Deaf People in Construction/Solar/etc...

[MooseRider]

Hello,

I'm not quite sure where exactly to post this, but I felt general may be okay. I'm hearing, my fiance is Deaf. He finished going to school to earn certification in Solar Energy and has also finished OSHA training. As the general story goes, instead of finding jobs in the months since graduation, he has been passed up for entry level positions in favor of hearing people. Many of these kinds of positions don't even require experience, but he is still being passed up despite his knowledge and hands-on training he already received in school. He was actually openly discriminated against by one company that I can't name right now as we may have to file against them as they cited his deafness as the reason for not hiring him. That's where ya'll come in! I'm wondering how many of you here work in solar, construction, or some other related field and how you navigated it? How did you reassure your potential employers that your deafness wasn't going to get in the way of safety or success in the work place? What kinds of Deaf-owned companies in these fields are there that you know of? I know there is a Deaf-owned solar company in Texas called Blue Paw, but I'm hoping you guys might know of some other examples. We're gathering evidence of "Deaf-can" to present in our argument against said company as well as examples to use in any other future job interviews to ease minds (which seems to be an impossible thing - hence the months of interviews/ignoring of applications).

Thanks all for any advice or help!

 

[Jason Shaw]

Hello,

I'm not quite sure where exactly to post this, but I felt general may be okay. I'm hearing, my fiance is Deaf. He finished going to school to earn certification in Solar Energy and has also finished OSHA training. As the general story goes, instead of finding jobs in the months since graduation, he has been passed up for entry level positions in favor of hearing people. Many of these kinds of positions don't even require experience, but he is still being passed up despite his knowledge and hands-on training he already received in school. He was actually openly discriminated against by one company that I can't name right now as we may have to file against them as they cited his deafness as the reason for not hiring him. That's where ya'll come in! I'm wondering how many of you here work in solar, construction, or some other related field and how you navigated it? How did you reassure your potential employers that your deafness wasn't going to get in the way of safety or success in the work place? What kinds of Deaf-owned companies in these fields are there that you know of? I know there is a Deaf-owned solar company in Texas called Blue Paw, but I'm hoping you guys might know of some other examples. We're gathering evidence of "Deaf-can" to present in our argument against said company as well as examples to use in any other future job interviews to ease minds (which seems to be an impossible thing - hence the months of interviews/ignoring of applications).

Thanks all for any advice or help!

I am a profoundly deaf Master Electrician and a certified solar PV installer, the one who actually owns Blue Paw Energy Service in Texas. This experience is not an unique one in the construction industry in general and I am working on changing that. Can you have him contact me at jason.shaw@bluepawenergy.com.

 

[Secretblend]

Oh man! I really hope OP gets back on and read your message! That is awesome you are on here and can give pointers and etc. Sad thing is MooseRider hasn't been back on since May 14!!