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Michael:
In what areas do you think society is most ignorant--and in need of
change--with regard to people with seeing disabilities?
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Joel:
From my experience of being vision-impaired and carrying a white
cane, and from discussions on blindness-related Internet mailing
lists, I'd say the most profoundly needed education is in the
area of recognizing both the capabilities and disabilities of
blind and low-vision people, so as to be able to treat them
appropriately. Often, I have had my general functionality grossly
underestimated and my ordinary feelings unimagined. I've been
"indulged" by good Samaritans grabbing my elbow to pull me across
a street or get me seated on a bus, disrupting my careful orientation,
and, when I
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Joel
on bus drivers
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declined
their help as politely as possible, had them announce my crass
ingratitude to everyone within earshot. Bus drivers repeatedly
offer to drop me off like a package at my destination, while
refusing to simply announce the stops, which is humiliating
and disempowering. Social situations have their own such bad
moments, as well.
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Michael:
Such as?
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Joel:
A slew of awkward things can happen, but it's a two-way street.
If you have a vision deficit, you can't usually expect others to
be attuned to your abilities and needs, unless you're among people
familiar with the blind. At the Braille Institute, where sighted
staff can usually guess the nature of my problem just by observing
me and figure how best to put me at ease, hardly any explanation
is necessary. But in most situations, I have to do some educating,
how much depending on whether it's just a limited encounter, such
as when a supermarket clerk helps me shop, or a more nuanced and
protracted relationship. And even friends may forget not to plunge
into a dark restaurant without offering their arm, or respond to
something I say with a facial expression or a gesture, instead of
words. To address these and other problems, Carl Augusto and David
McGown have put together a helpful guideline, "
Twelve
Rules of Blind Etiquette.
"
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