[blindkid] question re shopping assistance

Tue Dec 15 19:46:43 UTC 2009

Peter,

Our hearts, thoughts, prayers, and deep sympathy go out to you and 
Mary on the loss of your dear parents.

Carol

Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc

At 11:56 AM 12/15/2009, you wrote:
>Hello Melinda and everyone,
>
>
>
>     If the blind person knows the store lay-out, particularly in grocery
>stores, he/she can create a shopping list keeping the store lay-out in mind.
>For example in our HEB Stores if one begins shopping in the delli they'll
>proceed to the baked goods section, the produce section, the meat department
>etc. one can add items to their shopping list based on where they are
>located in the store. Hence if Mary wants her swiss cheese it's the first
>thing on the list since I begin shopping in the delli. If we want cookies,
>pies, cakes or other baked items they'll appear on the list following delli
>items. The produce items follow the bakery items and meat and fish products
>follow the produce items.
>
>     The same can be done with groceries in the various store aisles. In our
>case bottled and canned sodas are located near the fish counter. Pasta and
>soups are across from the meat department. The frozen food aisle is at the
>very far end of the store near the dairy products.
>
>     If the blind shopper keeps the store's lay-out in mind he/she can use
>shopping and store employee time efficiently. Less time is taken up by the
>store employee to help the blind person shop. Jack-rabbitting all over the
>store to find this or that merchandise can be reduced if not eliminated.
>
>     Then there's good old shopping online. We've sometimes found that one
>can get better deals on certain products by buying them online rather than
>at the local store. For example we normally buy a 12-pack of bath tissue at
>HEB but can purchess a case of 24 roles for the same price if we buy it
>online plus it will get delivered to us.
>
>     I must credit my mother for insisting that itwas my responsibility to
>develop multiple strategies for handling life's chores and necessities such
>as going shopping. When I was younger she always insisted that it wasn't the
>responsibility of the store to provide assistance and that I should bring
>someone to help me shop. That was one of her strictest rules. However the
>times changed my outlook of such an extreme practice. We use assistance when
>we feel it's necessary to do so. None the less mom's basic philossophy still
>sticks and motivates us to explore new ways of handling all aspects of home
>and personal management including shopping. It is with sadness that I wrote
>the above as mom passed away the day before this year's Thanksgiving. Mary
>lost her dad last Sunday evening to cancer. Please keep us in your prayers
>and thoughts. All the best.
>
>Peter Donahue
>
>
>
>      ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Underwood, Melinda" <munderwood at vabvi.org>
>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 8:30 AM
>Subject: [blindkid] question re shopping assistance
>
>
>I'm not an O&M specialist, but I agree that the first best option is for
>the student to know as much as he or she can about the store before even
>asking for assistance. If the student decides that having a shopping
>assistant really makes sense in the situation, calling the store in
>advance to set up a time to meet with a store rep would probably create
>better odds for success. I wonder if even Sears, if given time to
>prepare, would come through.
>Melinda
>
>Melinda Underwood, M.Ed.
>Teacher of the Visually Impaired
>VABVI
>38 Park Place
>Brattleboro, VT 05301
>802-254-8761
>
>
>On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 8:58 AM, SUSAN POLANSKY
><sepolansky at verizon.net>wrote:
>
> > This week my son's O&M lesson was at the mall where he was going to do
>his
> > Christmas shopping. He has his list and his money and off he went with
>his
> > O&M teacher. In each store he was to ask for assistance to look for
>the
> > desired item. This went well in until they got to Sears. He went to
>customer
> > service and requested someone to assist him to shop and was told
> > that they did not have anyone to do that. When I asked what the
> > O&M teacher said about that he stated he was told that there was
>nothing
> > they could do about it as there is no law that says the store has to
>provide
> > him with assistance. Now I am 99% sure that this is not correct. Can
>someone
> > cite the law to me? Thanks.
> >
> > Susan
> >
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> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
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