but found that employers seemed to lose interest once she disclosed her disability. “After I divulged the issue, the atmosphere in the room would change,”
Obrist recalls. “You could just hear the air go out. And it’s like, ‘Okay, thanks for coming in.’ And it would be over.” But, after three years, Obrist found a way to turn her job-seeking experi-
ences into an opportunity—for herself and for others. She started working at a nonprofit called Second Sense (at the time, the Catholic Guild for the Blind) which serves adults and children with vision loss. She worked as the education coordinator for two years, eventually becoming the director of services and developing career readiness programs that would help people with vision loss who wanted to return to the working world. “I developed a program based on what I would have wanted during those
three years without a job,” Obrist says. “I knew that I had the skills and the intellectual ability to do these jobs, I just didn’t know how to present myself to an employer. I think it was because, in the beginning, I had lost my confi- dence. I think I was defensive at times.” She wanted to instill in those she worked with a sense of agency and
confidence, along with practical tips—such as how to dress professionally for interviews. She also worked with senior citizens experiencing vision loss on how to navigate their homes and daily routines. “We’re all human. We all have challenges. But we’ve all been given gifts,”
Obrist says. “It’s that kind of attitude I want to share with other people who have been beaten down by life or the system or whatever. I think it really comes down to whether you perceive yourself as being in control of your life and your destiny, or if you’re going to be a victim of it.” Obrist worked for Second Sense until 2009, when she started her own dis- ability consulting business, consulting with various organizations about how
to serve both customers and employees with disabilities. “With a lot of advocacy organizations, the main goal is to get people with
disabilities hired. We all need jobs. That’s all fine and good,” Obrist says. “But until employers and the general public are comfortable with people with dis- abilities, it’s an uphill battle. I had this brainstorm one day, and I thought, ‘I’m going to make these companies money.’” Obrist thought if she could show companies how to welcome people with
disabilities as customers, it would also go some way toward destigmatiz- ing those disabilities. “Many Americans have a disability. It’s a huge market,” Obrist says. “And no one, or very few people, actually market to this group. People with disabilities need the same products and services. They want to go to dinner or the movies and enjoy life. But no one’s tailoring to them.” Obrist has spent the last several years working to make organizations more
open to and accommodating of people with disabilities. In 2014, she took a six-month position at DePaul’s Center for Students with Disabilities, working with staff to help them better understand their students and local employers to encourage them to think about hiring students or graduates with disabili- ties. She also started a job club for students, helping them to hone interview and self-advocacy skills. Ultimately, Obrist says she is eager to continue her work helping others
with disabilities and educating those without disabilities about how to be more accepting. She continues to create photography (pictured here), and her work has been accepted into numerous juried art shows. She also hopes to travel more, as she did when her vision had started to worsen, despite the challenges that might present. “I’ve become much more of a risk-taker over the years than I was before I
lost the vision,” Obrist says. “I think because I don’t take life for granted now, or what I have.”
WINTER 2015 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44