4.1. Golden Rule (Listen and hear).
4.2. Verbal Introduction.
4.3. Formal Identification.
4.4. Impromptu or Spontaneous Assistance.
4.5. Guiding a Visually Impaired Person.
4.6. Etiquette.
4.7. Mobility Aids and Symbols.
4.8. Organised Assistance.
4.9. Personal Service and Care.
4.10. Dispelling Some Common Misconceptions.
4.1. Golden Rule (listen and hear).
Each visually impaired person is our own expert on what we are comfortable with, and this expertise comes before anything or everything else.
So, while it is recommended that a worker, volunteer, relative or friend use the below guide as a default, listening is key –i.e., listening to our own preferences, since they may be the opposite to what you presume. For example, you may presume that we would like assistance when we do not.
There may be cases where a visually impaired person has not received habilitation training, but such training is done at a time of our own choosing, and by a person or institution of our own choosing. The main thing to remember is that we value our own agency and dignity every bit as much as you value yours.
4.2. Verbal Introduction.
4.2A. Introduce Yourself.
4.2B. Our Right of Refusal.
4.2A. Introduce Yourself.
Whether working directly with the public in an official capacity, or in a random encounter on a street, a fully sighted person should introduce themselves by name, and where relevant, give their function, before engaging with a visually impaired person any further (including offers of assistance).
4.2B. Our Right of Refusal.
Given the lack of eye-contact, it should be remembered that a visually impaired person may not know that you are addressing them in particular, e.g., they may think that you could be speaking to someone beside them or behind them (even if there is no-one in their immediate vicinity).
Because we, as visually impaired people, need to focus as much as possible on our safe navigation, we usually need to prioritise incoming audio and tactile cues, and cannot afford to stop and wonder if every voice we hear was talking to us. Furthermore, sometimes, visually impaired people are approached by people with negative intentions, and this is another reason why we may choose to ignore someone even if we think that someone might be addressing us in particular.
As such, a visually impaired person is not being ‘rude’ if we ignore you, and please give us the benefit of the doubt in that respect.
4.3. Formal Identification.
Usual forms of face-to-face identification are inaccessible to many or most visually impaired people. For example, the wearing of a high-vis jacket and an identifying lanyard by a staff-member is of little or no use to many of us.
Consequently, it should be remembered at all times when engaging with us, that our rights to security and the legal concept of proportionality are paramount. In other words, if we do not believe you are who you say you are, in all but highly exceptional circumstances, we get the benefit of the doubt.
4.4. Impromptu or Spontaneous Assistance.
4.4A. Ask, Don’t Grab.
4.4B. “No” Means No.
4.4C. Emergencies.
4.4D. Giving Directions.
4.4A. Ask, Don’t Grab.
With regard to impromptu encounters, ‘ask, don’t grab’. Do not presume that a visually impaired person needs your help. Never forget to ask our opinion on the matter.
Offering guide assistance to a visually impaired person is often very much welcomed by us. For instance, it may allow us to take a temporary break from our total concentration on navigating alone. Also, to paraphrase an Irish proverb, ‘a journey shared is a journey halved’, applying to both parties.
4.4B. No Means No.
However, it is very important to note that if a visually impaired person declines an offer of assistance, ‘no means no’. Unwanted shadowing or verbal commentary or advice can be a distraction, and therefore hazardous for a visually impaired person, since we need to concentrate on our own navigation without also having to deal with ‘back-seat-driving’.
Where visually impaired people are also neurodivergent, this need to be left alone can be particularly acute, and unwanted assistance can cause anxiety and distress, as well as being distracting. This in turn causes endangerment – the opposite to the intended effect – since anxiety can lead to accidents.
4.4C. Emergencies.
If a staff-member is trying to alert a visually impaired person to an imminent danger, this should be done verbally, and physical intervention applied only as a final resort, as with any other member of the public. Indeed, as with any other member of the public, unwanted handling could be construed as assault, and this is particularly the case for a visually impaired person, who is counted as a vulnerable adult under the Criminal Justice Amendment Act (2012).
4.4D. Giving Directions.
As visually impaired people, we are the experts in knowing our own individual needs and preferences when it comes to assistance. Uninvited shouting of directions at a visually impaired person is, at best, irritating, and at worst, dangerous because it distracts us from our focusing on safe mobility.
In contrast to this, many of us have lots of warm memories of being totally lost, and having complete strangers notice this and ask if we would like assistance. Since many of us are not able to see other people on a street, for example, it is much more difficult for us to approach someone to ask for assistance.
If a visually impaired person requires directions, then explanations need to be given that do not involve purely visual cues, such as finger-pointing with unhelpful accompanied phrases such as “over there”; or ‘turn right after the post office’). If you can, please take the time to ascertain that your advice is intelligible to someone not navigating using their eyes.
4.5. Guiding a Visually Impaired Person.
4.5A. Wheelchairs Not Necessary.
4.5B. Guiding a Partially Sighted Person.
4.5C. Guiding a Blind Person.
4.5A. Wheelchairs Not Necessary.
It should never be expected that a visually impaired person requires a wheelchair when requesting or accepting assistance. Currently, this presumption is common in some settings, e.g., airports and hospitals, and we are often given no real choice in the matter. It is a truism that wheelchair use should be reserved for physically impaired people or those who are unwell enough to require such assistance.
4.5B. Guiding a Partially Sighted Person.
If a partially sighted person accepts or asks for guidance, we may just like someone to accompany us (walking beside us). In such cases, Since a partially sighted person may not be able to follow signage, your assistance in showing the way, or accompanying one of us for part or all of that journey, is likely to be very much appreciated.
4.5C. Guiding a Blind Person.
4.5C1. Introduction.
4.5C2. The Basic Way – our hand on your arm.
4.5C3. Stairs and Steps.
4.5C4. Narrow Spaces and Doors.
4.5C5. Keep Your Guide Arm Free.
4.5C6. Exceptions to our hand on your arm.
4.5C1. Introduction.
The following best practice should only take a few minutes to teach to guides. Indeed, many of us teach total strangers this technique, on the hoof, so to speak, on a daily basis. Many guides are born naturals at it, requiring little or no instruction from the first steps on.
4.5C2. The Basic Way – Our Hand On Your Arm.
For blind people, generally, the default (and safest) position is that we be able to hold your (the guide’s) elbow, upper arm, or shoulder on a side of our own choosing. Offer your right arm, since the vast majority of blind people prefer that you are to their left.
Some of us prefer to have a decent grip, and others of us are just comfortable with a light touch.
You can relax your guiding arm as if you were walking as normal. For example, there is no need to raise your forearm if that makes you more uncomfortable.
This tactile guidance facilitates the guide going slightly in front (making collisions less likely), and allows the blind person to read the movements of the guide, and so, to detect even subtle schanges in direction or gradient (including steps etc.).
Note that this way of guiding is not the same as linking of arms, which puts the visually impaired person right beside the guide. Such a technique is more suited to providing physical support, for example, to someone who is unsteady on their feet. Linking arms as guidance for visually impaired people should be actively discouraged unless visually impaired people also need physical support in walking.
4.5C3. Stairs and Steps.
A visually impaired person may feel more comfortable if steps or changes in direction are announced, and you (as the guide) should be cognizant of this, particularly where they know that the person being guided has recently lost their sight, and so may not be as confident. If a visually impaired person requests that you do not stop and announce all step-downs/ups or changes in direction, please respect their request, since the resulting annoyance can itself be a distraction to us. Another disadvantage of verbal guidance is that it can be a conversation-killer.
Best practice is to ask the person being guided, at the outset, if they would like verbal guidance to accompany the human tactile guidance.
4.5C4. Narrow Spaces and Doors.
It is good to let a visually impaired person know that you are both approaching a door or any other narrow pathway where single file is necessary. The visually impaired person should then know to step in behind you, until you can walk two abreast once more.
When going through a spring-hinged door, the visually impaired person should be able to detect your reaching for the handle and change of arm-movement as you let the handle go; so that the visually impaired person themselves will take their turn in holding the door at bay as they follow you through it. If the door-handle is on the opposite side to your guiding arm/side, then just let the visually impaired person know, and this will allow them to temporarily free their linking hand, to keep the door open as they pass through.
When guiding a visually impaired person to a chair, place the hand from your guiding side on the top edge of the back of the chair, so that the guide can trail your arm with their hand, to locate what your hand is resting on.
If the seat has no back – for example, if it is a bench – verbal directions are advised, such as, ‘bench straight in front of you’, or ‘stool at 1 o’clock’, etc.
Concentrate.
Even if a visually impaired person has a long cane, we may be likely to let our guard down, somewhat, when we are being guided. Keep an eye out so that you are not inadvertently walking a visually impaired person into an obstacle such as a pole. It has been known to happen.
4.5C5. Keep Your Guide Arm Free.
This might be intuitive to many, but it is not intuitive to all. Your guide arm should not be carrying a bag or basket, or pulling a trolley or travel-case etc., since this puts an obstacle between you (the guide) and the person you are guiding, which is disadvantageous in lots of ways.
4.5C6. Exceptions to our hand on your arm.
As with everything else regarding our own guidance needs and comfort, we ourselves are the expert in our own preferences, and this should be respected. Also, a visually impaired person may have both hands already in use – e.g., holding a long cane and a guide-dog harness, and in such circumstances, the only practical possibility may be to take the arm or elbow of a visually impaired person, but only if the visually impaired person has agreed to this, or has specifically requested it.
4.6. Etiquette
4.6A. Announce Your Departure.
4.6B. As Different And As Normal As Anyone Else.
4.6A. Announce Your Departure.
After any verbal engagement whatsoever with a visually impaired person, let us know if you are moving away. If you move away without letting us know, we will probably find ourselves speaking to thin air. Moving away without letting us know is ignorant in either sense of the word.
4.6B. As Different And As Normal As Anyone Else.
* visually impaired people are ‘just like you and me’. Treat us with the same default respectand dignity you would anyone else. Visually impaired people are as diverse as any other cross-section of society, including in terms of interests, family status, etc.
* especially when you don’t know us, do not ask us about the extent of our visual impairment. Most of us have probably heard the same question several times this week already, and are tired trying to explain something that most fully-sighted people cannot understand.
* Do not be embarrassed about using words such as ‘see’, ‘view’, etc., including in a metaphorical way. ‘did you see the game last night?’, or ‘Did you read that book…?’ is as normal for a visually impaired person as for anyone else. We are not cacooned from society or its language, and use the same language ourselves of ourselves – .e.g., ‘oh, I see what you mean!’, ‘I saw that film’, etc.
* Do not make supposedly humerous comments relating to blindness or partial sight. We own it. By all means, feel free to share our humour about it, but when fully sighted people make a joke about visual impairment, this is ‘punching down’.
4.7. Mobility Aids and Symbols.
4.7A. Long Canes.
4.7B. Symbol Canes.
4.7C. Guide Dogs.
4.7A. Long Canes.
* The most common mobility aid used by visually impaired people is a long cane. Use of the long cane does not necessarily mean that the user is totally blind; since long canes are also used by people with many levels of visual impairment. While long canes are usually white (with a black handle), they can be in any colour the visually impaired person chooses. Note, however, that a red and white pattern indicates that the cane-holder is deaf-blind.
* Never, ever, grab hold of a visually impaired person’s long cane, or move it if its owner leaves it down somewhere.
* In terms of a mobility aid, the long cane involves the use of particular techniques which entail the long cane moving from side to side, so that it can detect obstacles. Where there is less ambient noise, this motion can also give useful audio feedback to the cane-user.
Note that it is the function of a long cane to detect, and not to avoid obstacles. When we find an obstacle with our long cane, this can give very useful information as to where we are. As such, telling or shouting at a cane-user to “watch out” for an obstacle we are heading towards is far more likely to be a hinderance than a help, since it is just a distraction from our concentrating on our safe mobility. Think first, and triy not to be a back-seat driver.
4.7B. Symbol-Canes.
Some visually impaired people, especially when partially sighted, use what are known as ‘symbol canes’. These are much shorter and thinner than a mobility cane. They are also hand-held, but their purpose is purely to symbolise that the holder is visually impaired, and they generally do not have a direct mobility-related function.
4.7C. Guide Dogs.
Some visually impaired people use guide dogs to help them get around. A guide dog is a type of service dog, which means it is a working dog first and foremost, and especially when out in public with its handler.
While a guide dog is a bit like a personal assistant, its cognitive functions are that of an animal, meaning that it cannot do high functioning human tasks like reading or assistance in clothes-shopping – just some of the presumptions which have been expressed to our members by members of the public.
Guide dogs are trained to avoid obstacles, to alert their handler when they come to a kerbed crossing, to be able to memorise several regularly taken routes, and to locate visible entrances and exits. Some can even find free seats on a train etc., but this depends on the dog.
When a guide dog has a harness on, it is in working mode, and as such, should not be distracted (for example, by petting or calling etc.). Even when the harness is off, some guide-dog owners prefer that strangers do not interact with their dog, so it is polite to ask the handler/owner about this before introducing yourself to the dog.
It is illegal to refuse a guide-dog-handler access to a premises or service on the grounds that they are being accompanied by their dog (Equal Status Act, 2000, S4).
Whether from a stranger or a friend, advice on how to “properly” use a guide dog is not welcome. Such ‘back seat driving’ can be a distraction to the guide dog handler, and it is likely that the expertise is not on the side of the person giving such unasked-for advice.
4.8. Organised Assistance.
Whether personal assistance is provided on a one-off basis (such as using public transport), or whether such assistance is regular (such as with home help etc.), there should always be a direct line to the specific part of a public body that provides this assistance, rather than an individual service-user having to go through the general customer interface or Access Officer, etc. The aim should be to provide a direct line of contact between the visually impaired person and the individual giving assistance, as soon as possible, for example, by default, sharing name and number of the two parties concerned.
The reason for the importance of this direct contact as soon as possible is that less stages to accessing a service simplify and facilitate such access. Simply put: the more filters, the less accessible the service. The service-user may have specific questions as to the scope of the assistance in a particular context; or may require flexibility in terms of becoming lost, running late, or having to cancel at the last minute etc.; and indeed, the assistant, themselves, may have questions, or may neeed to cancel or be running late, etc., and this information is best conveyed directly to the visually impaired person.
4.9. Personal Service and Care.
4.9A. Serving Food and Drink.
4.9B. Put Everything Back Where You First Found it.
4.9C. information We Need to Know.
4.9A. Serving Food and Drink.
Whether in hospital, in a restaurant, or in a home help context, the following are recommended:
* always offer to guide a visually impaired person to a table or seating area, as appropriate. Many of us cannot see the location of tables and chairs, and even if we know the layout, we do not know which are occupied and which are free. If the visually impaired person prefers, it may be useful to be seated close to the toilets, and in particular, a disabled persons toilet.
* always let a visually impaired person know when you put food or drink before them. Even if the sound of a tray or a plate being put on a table or bed-board can be heard above ambient noise, we are not psychic, and we do not know what you have just done, since we have not seen it. All-too-common are first-hand reports from VVI members, as patients in a medical setting, of having to eat their food cold because they only found out too late that it had been placed in front of them. Worse still are first-hand reports of the visually impaired patient not finding out that food has been placed before them, and the uneaten meal is simply removed and disposed of by staff, without the visually impaired person knowing anything about it.
* Positioning: where there is more than one item being served at once, e.g., a cup of tea and a slice of cake, the server should tell the visually impaired diner where each item is in relation to the other. One way of providing this information is to saysomething like , “your slice of cake is to the left, at 11 o’clock, and your cup of tea is to the right, at 1 o’clock.
Sometimes, it is useful for a visually impaired person to know the positioning of different items of food when they are separated on a plate. One way of providing such information is to say something like, ‘potatoes at 6 o’clock, bacon at 2 o’clock, and cabbage at 10 o’clock.
* cutlery: place cutlery next to the plate, or teaspoon in or next to a cup, as relevant, and let the visually impaired person know where everything is. For instance, “the fork is to the left of your plate, and the knife is to the right.
* condiments: let a visually impaired person know of the presence of condiments such as salt, pepper, ketchup, sugar, milk, etc. Often such condiments are difficult, if not impossible, to tell apart by touching their containers alone, and so, offering assistance in locating a desired condiment is a helpful thing to do.
While, in general, we, as visually impaired people, are well able to add our own condiments or pour or own milk, etc., not all of us are equally confident in such activities, and so, offers of help are a good idea, just in case. As with everything else, of course, the individual preferances of each visually impaired person should be memorised or otherwise noted so that unnecessary rituals are not repeated.
4.9B. Put Everything Back Where You First Found it.
Whether you are a tradesperson, employed home help or personal assistant, or a relative or friend of a visually impaired person, it is vitally important that, in the space of a visually impaired person, such as their home or hospital ward, you put everything back where you first found it.
The only exception to this is where you spot what could potentially be a hazard, such as an upturned plug which could be inadvertently stepped on, or something precariously balancing on a shelf etc., for health and safety reasons, adjustment of positioning should first be respectfully suggested and clearly explained to the visually impaired host.
The following are examples of why putting things back in their original position this important:
* a doorstop: not being able to see where we left things, we rely much more on objects having their own exact place, and remembering exactly where those places are. As such, in our own spaces, we can locate anything as quick, if not quicker, than our fully sighted peers. For example, where a small item, such as a doorstop, is moved by even just a few inches away from its original location, it can take a very long time for a visually impaired owner to find it. The location of the item becomes virtually impossible if it has been moved onto a different level, e.g., from the floor to a shelf, or from a table to a shelf, etc. If you think an object might have a better default position, suggest this to the visually impaired host, and act according to their own preference.
A similar example is where a visually impaired person has left a usb-stick on the corner of a table shortly before a helper arrives. For whatever reason, the helper inadvertently moves the usb key several inches to the left. Later, when the visually impaired person goes to pick up the usb-stick, they find it is not where they had left it. In trying to locate it, the visually impaired person accidentally knocks the usb-stick onto the floor, and try as they might, they cannot locate it, having to wait until the next time someone comes to the house. It turns out that the visually impaired person had accidentally knocked the usb stick under a ground-length curtain.
* dinner plates: in this example, dinner plates have been left to dry on a rack, and the rack has even been left exactly where it was found, beside the sink. However, the rack has been turned sideways at a 90 degree angle. When the visually impaired person goes looking for a plate, not realising the realignment of the plates, they accidentally knock a plate over, causing it to break. Especially if there is a glass plate, these fragments pose even more danger to a visually impaired person, who cannot see to avoid stepping on it.
A similar example is where a helper has inadvertently moved a jar of coffee three inches to the right. The visually impaired person goes to turn on the kettle to make a cup of coffee, but while reaching for the button on the kettle, they knock over the jar of coffee, which was unexpectedly between them and the kettle. The jar falls to the floor and breaks, etc.
* Furniture: a helper has inadvertently moved a chair in the living room, and has left it in the middle of the floor, instead of legs under the table, which is the usual practice. Not knowing this, the visually impaired person confidently turns to go to the sofa, and loses their balance after encountering the unexpected obstacle. The fall causes injury, etc.
In a similar scenario, a visually impaired person goes to sit on a bed or armchair which is always in the same place, only to find out, too late, that it has been moved…resulting in fall and injury.
* doors open or closed: if a door has been open when you arrived, be careful that it remains open when you are finished with it; and the same applies to closed doors. We move with confidence around our own home, almost by reflex, and while we would have our guard up and be using a mobility aid outside our own space, this is generally not the case in our own space. Walking face-first into a closed door or catching a foot on an open door are not nice experiences.
* plugs: if you need to plug something out, for example, to plug in a vacuum cleaner, first, ask if it is ok to pull out the original plug. Some digital products may need to be continually plugged in order to keep their settings. Remember to put the original plug back in when finished with the vaccuming task etc. Otherwise, for example, assistive technology may need charging, and will not be usable when needed.
4.9C. information We Need to Know..
* on the floor: If you spot items such as money, a bank card, a passport, or a letter etc.,on the floor, it is likely that a visually impaired person does not know that it is there. In such situations, mention that the item is on the ground, and ask where the visually impaired host would like you to put it, e.g., if they would like you to hand it straight to them, or if they would prefer it be put somewhere else where they can easily locate it later, e.g., on the stack of letters already on a shelf, etc.
* potential environmental/health issues:if you spot damp, mould, or dry rot, a visually impaired person may not be aware that this hazard exists in their close proximity, and so, it should be mentioned and explained, as clearly as possible.
Similarly, one of our members was not aware that a grapefruit had been left up on a high kitchen shelf (by a visitor), until it was reported to him by another visitor, three months later.
4.10. Dispelling Some Common Misconceptions.
4.10A. We Have No Compensatory Superpowers.
4.10B. We Don’t All Know Each Other.
4.10C. People Do Not Pretend To Be Visually Impaired.
4.10A. We Have No Compensatory Superpowers.
It is not true that blind or partially sighted people have better hearing or sense of smell in order to compensate for their visual impairment. Apart from the fact that a visually impaired person may also have a hearing impairment or have lost their sense of smell etc., even for those of us with full hearing and sense of smell, nature does not bestow on us superpowers to compensate for deficits in seeing ability.
Some blind people, especially when blind from an early age, may have learnt to use their hearing in different ways to their sighted peers, and so, may be more sensitive to certain cues, but this is different to their hearing being more acute.
Similarly, visually impaired people do not necessarily have good voice recognition skills, wich is why, even if you have just been speaking to us a few minutes before, or had just met at last night’s party etc., you should always introduce yourself, at least until the visually impaired person gets to know you well enough to recognise your voice. For some of us, this takes much longer than others.
Speaking of parties, in noisy or crowded environments, it can actually be more difficult for a visually impaired person to hear what you are saying, since, unlike our sighted peers, we are unlikely to have the compensatory visual skills to read facial expressions or manage basic lipreading skills.
4.10B. We Don’t All Know Each Other.
Some people, bizarrely enough, appear to think that visually impaired people are a quasi ethnicity who necessarily intermarry and are bound to know everyone else who is visually impaired.
On the contrary, Most people are visually impaired because they lost their sight later in life, and so, are likely to have met only a handful of other visually impaired people, if any at all. As for the rest of us, it is unlikely that we have met any more than a tiny fraction of the 55,000 blind people in the country, or the 200,000 partially sighted people, for that matter.
4.10C. People Do Not Pretend To Be Visually Impaired.
It is astonishing how many of us have been accused of pretending to be visually impaired, and in particular, pretending to be blind. As explained in Section 2.3, there are many degrees of visual impairment, spanning the spectrum of almost being able to get a driver’s licence, to being totally blind. On top of this, a person with some sight may have better days and worse days, depending on a multiplicity of factors such as their level of concentration or stress, lighting etc.
Some of our partially sighted members have been told, “you can see when you want to see”, but as disgraceful as this is, bad is this false judgement syndrome among sighted people, that even some of our totally blind members have been accused of faking it! We do not need to hear or overhear the pearls of such ignorant wisdom or pseudooptholmology. Such disgraceful behaviour should be named and shamed wherever it occurs, but often, the victim is too apoplectic or distressed to respond assertively.
Verbal, written, or physical expression of such ignorance is so wanton that it should be part of Hate Crime legislation.
There are extremely rare cases of a psychosomatic condition known as Munchausen Syndrome where a person may believe they have an impairment (such as a visual impairment). This condition is not fake, and those who have it should be treated with respect, and be treated as they perceive themselves to be.
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