Braille Institute reviews

-80% of the staff have been there for 20+ years. (I'll refer to them as Senior Staff Members, not because of their age, but because of their tenure) While this is not necessarily a con, it is in the case of the Braille Institute. These senior staff members (90% of them are sighted, by the way) are very old fashioned and closed minded. They think that just because they have worked with Blind and Visually Impaired students for years that they know what it's like and what is best for them. News Flash: You don't know what it's like to be Blind or Visually Impaired! These senior staff members also treat the students like pets, often discouraging them from trying new experiences because they feel that since they have worked with the student for years they apparently know what they are capable of and what's best for them. I got a feeling that a lot of these Senior Staff Members have a "Savior Complex" and feel superior to the students, like a knight in shining armor on a high horse showing up to save these students. This kind of attitude is often found in senior staff members across all the centers and it's very sad that these people have to seek approval, validation, and praise from Blind and Visually Impaired students. When you're at one of the centers, you'll find these senior staff members easily; they're the ones that treat the students as subordinates who need saving and not as equals. Below are some of the stuff I have witnessed while working there. It should paint a picture of what the staff is really like when the students are not around: *Note: Not all Senior Staff Members were like this but it's a shockingly high percentage*: 1. There was a party for the students which involved cupcakes. These cupcakes were in a plastic container because they were bought from a store. A senior staff member dropped a closed package of cupcakes, ruining the shape and design of them. This staff member jokes that "it doesn't matter because they are blind" and then laughs it off. 2. In a staff meeting, there's news that a blind student found a full time job and is leaving the Braille Institute. A senior staff member comments sarcastically "Good luck to them" and proceeds to talk about how the student "wouldn't know how to walk around their new job" and laughs while saying that "they'll be back at Braille Institute." Wow, way to support and encourage the students... 3. They have a martial arts class once a week. Some of the students have been taking the class for years while others are complete beginners. A couple senior staff members would check in on the class and then laugh at the students who didn't do the moves right. They figure they can laugh at the students as long as they don't make any noises. -Lack of Diversity and Inclusion Again, the senior staff members are the ones I have witnessed doing these things: 1. A new student wanted to check out some LGBTQ+ books from the library and asked staff about it. When the student left, a couple of senior staff members laughed at the student for "checking out Gay books". 2. When the pandemic barely started, a student informed staff that they did not feel comfortable going to class anymore because of COVID19 and that they would return when things went back to normal. The student is Asian, and a senior staff member commented that "it's good that student left because that student's people spread the virus ". 3. A staff member has an accent as English is not their first language. This staff member's accent is mocked constantly by senior staff members as well as management! Several complaints have been made about this bullying behavior and nothing was done to address it. -Competition Instead of Mentorship Senior Staff Members often create competition with new staff members. Instead of mentoring and lifting up these new staff members, many senior staff members feel threatened and often resort to catty, high school behavior towards new staff members simply because they do not like them. This creates a terrible working environment where new staff feel that they cannot trust senior staff. -Workload Workload is often too much and staff are constantly thrown into situations where they get very minimal training and then have to perform the task 1-2 hours later. Staff then get reprimanded when they did not do the task correctly. -Top Heavy Management & Micromanaging Managers The organization has 5-6 vice presidents who received several raises and promotions during the pandemic. Meanwhile, hard working folks on the bottom of the ladder who directly helped the students and continuously did more with limited resources did not get any raises during the pandemic. Where's the transparency? On top of that, micromanaging is commonly found across the centers. Yes, let's reward the hard working staff pushed to their limits by recording their every move and giving them anxiety.