helpful tips should you ever correspond with a blind person

After reading the IQ test thread, I thought I would write this in hopes of passing along some helpful information to the MFP community. I am not blind, but I have tutored several, befriended more, and married a girl with a visual disability. Should you ever come in contact with a person with a visual impairment, it is polite to do the following:

If you see a person with a cane:
- step out of their way! Most people do this anyway for fear of being whacked. Some of them may have some vision, but assume they don't until they tell you otherwise. When my wife was walking down the hall in college, she loved to swing her cane extra hard when she knew someone was sitting against the wall in front of her that didn't move.
- people with visual impairments usually walk along a wall, edge of a carpet, etc so that they have a point of reference and direction; let them have the wall
- if they are using the restroom in a public place and no one is helping them, help! I cannot tell you how many times my wife has had her fingered slammed by a stall door because she is checking for an open stall and it is occupied, but not locked. Also, if you can tell the person is having trouble navigating, ask them if they would like some help. My wife hates it when she knows that there are people in there that just watch her and say nothing.
- if you are helping them, do not touch their cane. As my wife so eloquently puts it, "My cane is my eyes. Would you like me to touch your eyes?" The person should take your arm and you turn them appropriately. Fine tune by giving verbal descriptions.
- when you are done helping them, make sure that they are good where you leave them. don't just walk away and leave them in the middle of the room!

If you see a person with a leader dog:
- pretend the dog is not there. It is working and it is not a pet. The dog is in place of the cane, an extension of that person. If you have to interact with the dog in any way, ask permission of the owner first. Some dogs can be mean to other people while they are working and do not want to be touched in any way.
- Do not ask for the dog's name. Even if you do, most likely you will not receive the true name. This is because if someone else says the dog's name, you may distract the dog, causing problems.
- seriously, don't touch or bother the dog in any way.

If you have children that inquire about the cane or leader dog:
- explain to the child why they need the cane or dog. People using either of these hate it when you hush the children and take them away. You are also teaching your children to fear them or that people with visual impairments are different than everyone else.
- if the child absolutely must pet the dog, ask permission first and don't be offended if they respond with no.

If you see the person with visual impairments is with another person (or think they are), but you need to ask the person with the visual impairment a question:
- talk to the person with the visual impairment unless instructed otherwise. Just talk directly to them like you would any other person, because they are just like any other person.

examples:
- you are a cashier at a store. Give change back to the person that handed it to you. My wife has talked to managers because they gave the money to me and not her.
- airport: security guard asked me if they could scan her cane, I responded with, "It's her cane, ask her."
- airport: wife was flying alone and had a lay over. Person was told to take her to her next terminal. He asked the person sitting next to her where she was going, to which they replied, "I don't know!"

Miscellaneous tips:
- people with visual impairments now see by touch (I know it's obvious, but it's still really easy to slip and say something like "this widget right here" and point at something).
- remember, when someone loses one of their five senses, the other four become more sensitive. This especially means hearing, so they most likely will hear you whispering about them. This also means that when you talk to them, talk in your normal voice unless instructed other wise; they're blind, not stupid or deaf.
- just like all other people, people with visual impairments are not the same. For example, my wife is very smart (she'll be starting her PhD in August), nice, will kick anyone's butt at scrabble, and just plain getting on with her life. Some can have poor social skills because of how they were raised (born blind, everything given to them, etc). Some can be very rude because they think the world "owes" them because they are blind. In other words, don't assume.