The Job Problem

Almost anytime you can't see well, you have a job problem. There are few jobs that don't require good vision.

We have Fuchs' Friends in many, many professions. Because the disease is so unpredictable, many of our members have struggled to do their jobs, more successfully some days than others. When the time comes that the "bad days" are more frequent than the "good days," some of our members were unable to continue working. They lost their jobs or businesses, resulting in a drop in income that raised havoc with their lives. This can put a strain on relationships, as vision loss changes a person's abilities, priorities, and self-esteem.

Fuchs' seems to be one of the disabilities that employers or state/federal agencies do not understand well enough to accommodate. Our quickly growing support group would like to see that changed. People with Fuchs' are suffering deeply, being indeed the "invisible disabled."

"Every disability -- permanent or temporary -- deserves to be looked at realistically. Every Fuchsie isn't so disabled we can't work, but some of us are. Every diabetic or heart patient isn't disabled either, but some are. It's just as wrong to "require" a disabled person to work, when it's impossible, as to refuse to let a capable person work." Jane