[humanser] Letting them know you're blind

[Karen Rose]

I certainly agree that being forced to disclose to a new client that I am blind before seeing that client is exactly equivalent to being forced to disclose my race or ethnic city or religion or orientation. This is simply not necessary. If a client is in fact uncomfortable when they see that I am blind, this could actually prove useful in therapy. Although I do not do this now, as an intern I would generally wait until the end of the second or third session and then ask a client how they felt about working with someone who was not looking at them. I remember having one client respond – you must really have to trust people a lot. And – this was the subject of therapy for the next year!

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 1, 2018, at 3:40 PM, Cheryl Wade via HumanSer <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Greetings, listers,
> 
> 
> Have any of you pondered the idea of letting new clients know that you, as a therapist, are blind?
> 
> 
> In a former job, I used to ask if the person were allergic to or disliked dogs, and then mention I have a guide dog and am blind. I have not used this technique in my new job. I have lost a couple of clients, for reasons I'm not sure about, and my supervisor wonders if  I should make the fact of my blindness known to clients before I meet with them. Perhaps they are uncomfortable? If I do let them know, what might be some good ways to go about doing that?
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> Cheryl Wade, MA, LLPC, CRC
> 
> 
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