Category Archives: The Real Dark Side

Hands-Off Navigation, Please: How NOT to Give Directions to a Blind Person

And all you had to do to avoid it was keep your hands to yourself. Why does the sight of a mobility cane seem to erase that childhood lesson from adult brains?​

Peering Through the Window of Tolerance

The stigma persists, at least in part, because we believe it does.

Guest Post: An Open Letter to New Guide Dog Handlers

This week, fellow blindfluencer Rhianna McGregor and I swapped blogs again. We’re both on our second dog guides, and decided to share some hard-won wisdom from our experiences with new and prospective dog guide users. We’ve attended different schools, worked with different breeds, and learned different lessons.

My Problem with Pain

In a world of finite resources some organization of suffering must occur. There are only so many hours in a day, so many surgeons at a hospital who can repair a heart or a limb. But the resources to mitigate pain throughout an entire life are not so easily calculated because people, unpredictable and resilient and physics-defying as they are, cannot be quantified. And it is through people which we receive comfort and donation and respite and empowerment.

Wheelchair Womp Womp Part II: Obstacles the ADA Fails to Remove

Can you imagine living with the knowledge that something as simple as meeting a friend for lunch could put you at risk for physical injury, triggering past trauma, or the humiliation of not making it to the bathroom? Any one of those events could prevent you from returning to work for the afternoon, which would cut into your income and damage your reputation as a valuable employee.

Wheelchair Womp-Womp: The Gap Between the Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessibility

Imagine, then, how wheelchair and mobility technology has changed since this landmark law was written more than 3 decades ago. Imagine how features like motorization, carry capacity, body size accessibility, and other aspects of wheelchair and mobility aid construction must have changed. And now think about how that might change things like turning radius, the need for accessible outlets, ramp,  hallway, and doorway width requirements. What does “wheelchair-accessible’ even mean anymore?