[humanser] Disclosure about Blindness to Clients

[Carly Mihalakis]

Good morning, Alyssa,
Not having all the information, based on what you said I would think 
you're making a bigger thing about this than is warranted. Try 
relaxing a little! Chances are, your clients won't even notice your 
shifting gaze.

haven't, so being able to consult with others in the
>same field who are also blind/visually impaired is invaluable. I am
>immensely grateful for all the feedback and support I've received on this
>list.
>
>
>
>I was wondering what people's thoughts are on disclosing blindness to
>clients. I know that this situation is different for everyone because
>everyone has different degrees of sight and ways of going about things. My
>personal situation is that this has always been a tricky thing for me in a
>personal context and in the professional contexts I've been in. I typically
>use a white cane. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone, hopefully it
>does, but it "looks" to others like I am completely sighted. My cane
>confuses people because they have a narrow idea of what blindness "looks
>like" and, for example, I can look people in the eye most of the time, and
>mobility is fairly unchallenging for me in most situations in regards to
>orientation. For example, I can see most large things in front of me, so
>when I'm walking, I'd think it is probably fairly clear to others that I
>must be able to see some because I navigate around objects, sidewalks,
>hallways, etc before my cane touches them.
>
>My purpose in  mentioning all of this is that it relates to disclosure. I
>cannot count on clients automatically understanding that I'm visually
>impaired  because, even with a white cane, it's stumped people. My reasoning
>for wanting to possibly disclose this to clients are that I can't look
>people in the eye for very long without having to look away and re-focus my
>vision. This may appear to some people like I am not paying attention to
>them  or am disinterested, which would be really problematic. Also, I may
>use my PacMate when with some clients, and it is a device that many have not
>seen before. I don't want them thinking that it is an audio recording device
>or something like that.
>
>
>
>How have you all handled disclosure within your practices?
>
>
>
>Thanks so much,
>
>Alyssa
>
>
>
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