Advocacy Works: Local Provincial Government Employee Proves it!
By Louise Pfau
Diane Bergeron is considered totally blind. She has never worked in the skilled trades industry, but has always been employed in office jobs, including with the city of Edmonton, and as a Rehabilitation practitioner. Currently, she works for the Provincial Government as the coordinator for the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities. "I see my role really as being in a position to assist the government in making sure that the programs and services they provide as a government are accessible, barrier-free, and meet the needs of all citizens, including citizens with disabilities," she explained.
Ms. Bergeron believes that disclosure is very much an individual decision. "I personally don't disclose in my cover letters or resume, although if you read my resume, it would be fairly obvious in that my volunteer activities talk about being a board member for CNIB and working with guide dog stuff, so I think it would be fairly obvious if you really thought about it, but I don't actually say anything about the disability. When I show up for an interview, however, I have a guide dog, so it becomes pretty obvious. When I get there, I've never really had any concern about disclosing at that point," she said.
Ms. Bergeron's self-advocacy efforts have gone back a long way. "I got involved in advocacy probably about 15 years ago. I had been refused access in a public facility with my dog, and started the process of advocating at that point for people that were visually impaired that use dog guides, and then it just sort of evolved from there to looking at the public legislation and the provincial legislation for guide dogs, and work with the CNIB to talk to provincial representatives to get the legislation changed, amended to be more enforceable. From there, it just sort of boomed, and I've done all sorts of other advocacy roles, especially in the area of access," she recalled.
Ms. Bergeron uses various pieces of adaptive technology and other accommodations that allow her to function in the work environment. "I use a lot of devices, adaptive equipment. I use JAWS on the computer. I have Kurzweil for scanning documents. I have Duxbury Braille Translator and a Braille Printer, so I can print documents in Braille. I have a pocket PC talking device with a refreshable Braille display. There's my dog, and I sometimes use a white cane.
"I also have an office that was designed with universal design concepts, including tactile indicators on the floor to help someone who's visually impaired get around. There's definitely accommodation made for me in terms of having the dog here, and making sure the dog is also comfortable. We have a railing for people that have maybe a balance problem, and they put notches into it so that I can use those to guide myself so that when I get to the first set of notches, I know that I'm across from my cubical. If there's something that comes in that I can't read because it's not in a format that's accessible, other staff will assist me in getting me that information.
"My job does require some travel around the city, so instead of paying for mileage for vehicles, we have an account with a cab company that we'll set up so I can take taxis to and from meetings and so on. If we have a meeting, all of the attendance and minutes are sent to me electronically, so I can print them out in Braille if I want to, or transfer the information to my pocket PC or whatever. However I want to do it, there's never been a question of accommodation. They've always made sure that anything I needed is taken care of," she said.
Ms. Bergeron stated that her overall experience as a person with a disability in Alberta's workforce has been a good one. I have been very lucky in that my career that I've chosen is a career that I'm very passionate about. Working in the disability field is something that I really enjoy doing, and it provides me with a lot of challenges. I like to do different things and I don't like to be in a stagnant position. It's provided me with challenges and opportunities. I've been really lucky in the workforce. I've never had a problem getting a job, after I obtained my education. Prior to getting my education, I [sometimes] had issues [with] people who were not really thrilled about having someone in the office with a dog, or the accommodations I needed for the job weren't there. In the field that I'm in now, it's been really quite a good experience."
Ms. Bergeron's biggest challenge has been with regard to the fact that she is a guide dog user. There have been a number of necessary accommodations as a result of this. In addition, if someone has allergies to dogs, their needs must also be considered. "It's just open communication. If you can sit down and talk about it, you can usually come up with some way to accommodate both people's needs, as long as everybody's flexible and understanding," she said.
With regard to obtaining and retaining employment, Bergeron cites 3 key points. These include education or training, volunteer experience, and networking. "Make sure that you have the qualifications that you need to do the job. If you volunteer, you find out if you like that area or not, it gives you experience, and demonstrates that you're willing to volunteer. It's not who you know anymore, but who knows you," she said.
Despite her challenges, Ms. Bergeron maintains a strong and common-sense approach to her progress in life; "I just get up, and you've got to face the day, right? You either live, or you don't, so you have to just get up and face what your reality is and go on with it".
