Affiliations: Research Scientist I, RRTC on Blindness and Low
Vision, P.O. Box 6189, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. Tel.: +1 601 325 2001;
Fax: +1 601 325 8989 | Director of Rehabilitation, National Industries for
the Blind 1901 North Beauregard Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA 22311-1727,
USA
Abstract: Employment differences among 413 persons who are congenitally or
adventitiously blind and employees of National Industries for the Blind (NIB)
associated industries were investigated through personal interviews. A one-way
multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) found no significant differences between
NIB employees with congenital and adventitious vision loss across four
dependent variables; alpha was .05. Persons who were congenitally blind worked
a comparable number of hours (\bar{x}=37), earned just as
much money (\bar{x}=5.32), were as satisfied
(\bar{x}=3.60), and retained their jobs as long
(\bar{x}=11.44) as persons who were adventitiously blind.
Although no significant differences on employment factors were determined,
other differences may have been undetected. Additional research regarding how
age at time of vision loss affects persons in other work settings, successful
adjustment, rehabilitation, employment, and life success is recommended.
