Alex Jurgensen

Tip#10 for Successful Interactions with a Blind Person: Interacting With A Guide Dog Team

A photo of Shauna and guide dog, Barney, taken in May 2021, in their home area of Victoria, British Columbia. They are crossing a street. This is a front facing view of Shauna and Barney working. Shauna is wearing her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, and is wearing a white T-shirt, navy blue jeans, a burgundy cardigan, black sketchers, and caring a bright yellow purse. She is also wearing dark sunglasses, that have silver frames. Barney is a black Labrador retriever, wearing his GDB harness, black Martingale collar, black gentle leader, and brown leather leash.

Today’s tidbit comes via my colleague, Shauna Sproston. Shauna writes: “As a guide dog handler, I interact with the public on a daily basis. As I navigate my neighbourhood and […]

Tip #9 for Successful Interactions with a Blind Person: Do Blind People Have Superpowers?

Today’s tidbit comes via my colleague, Shauna Sproston, from her article entitled “True or False: Dispelling the Misconceptions Related to Blindness”. Shauna writes on the common misconception of blind people […]

Tip #8 for Successful Interactions with a Blind Person: Location, Location, Location

If you see a blind person in public and you want to go say hello, it is usually good to start with something like, “Hello Tina, it’s Alex.” This is […]

Tip #7 for Successful Interactions with a Blind Person: Talk directly to us

Like Tip #6, this one also comes via my colleague, Jinnie. Jinnie writes: “Although you may be nervous, or intimidated, it is best to directly speak with the person who […]

Tip #6 for Successful Interactions with a Blind Person: How many fingers you should not hold up!

This one comes via my colleague, Jinnie. Jinnie writes: “Sometimes, as a way of being humorous, or out of a genuine interest to determine a person’s level of remaining vision, […]

Tip #5 for Successful Interactions with a Blind Person: I Bet You Didn’t See This One Coming!

When talking to a blind person, a lot of people are hesitant to use phrases like, “did you see that movie?” or “see you later.” This usually comes from a […]

Tip #4 for Successful Interactions with Blind People: Describing What’s On a Plate

In Tip #3, we discussed tips on how to do verbal guidance, but we are switching it up a bit today and heading into the dining room to talk about […]

Tip #3 for Successful Interactions with Blind People: Tips for Verbal Guiding

Wow! The response to Tip #1 and Tip #2 continues to pleasantly surprise me. I’m humbled by your questions and thoughtful comments and, of course, by the outpouring of support […]

Tip #2 for Successful Interactions with Blind People: Human Guiding by Elbow or Voice

After seeing the great positive response to Tip #1 yesterday, here is Tip #2. In Tip #1, we discussed how to approach a blind person to ask them if they […]

Tip #1 for Successful Interactions with Blind People: Ask, Don’t Grab

Periodically We’ll be posting tips and tricks about blindness and DeafBlindness. If you’ve ever had a burning question about blindness or DeafBlindness or how to best assist a person who […]