This research undertaking focuses on investigating attitudinal reactions of sightedrncommunities toward the education, employment and marriage of persons with visionrnimpairment. Using the data collection instruments developed and rapport establishedrnwith the sighted persons living in the study areas, persons with vision impairment andrnkey informants, particular attention was paid to generate information on the positivernand negative reactions of the social environment; the challenges visually impairedrnpeople encounter in their struggle for the fulfillment of their wishes, aspirations and liferngoals.rnIn the study 400 (200 male and 200 female) sighted persons, 20 (8 male and 12 female) sightedrnpersons gender specific focus group, 24 (12 men and 12 women) persons having visionrnimpairment gender specific focus group living in Woreda 11 kebele 23; and 17(9 male and 8rnfemale) persons with vision impairment gender specific focus group discussion participants atrnENAB and 8 key informants participated.rnBoth close and open-ended questions, focus group discussion outlines and a three-rnpoint attitude scale questionnaire on the topics of education, employment andrnmarriage were employed. A total of 60 points/items (20 items on each category) werernincluded where participants of the study were asked to indicate the extent of theirrnagreement, uncertainty and disagreement about the statements made. Therninformation obtained, although there prevailed an inconsistent and mixed attitudes, thernfindings revealed that the unwelcoming social environment significantly hampersrnaccess to various opportunities.rnAs mentioned above the study aims at revealing the perceived factors by the sightedrnin the integration and access to opportunities for persons with vision impairment asrnregards to education, employment and marriage. The data collected throughrnxquestionnaires were analyzed using percentages. This again was supplemented withrnthe focus group discussion results, responses of attitude scales and informationrnobtained from key informants.rnThe findings of the study revealed that prevalence of unwelcoming social reactionsrntoward the persons with vision impairment have inhibited their effort to benefit from thernfruits of education, in their desire to gainfully employed, lead an independent and startrnmarriage life. Access to education is very limited because of a number of reasons i.e.rnpoverty, absence of schools, lack of appropriate support from regular schools,rnpreference of families to send non-disabled to disabled and the value families attachrnto the education of the female child with vision impairment and male child with similarrnproblem. The study revealed that families and society at large consider the educationrnof female children with vision impairment less important than male siblings. Thoserngirls having vision impairment who manage to join schools fail to pursue largelyrnbecause of teenage pregnancy, as they are vulnerable for sexual abuse. For fear ofrnabuses and endangering themselves, the socialization process is restrictive and doesrnnot encourage their participation in matters concerning their current and future lives.rnThe problems associated with the education of persons with vision impairment arernshown in the study.rnThe study revealed employment opportunities for persons with vision impairment forrnvarious reasons are very low in the labor market. As regard to marriage of personsrnwith vision impairment the findings revealed that women are considered asexual,rnunable to discharge the home management and motherhood responsibilities andrnunable to equally participate to generate to the household income. Finding a marriagernpartner for women with visual impairment is very difficult because of suchrnpreconceived notions.rnxiOn the basis of the findings some suggestions are forwarded to help different actors inrnorder to bring about improvements in the live situations of the visually impaired withrnspecial emphasis to their education, employment and marriage life