Empowering young people with a visual impairment to take charge of their career
How can young people with a visual impairment pursue the education and job of their choice, without being turned away or held back? That is the central question that Visio, the center of expertise for people with a visual impairment, and Gupta take on together. A great example of social return built on an analytical approach.
The facts on the table
Together with the Visio team, we built a fact base on young people with a visual impairment, compared to young people without an impairment. The finding: young people with a visual impairment are, on the whole, already very satisfied with their education or job. That said, there is still significant room for improvement. For example, young people with a visual impairment are less likely to pursue further education. And 50% of young people with a visual impairment encounter problems finding and/or completing an internship.
Valuing and using what is already there
The conclusion? There is already a great deal of knowledge, support and willingness to help young people with a visual impairment. But that support does not always reach the right people at the right time. There are around 500 students with a visual impairment in the Netherlands. A teacher or employer typically encounters a young person with a visual impairment only once in their career. They often do not have the right knowledge and expertise to support these young people well. Our aim: to reach them too.
We therefore developed a step-by-step plan to bring existing knowledge and expertise to the right people, so that young people with a visual impairment can follow the career path they want. The best part of the plan: we put the young people themselves at the wheel. An important element of the plan is recognizing the moments in their career when extra support is needed. We give young people the right tools to do this, so that they can take charge of their own career.
