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From: Lois.Briggs@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Lois Briggs)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: For the great clueless public out there ... a list!
Message-ID: <19065@bunker.isc-br.com>
Date: 25 Apr 91 21:30:33 GMT
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Index Number: 15253

Hello to you and this sounds like a good idea to me.

 MG>  a list of "do's" and "don't"'s with
 MG>  handicapped persons.  Simple things, like "offering is polite
 MG>  but insisting is rude" or "when my dog is in harness, pay no
 MG>  attention to him" or "please don't speak while eating if I am
 MG>  lip-reading".

Those all sound good to me.  I am blind and my off the top of my head
list would be:

1.  Please identify yourself when you approach me and wish to speak to
me.  I get tired of the guessing game, "do you know who I am, oh, sure
you do."  Also I tend to think everyone is speaking to me if they are
within ten feet and answer every question with, "are you speaking to
me?"  This drives my kids bonkers.

2.  If we are standing together talking or shopping together and you are
next to me one minute, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me you are now going
to walk away as I really get distressed when I animatedly continue an
interrupted conversation only to find out I'm talking to no one, but
everyone in the vacinity is aware I'm talking to the air.

3.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't say "here" and hold some item out in
the air in front of me.  Please say, I'd like to hand you this "flower",
"bag" or "frog" (forget the frog) but imagine my surprise when trusting
you I reach out only to have a "frog" placed in my unsuspecting hands
(that is after I finally locate it as I grope for the unidentified
article.

4.  Please allow me to speak for myself.  Do not ask a companion "what
does she want to drink or eat."

5.  If you come to visit me in my territory (my home, dorm room or
whatever) please don't just move something from one place to another
unless you either ask if you could perhaps move an article out of your
way and then ask where would be a good place to put it or simply say
"there's a red sweater on this chair, would you like to put it where
you'll know where it is?"  I've spent sometimes weeks looking for an
article only to finally find it on top of the refrigerator, mantle and
even underneath the sofa.  Once a friend stopped in, we had coffee and
cake and just took milk out of a half gallon carton instead of a
pitchur.  Then my friend was looking something up in a newspaper and
wanted to spread it out on the table.  He put the milk carton "on top"
of the refrigerator.  Now, one might ask, why wouldn't he just put it
"inside" the refrigerator, but I've found the logical mind of "man"
works differently than the logical mind of "woman."  At any rate it was
all the milk I had.  I searched the rest of the day for that milk.  I
couldn't imagine what he could have done with it.  I called him but he
wasn't home.  Two days later he stopped in again and I asked him.  His
reply, even though he knows me well was, "right up there."

None of these are problems for the sighted world because their vision
allows them to compute this information automatically without any
conscious thought.

Good luck with this endeavor and I'll be checking in for the results.
Also, thanks so much for your interest.  I appreciate it.

Lois

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