> Jonathan Ott is blind with some remaining vision and had spent nearly ten years working as a machinist at The Lighthouse for the Blind, manufacturing parts for Boeing.
- and don't assume that blindness implies idiocy?
That said, a competent airplane manufacturer, having learned that they hired a near-blind machinist, should first try assigning him to QC. Put blackout goggles on him (totally blind), then see how sharp his fingers and ears are at spotting misaligned joints, "off" pitches when structural members are tapped, and such. At Boeing's scale, he might easily pay for himself just through changing attitudes of the regular production workers - who know "the blind guy" might be inspecting every inch of their work.