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A Day in the Life of a Social Worker for the Visually Impaired/Blind

I get an application on my desk, from someone who is experiencing a visual impairment and needs help. It may be for someone who has been losing their vision slowly throughout the years. It may be for someone who was in an accident and lost their vision overnight. It may be for a seasoned visually impaired person who is experiencing a life transformation like a move or job change.  

I call them, and tell them that help is here. I tell them all about the Lighthouse for the Blind. (THE MOST INCREDIBLE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION). I offer them daily living skills, orientation and mobility (learning how to navigate the white cane/guide dog), computer skills, job assistance and therapy ALL for free. 

Usually the person on the line says “When can I start”? I then offer a home visit and explain everything in more detail and complete paperwork with them. Then, the work begins. They come into the Lighthouse daily, weekly and monthly and learn how to live their life in a new way with trained specialists. 

My position was beautiful because I got to witness a person at their lowest and then watch them heal, learn and maneuver through their new life and come out on the other side ready to take the world on. 

Vision loss is not the end of the world. A person who has a visual disability can do ANYTHING (maybe besides fly an airplane or drive a bus) that a sighted person can do, and my bet is they can do it better.