or vendors, follow the links in the Working Life Resources section.

Adults who are adventitiously partially sighted (partial vision loss later in life)    

If your clients have lost sight and are now partially sighted, they may need assistance with disability-specific skills for independent living, literacy, and self-reliance. Therefore, you’ll want them to carefully review the Living Independently section. Growing up with vision and suddenly or gradually losing vision can be traumatic and frightening. Individuals who lose vision later in life may be able to continue to rely on their print literacy skills; however, they need to learn new systems for accessing print or learn alternatives to using vision, when necessary. They may need to use screen enlargement software on their computers, video magnifiers, or optical devices such as hand-held or stand magnifiers to read print materials. They may also need to consider auditory options for reading (speech output on their computers, audio book readers, talking tools and equipment).

The Learning and Education section may be particularly relevant if your clients feel they are unable or unprepared to return to work. The subsection on post-secondary programs includes content related to disability-specific skills training as well as information about participation in post-secondary academic or vocational programs. Before attending a post-secondary program, ask your clients to complete the checklists for gaining entrance into academic or vocational programs of study. 

The job search

Although your clients may have worked as individuals with full sight, they’ll need to be encouraged to read through the Preparing for Work section to learn how to present competently as an individual with partial sight. The subsections: finding job leads, producing acceptable applications and résumés or CVs, and interviewing tips are also important to review closely. You may want to help further by reviewing materials your clients produce and role playing interviews with them. Your positive engagement in this process will be important.

If you’re interested in establishing a small group-learning experience to guide your clients through the preparation for work process, find out more about the train-the-trainer curriculum, Pre-employment programme.

Working life

Likely the most important section will be the Working Life section. This is where you’ll find information about job accommodations for people who are partially sighted and tips for maintaining and advancing in a career as an individual with partial sight. The section on mentoring also provides tips on how to find and work with mentors.

Your clients can draw some inspiration from the Success Stories section which includes interviews with workers who are blind or partially sighted. Clients can learn how other individuals with vision loss have led successful careers, the tools and techniques they use to be competitive, and what their employers think of them.​