Statewide Employment Specialists: An Innovative Approach to Developing Relationships with Employers of People who are Visually Impaired

Abstract

Editor's Note: With the addition of a statewide employment specialist to mentor vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors and forge relationships with businesses, the Rehabilitation Services for the Blind doubled the number of its visually impaired consumers who found jobs each year. The following interview—between Mark Laird (ML), statewide employment specialist, Missouri Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, and Gil Johnson (GJ), director, American Foundation for the Blind West, on May 26, 1998— describes this innovative model for service delivery. John Maxson, training director, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, Mississippi State University, edited the transcript of the interview.