[humanser] Letting them know you're blind

Thu May 3 13:16:57 UTC 2018

Here's another thought, and this truly disturbs me.

I was walking down the street the other day and said hello to a young 
woman walking ahead of me. The woman said, "I didn't say anything to you 
because I didn't want to scare you." I, always the quirky one, said, 
"oh, I don't get scared unless you come at me with a big stick."

What this says to me is that, apparently, people who are not blind think 
we live in an isolating world of inky-black darkness, like they do when 
the power goes out on a winter's night. They don't understand that, for 
me,  for example, most of the time the seeing is just shut off -- no 
inky darkness, no wonderful light, either.

If people still struggle with these kinds of misconceptions, my 
goodness, we've got to work on that.

Cheryl Wade, MA, LLPC, CRC

On 5/2/2018 3:26 PM, Lisa via HumanSer wrote:
> I think you nailed the underlying problem, the comfort level of the other individual toward your disability. I am guessing that your professors do not encourage interns to disclose sexual orientation or ethnicity. I wonder if you can probe a little and inquire why he/she thinks it is necessary for you to disclose your blindness.
>
> Lisa Irving
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HumanSer <humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Miranda via HumanSer
> Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2018 8:56 PM
> To: Human Services Division Mailing List <humanser at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Miranda <knownoflove at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [humanser] Letting them know you're blind
>
> Hi,
> I just want to say how much I appreciate this topic. I myself have considered coming to the list this very question. As a social work student, I have been heavily encouraged by a professor in a groups course to consider disclosing my blindness to future clients. I have also been encouraged to disclose to agency personnel prior to field placement interviews. As these topics are related, I appreciate reading the responses thus far.
> I’m not sure how I feel about disclosing to clients just yet. I appreciate the perspective given, as it has been pointed out that one would not generally disclose race/ethnicity, other disability or mobility aid being used, etc. I really don’t understand why cited individuals feel like blindness is any different. I do see how context would play a part in the decision of whether or not to disclose. I think I may have read an article recently about choosing to disclose personal information based on if it would benefit the client. If I can find it, I will certainly send the link as it may be beneficial to the list membership as a whole. Upon further reflection, I wonder if the comfort level or lack there of of the supervisor (or professor in my case) is truly being exposed with such a recommendation. I feel that if we are to treat our clients with dignity and respect and allow them self-determination, we too should be afforded the same rights, without feeling our decisions are being so heavily influenced by the perceptions or opinions of cited superiors.
> thank you again for starting this discussion, and have a wonderful week!
>
> Best wishes, Miranda
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On May 1, 2018, at 6:40 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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