Word Transcript of Transitions Video Tom S Story

Word transcript of transitions video – Tom’s story

TC: Thomas Church

TC: My name's Thomas Church, I'm 23 years old, and I lost my sight about three or four years ago, now. It was kind of, as I was applying for university, and I was getting accepted, so actually, it was a bit of a big change going into uni. I was actually applying to do a motorsport engineering course, and then obviously, realised that I wanted to move away from a physical job, because I wouldn't be able to do that. So I then moved onto a course that we shared some lectures with, which was logistics, and supply chain management. So it was kind of, a big learning curve. So I was learning JAWS, and having training sessions on that, alongside my degree.

So my job now, my position is Inbound Logistics Operations Executive. I'm on the graduate scheme at Tesco. When I was applying for Tesco, the assessment process was quite intense.

They were very supportive there to be fair, I took my own laptop because obviously they give out pens and notepads which isn’t very useful for me because I only use JAWS with my laptop. So I took my own laptop and kind of throughout the day tried to show how I would cope with a situation. They were really helpful, because the paper wasn’t electronic-based so they read that out to me and I typed the answer. Or we had to do a presentation, so I kind of just tried to memorise three main points and elaborate around them and sell that point.

Once I found out that I'd got the job, I organised with my director to come in a few weeks before, to meet him, and sit down with him. And I sort of showed him my iPhone, and how I use that. And I told him that the one thing with my sight loss is it takes me a while to get used to something, and once I understand it fully, then I can do it. So the main thing I tried to push to my employer was that it was, be patient with me. It's been quite successful so far, I think everyone knows where I stand, I make my situation quite clear to them.

I didn't use Access to Work to get this job, because I've heard in the past that it was quite a lengthy process, and it can be quite complicated. And also because I only use Jaws and Zoomtext, I managed to get my company to support me with that, and some extra training on that. So I haven't had to go down the route of Access to Work yet.

I think there is a big difference between being in education with sight loss, and being in the workplace with sight loss. I think, in education, you're kind of, you're supported in a big way, and essentially, you're paying them to teach you, and to provide you with a service. Whereas in the workplace you want to just be able to do everything, and be able to impress everyone. And I think if you're honest, and let everyone know where you stand, and still have your demands of what you need to be able to do this and that, you'll add a lot more value to the business, as well as being good at your job and comfortable.

For my information on transitions, visit rnib.org.uk/young-people.

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