I have only recently become blind, and there are some things I can tell you from my point of view. I am sorry if this is too long or anything, once again this is my view on things. It may differ from person to person. Also, being legally blind can mean many levels of sight. I can still see color, some can see depth but need it to be a larger item or paper. Were not very strict on calling ourselves "limited sight" or "fully blind." Alot of us just say blind, as legally we are regardless. We don't mind explaining our level of blindness if you ask :)

1. Never just grab a blind person. I went to Walmart and even having people bump into me is scary enough. Just standing near our cane and talking to us can get our attention. Just make sure your face is pointing to us, and not away or we might mistake your voice for someone who is just standing close and talking to someone else. Facing us points your voice at us, and even after only being blind for a month or so now, I can totally tell the difference.
2. We can be fairly self-sufficient if we have been to an area before. The things people who have been blind for many years can do would blow your mind. There is one person who does carpentry and so many other things. Never underestimate people. That being said, we really do need help sometimes, and I personally don't mind people asking. But there are good and bad ways to ask. Asking if we need a wheelchair to sit in, so you can push us around rather than us walking.... is sadly something that has been asked but is totally ridiculous. We can walk lol. We just need some help sometimes. I personally am writing a book and trying to learn pottery and gardening. I am super excited.
3. We can follow your voice if you are leading us, but never just grab our cane (happened to me sadly). It hurts inside as I am still grieving the loss of sight still. When leading with just your voice, be sure to tell us what turns are ahead, and so on, but we can "feel" with the cane about two to three steps ahead. So large objects we can find our way around on our own.
4. If you lead by the arm, I love having people's arms around me like I am at prom if that makes sense. It makes me feel human, rather than a blind dog. It helps to give turn warnings too while you do it, but you don't have to go so in-depth. I tend to make my stride try to match my guides, so keep the height difference in mind. Taller people have larger steps.
5. Our cane is our lifeline, or at least it is for me. I lost it once and was too scared to move. So if you are good at finding those for the forgetful people (We can turn and lose it that fast, or at least I can) you are now a saint (in my eyes lol you are a saint.)
6. I know some asl and, enough to know the sentence structure. Braille has normal English, just different characters. And while it helps to know it enough to read bathroom signs, its just too much money to get anything in a book of braille.
7. Most people with eyesight issues that I have personally talked to are more than okay with blind jokes. If you have seen avatar the last air bender (not the movie), my friends and I make jokes that I am off-brand toph XD Just remember that can change with different people.
8. I love people describing things to me, as far as what they look like. I still see color, but for those that don't you can use touch. So red would be warmth. Blue, cold water. Green the smell of grass on a spring day, and so on. I love finding things I can touch and just sit there for a minute. Don't be alarmed if we ask to feel your face. We can guess what you look like better and keep that in our mind. To "see" you lol. Like how you remember what different petals feel like.

Hopefully, that helps a lot. I am still learning these things and it changes from person to person. I can tell you for sure, we don't like pitty. We don't want anyone to just sit there and morn our loss of sight for us lol. We just want to be treated as the humans we are.

Well blind people do have ears

If someone seems to be struggling then it's fine to ask if they need help - as long as you accept it if they say "no".

I'd try approaching someone verbally before touching them, start with "hello, excuse me" or something. Make sure you are talking directly at them. If they don't notice you (and are not deliberately ignoring you) then a tap on the shoulder might be appropriate, but unlike in the Deaf community in the hearing-blind community touching people you don't know in public isn't the norm. Obviously if someone is in immediate danger then it's different, feel free to shove/grab people out of the way of runaway trains or similar.

Introduce yourself with your name (so they have a "label" for your voice).

If they do want your help, then offer your elbow so that they can link arms with you or hold your arm rather than trying to grab their hand or shoulder or something. (Some people do prefer to be guided in different ways so ask, but the elbow should typically be the first offer.)

Go near them and say, Hey, I'm Joe. Would you like any assistance? If they say yes, they'll inform you what they need. They may ask you for dirrections on where the door is at, or they could ask you to help them cross a street. They'll need to specify how much assistance they need.

I am going to go against the grain on this thread and say that it's absolutely alright to ask if a blind person needs help. Just go over to them say "Hi sir/ma'am, I'm Ncvaut, and I noticed you looked a little lost, do you know where you are? Do you need my help?"

Don't tap them on the shoulder though cause would you want someone to do that to get your attention, might just startle them.

No uninvited touching, just like with anyone. Walk up and introduce yourself like you would to anyone. Ask if there's anything you can help with. The answer will almost always be no, because, speaking personally, I try like hell not to get myself into situations I can't handle without the help of a random person, no offence. But there's nothing wrong with asking.

If the answer is yes, I'll hold you, you don't hold me. I'll just hold your arm. That's how most people would want it.

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