Never Assume Before You Know

In my opinion, this is one of the more frequent challenges that I deal with as a blind person.  Too many persons often fall into the gaping trap of assuming before knowing.  They often assume for example, that they need to raise their voices two notches in order for us to hear.  They assume that in order to guide us they need to grab us either by the hand or by the arm.  They assume that we are unable to make up our minds at restaurants or in stores when either ordering an item or purchasing something so instead of speaking directly to us they address their comments to our friends or anyone accompanying us.

 

I can go on and on but I won't because by now I am sure that you have the picture.  In short, it is always best not to assume that blind persons are unable to hear properly, speak for themselves, or decide for themselves.  The only difference between me and the seeing world is that I am unable to see clearly.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my blogs with the rest of the world.  If you'd like to learn more about how to interact with a blind person, then visit www.afb.org.