Keratos - European association on ocular surface diseases and lachrymal dysfunctions.    Afficher en Français  Display in English   Acesso ao site em Portugês
Logo: Keratos - Revenir au site, Back to site
News
Presentation of Keratos
Dry Eyes
Ocular Surface Diseases
Ocular Allergies
Invisible Disabilities
Social
Professional
Administrative
Testimonials
Areas of Interest
Actions & Projects
Contacts & Links
Glossary & Diagrams
 

Preserve our Eyes, not our Drops!

 

 

 

 


      

 

Professional Invisible Disabilities

 

Panneau HandicapKeratos' experience confirms that SEVERE ocular surface sufferers (OSD) are frequently confronted to serious profressional insertion problems. These are usually underecognised orphan pathologies, which social services plainly ignore. Many OSD sufferers are told to avoid air conditioner, smoke, dust, wind, volatile products, perfumes, dry atmosphères, wind fans, allergens and pollens, computer screens, heating equipments, pollution and so on by their doctors in order to save their sight. And yet, social services who are seldom confronted to this type of diseases clearly do not consider these to be serious professional disabilities. For some of our members professional life resembles martyrdom since the cornea is the most sensitive tissue of the human body. How can living with constant corneal erosions and the pain associated with it be seen as something else besides are terrible disability?  How can visual impairment and severe eye pain sufferers be seen as individuals who likely to find work?

It is well known that employers love employees who are unable to stand reading a screen for hours, cannot stand smoke, ventilation, air conditioner! How can one expect understanding from employers when these disease are totally unknown of the general public and sometimes even doctors or are usually considered as just bothersome disease. Having a corneal is not bothersome... it is excruciantly painful!

Forcing some of the persons to work under normal conditions because social services do not realise the impact of severe forms of these diseases is not only an abandon but truly criminal. But usually the problems start wll before that and notably with an job interview unlikely to be succesful. Won't the employer notice that such a person is putting drops every 5 minutes or so? In many cases the job interviews of some of our members have ended just there. How can one hide such severe environnemental and social disabilities (so easily affected by air conditioner, heating, ventilators, and computer use)? At best one may expect to work in an office no-one smokes in... but how realistic is it to find a job where there is no or little computer use, no air conditioner, no heating equipment.

Nevertheless, work would still be possible:

  •  working from home or telework as Canadians say is the most obvious solution, where one may recreate the ideal conditions for severe ocular dryness and other specific sensivities (humidifier, a good screen placed under the eyes, no heating, no AC, etc

  • working in a specific office place or with some specific adaptations equipement close-by (humidifier, etc).

Otherwise, working in a normal environnement clearly means worsening the intial condition, whihc is often the case of our members. Usuall trying to hide this condition is short-term solution which ends up in both professional and therapeutic failure.

Currently the lack of understanding from social services is clearly contributing to increased disability. If not treated seriously amny OSD will lead to blindness. We sure this example is probably true for many unknown disabilities and diseases. Anyway, in the end everyone loses...this way.

This is why keratos has recently joined a group of association on chronic disease and work-related issues.

Go to International Home - Afficher accueil international

  copyright © Keratos 2005-2007