‘I am not my blindness’: What the blind community wishes you knew

misconceptions about blind people. That you can close your eyes and suddenly understand what it’s like to be blind. That a blind person you see about to cross the street needs your help doing so. That a blind person knows nothing but darkness.

Spoiler alert: None of the above are true for all people with blindness.

“Rather than making assumptions, engage with blind people like you would anybody else,” says Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind. “Show curiosity about them. And if you want to know if there’s something they need, ask them and don’t assume.”

More than 3.4 million Americans 40 years and older are blind or visually impaired, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 21 million people have other vision problems and 80 million have diseases that could blind them, such as cataracts and glaucoma.

Here’s a look at what members of the blind community wish you knew.

‘I wish I could live a normal life’:What your friend with an anxiety disorder wishes you knew

Mark Riccobono

Age: 45

Occupation: President of the National Federation of the Blind

Is saying ‘blind people’ OK? Or is ‘visually impaired’ better? “A lot of blind people say, ‘Well, I’m not impaired; I don’t see myself as impaired’ even though the term visually impaired may be in a technical sense, correct. Part of using the word blind is really owning what blind means, and that blind doesn’t have to have the negative connotations that it does in society. Obviously, some people who do have some remaining vision, prefer to use other terms to help express that. But what I’ve found is that a lot of blind people – most – have some remaining vision, even if it’s just light perception. By using the word blind, it’s their way of owning that. The amount of vision they do or don’t have is not what defines them. It’s just another characteristic.”

What wheelchair users wish you knew – and what to stop asking

Jocelyn Hunter

Age: 42

Occupation: Senior Director of Communications at Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind

Location: Washington, DC

Familiarize yourself with the terminology: “Low vision is a term that means even with conventional methods, like contact lenses, or eyeglasses, LASIK surgery, your eyesight’s not corrected to 20/20. So for me, and for other people who have low vision, we might choose to use different devices that enhance the remaining sight, such as a desktop magnifier or magnification software that will magnify information on the computer monitor, or perhaps using bold line paper or a permanent marker to bring us a greater color contrast so that information is shared efficiently and correctly.”

What’s a big misconception? “Not everybody who’s blind or visually impaired will use a long cane for mobility. Some people might use (a) dog guide, or they might choose not to use a long cane or a dog guide, maybe they’re using the support of a human guide, or maybe they have enough usable vision where they are not using a mobility device to travel.”

Not all blindness is the same: “It’s very diverse. It’s very varied per individual. It depends on their genetics and the eye disease or the eye condition that they have, it might allow for them to see things differently, it might require that their accommodations be different than their next door neighbor who is also visually impaired.”

You don’t have to watch all your words carefully: “Someone who’s blind, you can still refer to, ‘Hey, did you watch that football game last night?’ or, ‘Hey, you’re going to watch the Washington Wizards game tomorrow night or Thursday night?’ Again, even if that person has limited to no sight remaining, it’s still socially acceptable and encouraged that vision-oriented words are part of that communication.” 

‘I could feel she looked beautiful’:Bride wears tactile wedding dress for blind husband

Erin Daley

Age: 34

Location: Denver

Blind people don’t always need to be take care of: “I worked at a program at the Colorado Center for the Blind as a counselor for blind teens and I met a 16-year-old who had never been allowed to even touch the oven or stove. Once I found this out, we spent the next 10 minutes touching the entire appliance and, even though she was a long ways away from cooking a gourmet meal, it took away so much of the fear that had been built into her and didn’t have to be.”

Travelers who need a little extra help at an airport can get it from TSA Cares. Here’s how

Article source: https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/673098480/0/usatoday-lifetopstories~I-am-not-my-blindness-What-the-blind-community-wishes-you-knew/