Mentoring and Self-Employment: Potential Strategies to Promote Labor Force Participation

Opportunities to support people with visual impairments in locating mentors or engaging in self-employment appear under-utilized. Participants in this study appeared interested in receiving support from a mentor and learning more about self-employment options. Efforts to improve the labor force participation rate among people with visual impairments should include assistance in finding mentors to promote adjustment to blindness and becoming employed and exploring opportunities for self-employment. Vocational rehabilitation agencies should consider examining their policies and practices to promote greater access and use of these strategies to bring people with visual impairments into the labor market.