Are Blind Persons Spoken to Differently?

I am going to let you be the judge with regard to this matter but I'll also give you some examples to chew on.

 

In so many cases, when there is interaction between a sales person and a blind person, it is often reported that the sales person finds it necessary to speak more loudly to the blind person. 

Some sighted persons feel more comfortable addressing a blind person using such prefixes as:  Dear, Honey, and so on.  I often wonder if they would use the same words when talking to a sighted person.  In addition, they alter their tones to sound as if they are talking to a kid. 

 

I guess that you can't win them all!  If they speak to us too loudly then we find it offensive; as if they believe that we are also hard of hearing and if they speak to us using tones and words that they would normally use when addressing kids then we are also offended.  I'll let you be the judge.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and visit the www.nfb.org website to learn more.