[NFB-Talk] How does a blind person…?

Fri Nov 11 13:21:07 UTC 2022

Chiming in. I’m a speaker and author and have used what I call the Dos and don’ts regarding blind people to stimulate conversations during presentations. I’d be open in assisting in this project.

Here’s the body of this handout; however, if you use it, please acknowledge my name for it’s copyrighted.

Do’s and Don’ts When Interacting with a Blind Person

#1 Use your same speed and volume of voice when talking with us.
Don’t yell at us when speaking with us, our hearing is fine!

#2 Talk to us directly.
Don’t ask other people questions about us or answer for us.

#3 Keep your language the same. Using words like “See” and “Watch” are okay.
Don’t change words because you are embarrassed, “Did you listen to that show last night?”

#4 Involve and include us in conversations.
Don’t isolate or ignore us.

#5 Make audible sounds of confirmation when conversing with us...such as ”hmm.”
Don’t smile and nod your head.

#6 Have the same expectations of us as you would have of anyone else.
Don’t presume we can’t do … We can, just differently.

#7 Know we are human and we have imperfections just like anyone else.
Don’t assume we are gifted just because we are blind.

#8 Inform us when you are leaving our presence.
Don’t suddenly walk away. We can’t see you have left!

#9 Leave objects and lights as you found them in our homes or place of work.
Don’t Leave chairs pulled out or glasses of liquid in unexpected places.

#10 When assisting us as a sighted guide, let us hold your arm.
Don’t grab our arm which pushes us forward, we could stumble.

#11 Walk slightly behind our right shoulder when walking with a guide dog team.
Don’t walk on the left side or in front of us as to guide the dog.

#12 Give needed verbal information directly to the owners of guide dogs.
Don’t Ever talk to a guide dog while working, “This way, Fido, over here!”

#13 Keep your hands off a guide dog at all times.
Don’t Ever pet, regardless of how much you like dogs; it’s a matter of safety!

#14 Hold your dog, or put it at sit, and announce you and your dog are present, when interacting with a guide dog team.
Don’t Allow your dog to engage with a guide dog under any circumstances.

#15 Keep in mind that a guide dog is constantly working for the safety of its owner.
Don’t Distract by talking, waving, or making eye contact with the guide dog. It’s a Class Three misdemeanor to cause any type of distraction or interference.

Infinite Blessings,
Gail Hamilton
International Speaker
Soaring Into Greatness
Unstoppable, Unforgettable, Unbelievable
gail at soaringintogreatness.com<mailto:gail at soaringintogreatness.com>
(720) 984-8082<tel:720-984-8082>
[Facebook]<https://facebook.com/gail.hamilton.9231> [LinkedIn] <https://linkedin.com/in/gaillhamilton>  [YouTube] <https://youtube.com/channel/UC2ETmkavYKd75Gz9NKBgPhw>  [Instagram] <https://instagram.com/soaring.into.greatness>
[Soaring Into Greatness Logo with gold wings on a green background.]<http://soaringintogreatness.com/>
[Member, National Speakers Association]

From: nFB-Talk <nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Misty Kienzynski via nFB-Talk
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2022 5:17 AM
To: kaye.j.zimpher at gmail.com; NFB Talk Mailing List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Misty Kienzynski <mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu>
Subject: Re: [NFB-Talk] How does a blind person…?

Brilliant idea, actually!

Yet, I would even go on to expand it.  Perhaps it wouldn’t principally be just me doing this. Perhaps somehow we could get a kind of central site, a central hub going with questions like this answered by various blind people. For folks, both blind and sighted, to have a central place like this to go to answer questions and get questions answered, I think, would be wonderful.

Not sure about how, exactly, one would go about best getting this off the ground.

—

Ms. Misty D. Kienzynski

Incoming Treasurer, Indiana State Affiliate

Membership Chair

National Federation of the Blind of Indiana

Phone: 812-381-0073

E-mail: mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu<mailto:mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu>

Twitter: @AuroraNebulosa

Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem. — L. Annaeus Seneca

On Nov 10, 2022, at 12:16 PM, Kaye Baker via nFB-Talk <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Hi:
I don’t know of any online material that has been published with any grain of accuracy, but I have found that people learn best by hearing lived experiences. Are you a blind person? Maybe you could write something up about how you perform varius tasks. You could also send a few questions to the list and we  could share how we do certain things. We all have tips and tricks and as we are individuals, just like our sighted peers, we all may do the same task a little differently. It may be a fun exercise.
Best

From: nFB-Talk <nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org>> On Behalf Of Misty Kienzynski via nFB-Talk
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2022 9:25 AM
To: NFB Talk List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org<mailto:nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>>
Cc: Misty Kienzynski <mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu<mailto:mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu>>
Subject: [NFB-Talk] How does a blind person…?

Greetings.

Any good online documents/sites that are a reasonable read-time that answer common/basic questions about “How does a blind person…?” Looking for something like this to share with a friend’s family in Italy I’m going to visit. Italian or English would be great.

Thanks.

—

Ms. Misty D. Kienzynski

Incoming Treasurer, Indiana State Affiliate

Membership Chair

National Federation of the Blind of Indiana

Phone: 812-381-0073

E-mail: mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu<mailto:mkienzyn at alumni.iu.edu>

Twitter: @AuroraNebulosa

Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem. — L. Annaeus Seneca
_______________________________________________
nFB-Talk mailing list
nFB-Talk at nfbnet.org<mailto:nFB-Talk at nfbnet.org>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nFB-Talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/mkienzyn%40alumni.iu.edu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1078 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0005.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1228 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0006.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1089 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0007.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2436 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0008.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 9689 bytes
Desc: image005.jpg
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10733 bytes
Desc: image006.png
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221111/a144ed40/attachment-0009.png>