Getting directions from a blind guy
When I went to work at HumanWare, I was pretty excited to be working with blind people. Three weeks into the job I attended the CSUN conference which is a large event held every year in Los Angeles where many Assistive Technology companies show off their products. I arrived and found myself staying at a typical large American conference hotel – a labyrnth of corridors and rooms. I took the elevator to what I thought was the right floor, the car was packed full with people, baggage, guide dogs, and white canes. On exiting I was confronted with a typically confusing hotel wayfinding sign which didn’t really help me in my quest to find my room. As I muttered under my breath, a fellow elevator passenger with a white cane approached me and asked if I needed help. My initial assumption was that he couldn’t possibly know where my room was – however when I told him the room number he said “take a right and it should be about the third room on the left”. He turned out to be exactly right. This was one of many insightful moments I experienced in working with blind people. A great example of how our assumptions can get in the way.
