Talk to them like you would anyone else. Don’t make assumptions about what they can and can’t do because of their blindness/visual impairment. It’s also good to ask them if there’s anything they’re ok/not ok with.

I would also suggest not correcting yourself about something that wouldn’t make sense to you otherwise. For example: “Do you like to watch TV? Well, I mean...” This flies over a lot of people’s heads. Just ask them questions.

And, most importantly, respect their autonomy. This goes with the “don’t make assumptions” point I made earlier but it’s not uncommon for people to just jump in and move their hands to objects or tell them where things are when they didn’t ask.

Edit: I’m a sighted person, so I’m sorry if this advice was unwanted or if any other blind/visually impaired individuals here feel differently.

As a sighted parent of a vi child but I deal with alot of vi adults, I would say in person or on zoom remember to use her name, don't just walk into an office and say " have you done that report yet?" Say "Mary have you done that report yet?" . When she enters a staff room or zoom call say " hi Mary it's john, bob's not in today" . Don't make assumptions on her abilities to do the job,

I am a VI person and I agree with what other posters have said. Don’t make assumptions—if you don’t know, just ask in a polite way! My favorite coworker in regards to my VI asked me in a one-on-one convowhat would be helpful or not helpful to make sure I feel included. She also would address herself when she walks into my office (in the before times) like, “Hi, it’s Jane. Can you get me the numbers?” or something similar. I always liked that because I can’t always see people’s faces and I’m not always good at distinguishing voices (some blind people are).

In this new Zoom world, we have adopted more inclusive behaviors in my workplace for virtual meetings. If it is a meeting with new people, we would introduce ourselves, and give a brief description of who we are. For example: “I’m Jane Doe, I’m a white, cisgender woman with short dark hair and I am wearing glasses and a blue sweater.” This is something helpful for those who can’t see to understand something about those they are speaking with that many others would see just by looking at them. Another good virtual meeting habit is to name yourself when you speak once the meeting is going. For example: “This is Jane. I think you’re right when you said....”

At the end of the day, just treat them like any other colleague—don’t be patronizing or show them pity. They don’t need that and it’s just uncomfortable. If I had nickel for every “you’re so brsve” or “i couldn’t do what you do” I wouldn’t have to work, hehe! I’m just living my life the best I can just like anyone else, I just gotta do things differently and sometimes it’s more difficult but everyone has challenges in their life.

One last thing. Try to make sure that they feel included, especially in social situations at the office. I sometimes feel a bit weird at work parties because I can’t just walk up to people and start chatting because people are moving around everywhere and it is a disorienting blob. You can chat with them for a bit. Ask if they want any help finding somewhere to sit or get food/drink, etc. Those situations were always the ones I disliked until I had people like I described make me feel welcome and not a burden. Wishing you and your new coworker the best!

As a blind guy who worked in an office environment pre-covid, just treat us like anyone else. One inclusive thing to do is to announce yourself when you talk with them, like "hi, it's Marco." I got tired of people assuming I knew them by their voice alone, at least until I got to know them better, but even then it was still nice to get a name before entering a conversation.

Don't hover or assume you know how to help if something comes up. If we need help, we'll ask for it. If you do want to help, ask How you can help and follow the directions given.

Don't move stuff around on their desk or ruin their organization. In general, if you've offered to help, please know how to accept No as an answer.

I work with a VI student and more than anything else, they want to be treated like everyone else. My student surprises me every day with the amazing things they can do! They rollerblade and play frisbee in PE, for example. I wouldn't have expected that. I would suggest making sure you greet them by name and also share your name. They will get to know your voice eventually. I would assume this person knows their job so offer whatever assistance you would offer anyone else. If you are the type of person who does things like notes or cards for people, try doing theirs in braille. It isn't terribly hard to learn.

The names thing is useful to begin with, eventually you just learn what people sound like, although a monosyllabic "hi" is sometimes not enough to ID someone! Honestly I needed reminding who people were when I could see, so I don't think that remembering people's names based on voices is particularly more or less hard than remembering names based on what they look like!

Learning not to move stuff, not to leave stuff lying around, and to keep everything where it's supposed to be is hard for a lot of people. I always organised the coffee area when I had a corporate job because then I could actually find the milk and sugar but I was still reliant on people putting stuff back where it was supposed to be. I also remember traveling into work in sneakers and putting something more formal on when I got there, and finding someone had moved my damn sneakers at the end of the day. Only to the other side of the desk, but jesus.

The main thing for me, day to day, is that people are very nervous about asking anything that's directly due to me being blind. Just know that if she's been in this situation more than a couple of years, which she probably has if she's going out to get a job, it is not a special situation, it's not a special day, there's nothing weird or uncomfortable about it, it's just, you know, Tuesday.

If you're not sure if she needs to know something, just ask, and don't surround your question with some sort of terrified disclaimer, oh, I'm sorry to ask this, I hope you don't mind, er um... while she waits patiently for you to get to the point. It's not a big deal, it's normal, it's just life and I don't really care, but if you can become one of those people who just says "Hey, Jan, are you OK with getting to that place we're going tomorrow" without using a thousand words to get there, then that's utterly fantastic.

Frankly if there's some issue I'll probably already have asked, but a new person may want to seem capable and independent and especially if she's a youngster may not ask when she really should. This is not good but it's obvious why people do it. Either way if you see some issue coming up and want to mention, please, in the name of any available deity, just say it. I've heard all the disclaimers a billion trillion times.

If she's blind enough you may end up guiding her. Fear not. It's not catching.