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Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-11 14:00:02 By Brad R
I currently have RP and I work as a Network Administrator. It is becoming more difficult to see the computer screen, no matter what the size of the screen or charactera are. I was wondering what others with RP are doing for employment and how it is working out for them. I am contemplating going back to school and I am curious as to what others are doing for employment with RP. Thanks for any and all information.

Thanks,
Brad R

Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-11 18:47:45 By Ken L
My son is going for testing in Denver on Februrary 21st. He will most likely be diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. since learning of this disease we have run into people that have it and know about it. One person in particular was a massage therapist. She said it worked well for her because she was usung her hands to "SEE" with. Another person told me that she has an associate that works with her for a High school as a Sports medicine person. She says that she also uses her hands and can sometimes "FEEL" better than others because she has had to all her life. She can feel the broken bone or the cramping area of the football player, etc... A Masters degree in sports medicine took my niece only one year to achieve.
I Hope this might help you in some way.

Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-11 19:08:34 By Rick H
Brad,

I am an engineer and use both Unix and Windows in my job. My vision is 20/200 in my good eye. I use a magnification software called ZoomText to magnify and reverse the colors/ enhance contrast. Also, I display my Unix window on my PC using Hummingbird/Eceed windows emulation software. That way I can use Zoomtext on the PC to magnify the Unix. I'm sure you could do the same with Linux.

Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-12 19:15:46 By Lynette D
You might learn to use a screen reader like Jaws or Window-Eyes if the magnification is getting difficult. Also check out Kurzweil which is a program that allows you to scan in documents using a simple scanner which the computer then reads allowed, and can save them so you can read them later.

Re: Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-13 10:08:54 By Darran Z
Zoomtext also has screen reading capabilities. The software is designed to do both magnification and screen reading.

Darran

Re: Re: Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-13 13:37:57 By Brad R
Thank you to everyone who responded. I am using Windows based platforms, so some of the ideas and software mentioned might be of help. I will research them more and try them.

Thanks again,
Brad

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-13 13:49:32 By Brad R
Darran, thanks for the information. I am currently downloading ZoomText to trial.

Brad

Re: Retinitis Pigmentosa and Employment
Posted: 2008-02-20 11:37:07 By Corey B
I know this is a dead issue, but I am a returning messager and thought I'd add a little inspiration. I have RP and completed a BA in education and have been teaching for 2 years. The neat thing is that my uncle (by marriage) helped me to get diagnosed because he also has RP, but is totally blind. He has been the budget director for this school district and another for the past 30 years. imagine managing a multi million dollar district budget and never being able to see the first number. The incredible part is that he didn't even have a college degree! Anything is possible! You can get what you want, if you truly want it.
Corey B

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