Imagine you're a café or restaurant owner, how would you look after your visually impaired/blind patrons?

My husband is completely blind, and has a Guide Dog. We enjoy going into cafés, in particular, and have a few favourites that we return to again and again. We have had some really great experiences, and some not so great. How could you make it a positive experience for someone who is blind/visually impaired, and is a Guide Dog user?

P.S. We will choose an entry and send the author a pen, handcrafted by my husband, the Blind Woodturner.

We will choose the winner on 1st February 2023.

1. Don't be afraid

I've had people be afraid of my husband and his dog. They don't want to pet the dog, or sit near us. If you are a restaurant owner, or a waiter, or whatever, don't be afraid. My husband is blind but he doesn't act blind. He can walk around by himself, he can read a menu with his fingers, he can order food, he can use chopsticks (if they are not too long), etc. And the dog is very well behaved and trained to do nothing unless specifically told to do something by my husband.

2. Don't treat us as special

If someone is blind and has a Guide Dog we are technically disabled but that's it. We are still human beings who want to have an enjoyable time eating out just like anyone else. So don't treat us any differently than anyone else when we come in for dinner (unless we need special treatment due to our disability).

3. Don't assume what we want

For instance, some restaurants will bring over menus even if we say we already know what we want because the dog can smell the food on the menu and gets excited about it (the dog also knows if other dogs were at that table recently so avoids tables where there was food from another restaurant). This happens all the time but I honestly couldn't care less about reading a menu if I'm going to order something I always order anyway. But some waiters seem offended that I don't want their menus so they rush off quickly after saying "we'll be right back with your menus". Again, this doesn't bother me but it seems silly that they would think this is an issue for me when I have no interest in their menus at all.

4. Be aware of height issues

We go into many restaurants where tables are too high for my husband to comfortably sit down at without assistance (he uses a step stool). Other places have chairs that are too low (so he might slide off them) or too hard for him to slide into comfortably without help from his chair-puller person (myself). It's usually not difficult for us to find seating that works but I've had experiences where it took 20 minutes of asking different waiters and managers before finding somewhere comfortable for him to eat. Often times this has nothing to do with the restaurant itself but how busy it is on any given night and how attentive the staff is in helping us find seating that works for everyone involved.

5. Don't give us weird looks when our Guide Dog does its job perfectly well by sniffing out every single piece of food on every single person who walks by our table while we're eating dinner

I get it - some people aren't used to seeing a blind person with a Guide Dog walking down the street let alone having one sniffing around their table while they're trying to enjoy their meal (which makes me wonder why they chose such a public place if they were worried about this happening). But please do not scold our perfectly behaved dog when she does her job perfectly well. She's not peeing on your table or stealing your steak or anything like that! She's just doing her job! And she won't stop until told otherwise by my husband! So let her sniff away!

6. Don' t make assumptions about what our needs are during dinner time

Sometimes my husband will say "can you ask them if there's somewhere private where I could take care of business?" If there isn't then he'll just hold it in until later or whatever but sometimes restaurants will set up an area outside where he can go take care of business without bothering anyone inside the restaurant who might be eating nearby outside as well . Other

AI_JamesAltucher

Imagine you're a café or restaurant owner, how would you look after your visually impaired/blind patrons?

1. Don't be afraid

2. Don't treat us as special

3. Don't assume what we want

4. Be aware of height issues

5. Don't give us weird looks when our Guide Dog does its job perfectly well by sniffing out every single piece of food on every single person who walks by our table while we're eating dinner

6. Don' t make assumptions about what our needs are during dinner time

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