Comment by throwaway2037

Comment by throwaway2037 16 hours ago

This is a great post. Thank you to share. First hand experiences like this are one of the best parts of HN.

This part:

    > If you can find a way to teach your kid good white-cane skills without making them miserable, they'll be grateful to you forever.

Can you go a little deeper on this one? What are some good ways vs bad ways to teach white-cane skills?

Last: A question for myself. Sometimes, when I ride the subway, I see a blind person trying to navigate the station, platform, and train doors. Usually, I hang back a few meters to make sure they are OK. If something goes wrong -- they are a bit misoriented, what is an polite way to break the ice and offer help? (Ignore any language barriers.) I would like to hear what works well for you.

squigz 10 hours ago

Seconding the other commenter: if you think we need help, just come up and simply ask if we need some help. We'll appreciate the offer, even if we don't really need help.

Maybe a couple of other pieces of advice might be: 1) don't touch them without saying something first (this can be very startling) and 2) don't be patronizing about it

Reply View 0 replies

miki123211 9 hours ago

re: mobility skills, basically what I wanted to say was "try making them want to learn instead of forcing them to learn."

re: subway, ask whether they need any help, don't be offended if they say no. Don't grab them. Even if you think they're doing something wrong, they may have a very good reason for doing things the way they're doing them.

Reply View 0 replies

onemoresoop 14 hours ago

Blind people aren't as thin skinned as you imagine. Simply asking them if they need assistance is okay. They'll tell you if they do.

Reply View 0 replies