Visually Impaired Finds Hope in Outsourcing Career

Losing one’s sight causes people to despair and lose hope for a bright future. When it happens slowly as in the case of those afflicted with a genetic eye disorder called Retinitis Pigmentosa, the situations becomes terrible as most people fear the loss of independence that results from losing one’s vision.

Such is the case of Ramon (name withheld for privacy) who had been suffering progressively from a condition called tunnel vision. While others go completely blind, in some cases as early as childhood, for others, the eventual loss of sight happens much later.Ramon was diagnosed with this eye disorder while attending his 4^th year of college education in a local university. Fresh out of college and determined to arm himself with a skill that will enable him to be a productive individual despite his impairment, Ramon decided to enter a medical transcription program upon the recommendation of the Resources for the Blind Inc. (RBI). RBI in cooperation with MTC Academy has a special program that teaches the visually impaired to acquire the competencies of medical or business transcription through a technology called JAWS (Job Access with Speech).

Never wavering in his belief that he can be somebody, Ramon persevered in his transcription education and finally graduated last September 2008.Barely 3 weeks from graduation, he landed a job with a Davao-based transcription company. Ramon at 23 years old is a shining example of how to win despite the odds.

With the ever increasing demand for outsourcing services such as transcription, hope springs for the visually impaired. Davao’s ICT champions continue to advocate training for business process outsourcing skills and equal employment opportunities for the disabled.