u/itsannarchy

I swear since I lost my job (for being disabled) I have struggled to find new work. When I do get an interview walking in with my guide dog and I hear them go "oh" before I even get to say hello. I also am getting frustrated with wholly office based jobs listing a drivers license as a requirement, like nobody is driving the desk down the road. Its so frustrating even when these companies and orgs have the whole we encourage people with a disability to apply schtick they don't actually want to hire disabled people.

I've applied from everything from banking, admin, and NDIS related to airline check in and even the Australian Border Force with no luck.

Does anyone have any tips for me in applying for jobs or even industries that might be a good fit for a blind person?

I want to work but nobody wants to hire blind people it seems like

My emotions are all over the place and I feel like just sobbing, my wonderful guide dog and partner in crime is being retired in less than a week. I don't know how I am suppose to feel.

I knew it was coming but the expectation was there would be a tag team effort when I get my new dog, well that's not happening anymore as we went to a new vet as something wasn't quite right and the old vet and vet specialist who had approved her to continue to work didn't seem to know what was wrong and thought her right hip had arthritis. The new vet did a CT scan on her hips and spine and found that she has some kind of spinal injury. I spoke to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and they said she would be retired on Monday following their vet looking at the scans.

I am on the waitlist for a new guide dog and have been told there are several potential matches which is good news, however the bad news is the NDIS last month cut funding to both my current dog and are refusing to fund the new dog and are dragging the review process out, which potentially means a lengthy argument with the NDIA at the Administrative Reviews Tribunal.

I am terrified to go out to places like the city or catch trains or busses without a dog, hell I am scared to even try and cross a busy road by myself even though my cane skills are skill up to scratch.

Overall I also feel guilty for listening to the advice of the first vet and their recommended specialist who clearly just wanted my money and didn't investigate my Kellie's problems adequately.

So my wonderful guide dog is being medically retired next Monday and I don't know how I should feel, I am upset, hurt, scared and worried all in one.

The long story is she had some issues with what our original vet thought was her right hip but they and their specialist cleared us to continue working which we have been doing for a couple of months but something wasn't quite right so I went on the advice of a support person to another vet who did a CT Scan of my guide dog's spine and hips. Well her hips are perfect but she has major issues with her spine. I spoke with the team at Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and we have decided to retire her on the 31st.

I am waiting for a new dog on the Guide Dogs list but on top of everything else the National Disability Insurance Scheme had last month decided that a guide dog is no longer reasonable and necessary to fund despite the NDIS funding my current dog for the last 8 years and a GDMI report recommending funding for a new dog. I have written to all my Senators for my state, the opposition spokeswoman for the NDIS and Disability, the Ministers for the NDIS and my local federal MP without much success.

I also feel like I failed my dog by listening to and accepting the advice of the original vet and the specialist vet and potentially making things worse for her, when she has literally save my life on more than a few occasions. She has worked so hard and I feel like I have let her down. I don't know what to do, as there is no complaints process for the original vet or the specialist vet they sent us to.