At the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Division, a program for people with vision impairments that started in 1931 is making great strides with blind students. Not only does the program help students complete their education, but it also helps them prepare for and enter the world of work. They utilize the 'Texas Confidence Builder,' a tool that focuses on adjustment to blindness, knowledge of self, self-esteem and self-advocacy.

"We emphasize how blind students perceive themselves," said Eloy Chavez, a transition counselor with the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Division. "We work to reinforce the positive, we encourage them to self-evaluate, to take care of themselves in school and in society, and we work to get them to have employment goals," Chavez added.

Independent Living Skills
Chavez said that through developing independent living skills, students learn home management skills and build self-confidence by socializing outside the home. "We work on travel skills, how to get from Point A to Point B, so they can go to the mall, so they can go out at night to the grocery store, they commute using public transportation. We work on teaching them the realities of anything related to travel," Chavez added.

"We also focus on their needs in school," Chavez said. "In the school system support group, successful blind adults act as mentors to others with vision impairments. Do you know that there are administrators, educators, artists, writers, and other professionals who are blind? They come to our aid when the need is greatest."

Burns Taylor, who has been blind since childhood, works with Chavez. Taylor is an educator, an advocate and a role model. He understands the need for educational support. But, it goes beyond that. Taylor talks to the students about what to expect when they attend school.

"They tell Burns what they want to do with their lives, and he works with them to get there," Chavez said. "He works with students to find out what jobs they are capable of performing, what are their personal capacities. Sometimes they learn on the job, sometimes they volunteer to prepare for a paying job."

Chavez partners with the Upper Rio Grande Work Force and El Paso Lighthouse for the Blind to provide career guidance and employment assistance. This includes testing their visual ability, buying them computers and assistive technology, and helping them utilize that technology.

Job Coach for a Disc Jockey?
Chavez said his agency even helped one blind student who wanted to be a disk jockey. "Through the Communications Department at El Paso Community College, we were able to place the young man with a job coach and had him perform volunteer work until he learned the ropes."

Many people who are blind obtain jobs at the El Paso Lighthouse for the Blind. The Lighthouse has work contracts with Fort Bliss and the El Paso Army Base. They do assembly-type work such as sewing labels on the backs of shirts with specially designed machines.

"We're helping people do things that benefit them," Chavez said. "They get different amounts depending on the job. Sometimes they get up to $8 an hour. But, the main thing is making the person and their skills essential to any given company."

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