Crudden Adele, Steverson Anne, Sergi Katerina
National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, USA.
Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, USA.
J Vocat Rehabil. 2025;62(3):234-243.
A large portion of the population of people with visual impairments are neither working nor looking for work. Mentoring and self-employment are two strategies to encourage workforce participation, but little is known about whether people with visual impairments who are out of the labor force were offered or were interested in these options.
We explored whether participants were interested in or had been offered mentoring or self-employment assistance to encourage their participation in the workforce.
Thirty participants with visual impairments and out of the labor force were interviewed about their thoughts and experiences regarding mentoring and self-employment. A qualitative software program assisted in coding responses, identifying themes, and organizing demographics.
Participants tended to be interested in but did not have access to mentors. Some participants explored self-employment opportunities and even more were interested in it, but few were offered it as an employment option by a vocational rehabilitation provider. Most participants were interested in learning more about self-employment job opportunities and how income earned through self-employment might influence other benefits.
Opportunities to support people with visual impairments in locating mentors or engaging in self-employment appear under-utilized. Participants in this study appeared interested in receiving support from a mentor and learning more about self-employment options. Efforts to improve the labor force participation rate among people with visual impairments should include assistance in finding mentors to promote adjustment to blindness and becoming employed and exploring opportunities for self-employment. Vocational rehabilitation agencies should consider examining their policies and practices to promote greater access and use of these strategies to bring people with visual impairments into the labor market.
很大一部分视力障碍者既没有工作，也没有在找工作。指导和自主创业是鼓励劳动力参与的两种策略，但对于那些不在劳动力队伍中的视力障碍者是否被提供了这些选择或者对这些选择感兴趣，我们知之甚少。
我们探讨了参与者是否对指导或自主创业援助感兴趣，或者是否被提供了此类援助以鼓励他们参与劳动力市场。
对30名不在劳动力队伍中的视力障碍参与者进行了访谈，询问他们关于指导和自主创业的想法及经历。一个定性软件程序协助对回答进行编码、识别主题并整理人口统计学信息。
参与者往往对指导感兴趣，但无法获得指导。一些参与者探索了自主创业机会，更多的人对其感兴趣，但很少有职业康复机构将自主创业作为一种就业选择提供给他们。大多数参与者有兴趣了解更多自主创业的工作机会，以及通过自主创业赚取的收入可能如何影响其他福利。
支持视力障碍者寻找指导者或从事自主创业的机会似乎未得到充分利用。本研究中的参与者似乎有兴趣获得指导者的支持，并更多地了解自主创业的选择。提高视力障碍者劳动力参与率的努力应包括协助寻找指导者，以促进适应失明并就业，以及探索自主创业机会。职业康复机构应考虑审查其政策和做法，以促进更多地获得和使用这些策略，从而使视力障碍者进入劳动力市场。
