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| Light & contrast | Eye diseases | Advice | Contact with blind people |
In the contact with blind people and people with a visual restriction there are several thing you can pay attention to. Sometimes it’s hard to show consideration for the fact that they are not able to see. The following tips can make contact with blind people easier:
• Make an announcement when you enter or leave a room.
• Tell your name when you start talking to some one. You should also do this when you’re just saying hello. Often it’s hard to recognize a voice from a short word, especially when you are at a place where he doesn’t expect to see you.
• If there are more persons, speak to some-one after saying his name.
• Announce it when you want to shake hands.
• Announce it if you want to take some-ones hand to let him touch something.
• Announce it when you want to grasp some-one, and ask for permission first.
• Ask how some-one likes to be accompanied
• Don’t make funny faces behind some-ones back.
• Announce where for example a cup of coffee is put down. Say this very concrete, like ‘right in front of your right hand’.
• Don’t replace objects without telling.
• Don’t take something out of his hands without asking, but don’t let him fumble unnecessary.
• Never just shout ‘watch out’ but tell what’s going on.
• It’s not necessary to avoid the words ‘see’ or ‘look’. Don’t adjust your language.
• Do not pet a guide dog for the blind when they are working. And always ask his boss for permission.
It can also happen that you meet a blind child. For example in the classroom, or children of your friends and family. Or maybe you have a blind child yourself. Some practical advice about handling blind children:
• Blind children need more time for everything.
• The verb ‘to see’ should not be avoided.
• Always tell what you are doing, or planning on doing.
• Use the name of the child when you are talking to him, and also teach this to the other children in the class/ group.
• Never say ‘over there’ but give a precise description of the place you talk about.
• Tell the child when you are leaving the room.
• It’s not necessary to clean the entire class or room, but you have to close or open the door entirely and toys lying around can also cause troubles.
• Accompany a child is not the same as grabbing it without asking.
• Fingers are very valuable for a child with a visual restriction. Keep that in mind.
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