Does the person you will guide need your help? What is the first step? Observation? Where can I stand? Should I hold the visually impaired person’s arm? Or should I carry his white cane? You may have many questions such as these in your mind. In this article, we will talk about how you can guide a visually impaired person in the best way…
What is the First Step? Observation?
The first step before helping a visually impaired person is observation. After analyzing whether he/she really needs your help or not, go to him/her and ask “Can I help?”
Where Can I Stand?
Yes, we used the magic words. So where can we stand? First of all, go to the side of the hand that the visually impaired person does not use his/her white cane and stand one step ahead of him/her.
Should I Hold The Visually Impaired Person’s Arm?
No, we shouldn’t hold his/her arm. We should let the visually impaired person hold our elbow. Thus, by analyzing our body movements, the visually impaired person will understand whether or not there is an obstacle on the road he/she walks.
Should I Carry The Visually Impaired Person’s White Cane?
Of course not. White cane is a companion for a visually impaired person. So don’t think of carrying a white cane as a help. Just guide the visually impaired person.
What about guide dogs?
As you know, guide dogs are special dogs trained to guide visually impaired people and help them with possible obstacles in front of them. Although we are all aware of the existence of guide dogs, we may have doubts about how to treat them. One of the biggest mistakes made on this subject is touching a guide dog on duty. So how should we treat guide dogs?
How Should We Treat Guide Dogs?
Guide dogs are specially trained dogs. They don’t bite or bark so we should never touch them by remembering that guide dogs are on duty. Just as we don’t interfere with someone or an official on duty, we shouldn’t interfere with guide dogs either. When it finishes its duty, we can touch our guide dog without hurting it by asking permission from its owner.
In this article, we learned the steps to be taken while guiding a visually impaired person. Now we all know how to guide a visually impaired person.
Author: Sonnur Güleşçe / BlindLook Team
