Q8 - What examples of good news stories exist - have businesses and employers ever made a success of this?

The following case study outlines the situations all kinds of different people who have found employment or made great progress in that direction recently:

Interview with Jo Miller - Trainee Catering and Conferencing Officer

Jo Miller is a blind chef who has always been passionate about food. She experienced difficulties whilst at school. Nobody could diagnose her condition; one optician suggested that Jo was an attention seeker. Her eyesight has deteriorated over time and now she is registered blind.

In following her dream of becoming a Head Chef, Jo has gained the relevant qualifications, held several catering management positions, owned and operated her own business. She now works as a Trainee Catering and Conferencing Officer for CONCEPT (a social enterprise which is part of the Visage project).

What does your job involve?

Primarily my current job involves ordering stock, ensuring stock rotation, making sure all environmental health and safety procedures are followed, planning and costing menus, managing staff on site and assisting with marketing and finding new customers.

What careers advice did you receive at school / college?

Whilst I was at school, I really wanted to be a domestic sciences teacher. At the time there was no help for people with visual impairment, I knew I wouldn't be able to get through university and train as a teacher. It was the Careers Advisor who suggested that I train as a chef.

What barriers / obstacles did you face when applying for jobs?

When I was younger, we didn't have CVs. Sometimes you didn't fill in application form until you got to the interview. My father helped me devise a CV (obviously it wasn't called a CV then) which I would take to the interview. If I had to fill in an application form, I would give the interviewer my CV which got me over that. I would always offer to go in and do a test day and then perhaps tell them that I can't see very well the potential employer about my eyesight at the end of the day. They would be wooed by then anyway so I had got the job. I have never been refused a job. I am very lucky.

What were the most common perceptions of employers about your sight impairment?

Since I started disclosing my disability and explaining about my eye condition, those who interviewed me have said that 'you obviously don't have a problem with it, so we don't'. I think they could see what I have achieved throughout my career. A lot of it is having self-belief.

How did you get into your current employment?

I helped the RNIB with the Work Matters campaign, they decided that they would like to do something with me in the catering field. Deborah Fox (Senior Employment Officer) and I met. We talked about the RNIB and what could materialise here. We discussed the CONCEPT social enterprise which was yet to take off.

I felt that the RNIB were going to offer me a very fulfilling role so I accepted the opportunity to work here.

What is your eye condition and how does it affect your work?

I suffer from Macular Dystrophy.it means that I have to look at things very closely. In the kitchen, I do most of my work by feel rather than by sight. I can't see the detail.

What support have you received in your present job to overcome difficulties within your work due to your visual impairment?

I received a larger monitor screen, Jaws and Zoomtext (speech and magnification software), talking microwave, talking scales and a talking thermometer. All of those really help. When, I first started in August 2005, I didn't know how to turn the computer on! Deborah used to leave me a little sticky note on the computer which read: 'Jo press here'! Deborah would read my emails to me because at that time I didn't have Zoomtext so I was very reliant on her to start with. She was very supportive. And I have to say, I absolutely love it! I can now do all my emails, I can do a document in Word and format it, I've got my stock sheets, my cleaning schedules, temperature charts all in Excel. Also I've started to go on the Internet now.

What training have you received whilst being in this post?

I have done HACCAP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) course in October. I also did an Intermediate Food Hygiene course in January and passed both of them. I am now going to do the Advanced Food Hygiene which will enable me to lecture in Basic Food Hygiene. I have also been going to QAC for some extra computer work on Monday evenings. I am hoping that in September or maybe before then, I can do a CLAIT qualification. In the last six months of being here, I think I have achieved quite a lot.

How do the delegates react when they learn that you are a blind chef?

I don't really have any reaction. I think that most of the delegates that we have down here are from the RNIB or the voluntary sector and I think they don't know unless they see me working In the kitchen. I think when people in general find out, they are gob smacked.

What advice would you have for other visually impaired people who wish to follow career in catering?

It depends on the individual case and how much vision the person has. I have always maintained the kitchen is a dangerous place, Anyone with low vision should take their level of vision into account when considering a career in catering.

My advice to anyone, in any walk of life, with either visual impairment or any other general disability would be.if there is something you really want to do, and you believe in your heart that you could do it, than nothing should stand in your way. If you've got that fire inside you and you want to do it, then you will do it