Awww, I love this! I hope it’s implemented in elementary school play areas!
[Image descriptions: the first two images depict a young blind child playing with Braille LEGO bricks. He is touching them in the first image while they are attached to a gray board, and carefully reading them in the second.
The third image shows four Braille LEGO bricks on a gray board. The bricks are orange, yellow, red, and green, and spell out P-L-A-Y, with the ‘A’ being marked ‘A1′. Each brick has Braille on it as well as the small letter stickers.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth images show a child playing with the bricks again, although their face is not seen. The fourth shows a child’s hand picking out Braille bricks from a pile, the fifth shows a child reading an assembled brick Braille phrase (I can’t see the letters well enough to read it) from a board they are holding up, and the sixth shows a child assembling a new phrase out of the Braille bricks.]
The images above also contain text, taken from an article that can be found here. The text in the above images is transcribed below.
How to not be a total dick to a visually impaired person
ALWAYS tell me who you are. If you see me and I’m a person you would nod or wave to, say “Hi [my name], it’s [your name].” I understand this isn’t an invitation to stop necessarily, but this gesture makes all the difference.
NEVER make me guess who you are. Your voice paints a nice target for my fist to your stupid mouth.
NEVER assume I’m ignoring you, don’t like you or am shunning you. It’s likely I don’t know you’re there or can’t read your body language or the environment enough to engage.
ALWAYS let me know you’re there and who you are if I take a seat near you, we are walking together, or when you or I come in or leave a room with traffic.
NEVER MOVE MY SHIT. This is a matter of personal and public safety, especially when it comes to my cane/flashlight/other mobility aides. If it’s in the way, please ask me to move it. As a last resort, please inform me you are moving it and MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE I KNOW WHERE.
ALWAYS tell me if you are going in for a handshake, high-five, fist bump, hug, whatever. I’ll leave you hanging cause I won’t know, then you’ll think I’m a dick then I’ll wonder why you hate me then we won’t be friends anymore and it’ll suck for everyone.
NEVER alter light levels in the room and just assume this won’t drastically effect me. If you turn the lights off to “set a mood,” I’ll just assume you won’t want me to see whatever is happening. EXCEPTION: Films and self-lit media are umviewable to me in bright areas.
ALWAYS describe any essential visual elemts to me on visual media (photos, videos, slides, live performances, text on a screen, etc). If you don’t, I’ll assume it’s not meant for me, like you’re showing all your friends an audio book or song and you just left the deaf friend sitting there. It’s the same. If you need help with this, all Netflix original shows have descriptive audio as a language to choose.
NEVER make blind jokes because you’re uncomfortable. You’d think this would go without saying, but some people…
ALWAYS ask if I need help before doing something for me. It can be dangerous for you to try and lead me around without asking, and I’ll be super offended if you just assume I’m incapable of certain menial tasks.
NEVER. TELL. ME. SOMETHING. IS. OVER THERE. OR. RIGHT HERE. OR. RIGHT IN FRONY OF ME. I WILL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP. Use landmarks and directions, or clock face. “Your keys are at the left end of the desk, and nearest to you.” “Your guitar pick fell about two inches behind your left foot, at about 7 o'clock.”
ALWAYS close cabinets/drawers/dishwashers and push in chairs. I’ve split open my head on stuff like this. Doors should be kept all the way open or all the way closed, whichever state they are most often found in. I run into the corners and broadsides of these things otherwise.
NEVER toss or throw anything at me to catch. I won’t try to catch it, I’ll just stare at you like you’re an asshole after it bounces off my head and you’re done being an asshole.
ALWAYS say “step up” or “step down” if we’re walking together in a new place. Other useful ones are “branches,” “wet floor sign,” “curb” and “parking block.” Usually you won’t notice in time to be more descriptive either, so unless it’s a particularly weird or dangerous situation, those ones generally work fine on their own.
NEVER leave your shoes, bags, limbs, dead bodies, live bodies, whatever, in walkways or just laying around. I’ll trip and crack my head open on the cabinet door you left open and then I’ll die and haunt you.
ALWAYS offer me a ride. Please. Please. Please. Getting around is a huge fucking pain in the ass and I guarantee you that I always have errands I need to run. I’ll give you gas money. I swear. I won’t take advantage. I’ll decline if I don’t need it.
NEVER tell me about your eyesight or a relative or a friend or some person you know who is visually impaired as a fun fact if we aren’t well acquainted. “You’re blind? My cousin is blind in one eye!” … “…cool. Maybe we know each other.”
ALWAYS wait for me if we’re going into or out of a building. The light shifts are akin to the lights suddenly going out or being blinded by the sun.
NEVER assume I’m creepily staring at you. Often, I let my gaze rest and I don’t know what I’m looking at, or I’m just trying to figure out who you are.
ALWAYS think through your stupid platitudes. Yeah, I get it, able bodied people can’t comprehend an existence without all the physical abilities they take for granted, so they have to say something about it. But “You’re so inspirational” better actual mean you’re inspired to do something, otherwise you actually just mean “You impress me. My prejudice against the blind [or pretty much any disability] precluded me from allowing a world where you could do that a menial task, let alone something I’m too lazy to do myself.”
NEVER assume I can’t tell you’re having a secret side conversation. I can, and it’s rude.
Please keep in mind when viewing this list that I do not speak for all blind or visually impaired people, much less the disabled as a whole. I have my own hangups as well as my own ohysical symptoms that come with Retinitis Pigmentosa, and there are myriad ways a person can experience visual impairment. If you have a person in your life who has a disability and you feel weird about it when you don’t know what you’re supposed to do, simply approaching them privately and saying “I realized I know nothing about how you interact with the world, and I’d like to see if there’s anything I can do to make our relationship/workday/schoolyear/trip/etc. more accessible to everyone.” I guarantee you will make their day. I’ll add more in the future.
From @myfosterkittens: “Have you ever seen a blind cat play fetch? Now you have! Meet Wally! He’s my foster kitty who was found living in a tree next to a busy road. He was born blind and suffering from a severe infection. He’s now healthy and happy and was recently adopted!” #catsofinstagram [source: http://ift.tt/2iJQ0J6 ]
