NEET with a disability: What’s holding back visually impaired young people who want to work

I have been fortunate in my research to follow 80 young people with vision impairment over 11 years. I tracked their journeys from school into adulthood, speaking with them at regular intervals to learn what had happened since we last spoke, what had gone well and what could have been improved.

The aim was to observe the different pathways they followed and their experiences along the way. Despite doing relatively well academically compared with other SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) groups, young people with vision impairment have persistently low employment rates and are particularly vulnerable to becoming economically inactive. My colleagues and I wanted to understand why and identify possible solutions.

When I first started working with the young people, they were 14 to 16 and full of optimism for the future. They wanted to become social workers, teachers and psychologists. Yet by the end of the study, when they were 25 to 27, many had never held a paid job and could not see a path to employment. Through their accounts, we learned of a range of barriers they faced, many specific to their vision impairment.

Because support varied depending on where they lived, we found that many felt unprepared for adulthood and for navigating their lives as young adults with vision impairment. Some could not use assistive technology in a work setting or lacked the skills to travel independently. Sometimes they simply lacked the confidence to disclose their disability and request adjustments.

As “Brett” described: “To be honest, most of my colleagues don’t know I am visually impaired. I hate saying about it and think about it as a crutch if people know, and I don’t want a crutch.”

The young people described an inaccessible job market, with application systems and assessment processes that were highly visual and incompatible with their assistive technology. They reported a general lack of knowledge among HR teams and managers about how to make the reasonable adjustments required under the Equality Act.

“David” estimated that he encountered accessibility challenges with a third of the 50 graduate programs he applied for.

“But that’s the most prohibiting factor about the recruitment process, is the online tests. A lot of them don’t work with speech [software], so the text it’s not interactive, it’s just like a picture. So even with extra time I can’t use speech software to read. A lot of companies just don’t understand that—they just think with extra time you will be sorted.”

After completing their education, those seeking help to find work encountered Jobcentre Plus staff who discouraged them from looking for work and work coaches who said they thought it “impossible” for someone with a vision impairment to get a job.

Those who did find employment were held back by delays and errors when applying for Access to Work, the government-funded program that helps pay for the specialist equipment and support disabled workers need in the workplace. Such delays are well documented, with recent government data showing that applications have taken more than 100 days to process—far exceeding the target of 25 days.

A government-commissioned review by former member of Parliament Alan Milburn described the proportion of young adults becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) as “an urgent national crisis”. Milburn found that young people are detached from the labor market, with large proportions becoming economically inactive, raising concerns about wider social and economic consequences. While it is vital to understand such broad social challenges, it is also important to explore the additional challenges faced by minority groups, like those with vision impairment.

Negative perceptions of disabled people who are not working contrast with the conversations I had in this study. I spoke with young people who wanted to be “given a chance” and to be financially independent.

In response to these findings, we recommend that the government formally recognize the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s curriculum framework for children and young people with vision impairment. This framework outlines the support they need to ensure their educational and social inclusion and to help them leave education as independent as possible.

Who’s behind this story?

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news.

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Andrew Zinin

Master’s in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X’s editorial success.

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