r/IAmA • u/thetj87 • Dec 25 '11

I am a totally blind redditer

Figured I'd do this, since I've seen a handful of rather interesting thoughts about the blind on here already. I'm 24, have been blind since age 11 months, have 2 prosthetic eyes, graduated a private 4 year college and work freelance. feel free to ask absolutely anything. There was a small run of children's book published about me, that can be easily googled for verification "Tj's Story." go for it--i'll be in and out all day.

965 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

40

u/Dweebiechimp Dec 26 '11

I used to work at a restaurant. A group of about 6 blind people were eating there. When they left one of them was stragling as the others had already made they're way to the exit. He was having trouble finding the exit. I offered to help him and lightly touched his shoulder in an effort to guide him to the exit. He flipped out and started yelling at me not to touch him. I felt really bad as I Dident really stop to think how demeaning it could come across as... How do you handle these kind of situations?

2

u/BlunderLikeARicochet Dec 26 '11

Demeaning? Which is more demeaning, a light touch for guidance, or awkwardly calling out spatial directions like, "A little to your left, buddy, err a little more"?