Do and Don't
Do:
- Ask before helping.
- Ask, "Is there something I can do to help?"
Do Not:
- Do Not touch a blind person without asking.
- Do Not touch or hold a blind person's white cane.
A blind or low vision person uses a white cane to feel and hear the environment. If you touch the cane, this stops the person from sensing the environment. Also, you might break the cane, get pinched by its joints, or frighten the person using it.
Do:
- Do offer an elbow, shoulder or purse strap for the blind person to hold if they ask you to lead them. This allows them to follow a step behind you so they can sense where you are and how you are moving. They can also let go when they need to.
- If a space is narrow, you can turn sideways a little or move your arm behind you as you walk. This shows the blind person to stay behind you. Pause before a step up or down.
- Tap or knock on an object that you want the blind person to find, such as a door handle or empty seat.
- Do warn a blind person about branches or signs that are at face level. They can use their cane to find obstacles below waist level, so you don't need to warn them about low obstacles.
- Do use words like "left," "right," "behind," or "ahead." Remember that "over there" doesn't mean anything to someone who can't see where "there" is.
- Do allow a vision impaired person extra time to explore the world with their white cane. It helps them function in a unique way, and you do NOT need to intervene without asking first.
Guide Dogs
Do Not:
- Do Not speak to a guide dog.
- Do Not pet a guide dog.
- Do Not feed a guide dog.
Do:
- Do speak to the person handling the guide dog.
"What exactly can you see?" (Facts about blindness):
- Most legally blind people have some residual vision.
- Some people have large blind spots and distorted or fragmented vision.
- Some people can only see on the sides of their visual field and nothing in the middle.
- Some people see nothing at all up or down or to the sides, but they see a tiny bit in the middle, like looking through a drinking straw.
- Some people can only see movement or highly contrasting colors like white against black.
- Some people can only see shadows and bright lights.
- Some people have no light perception at all.
- Some people can see nothing at all in certain lighting, but they can see a little bit when the lighting is right for them.
- There are many eye conditions that cannot be fixed with glasses.
- Blind and vision impaired people use computers and smart phones with special settings, such as high contrast colors and/or screen readers to speak the screen out loud. They may look at the screen, even if they can't see most of what's on it.
Remember: A blind or low vision person is not "faking it," even if they don't behave exactly as most people expect them to. They might be using their phone and a white cane at the same time. They might drop something and be able to reach for exactly where they dropped it, based on the sound. They may be able to make "eye contact" with people by listening for their voice, or even seeing part of their face. They may walk with confidence and expert mobility skills.