It depends a lot on the individual but visually impaired is just the legal term for blindness. It’s what you use when you don’t know someone.

I personaly prefer just being called blind myself but many people don’t and it’s certainly not upsetting to be called visualy impaired (it’s accurate).

Maybe to them but they're not representative of all of us and none of us will claim one label fits us all so take it with a grain of salt.

I tried to reply, but not sure it went through. Sounds proper to me. As far as being offensive, every body these days is offended by something. I pretty much don't care. The term I think is utterly stupid is "visually challenged", who ever thought that one up.

This term might have been offensive to them, but it wasn't correct of them to say it's wrong for everyone. For example, I don't like it when people with vision refer to themselves as blind, I think that should be reserved for those who have no functional vision, and others should be visually impaired. However, that's just my opinion, and doesn't necessarily reflect the viewpoint of everyone in the blind community. To me, they both come with distinct challenges and ways of doing things, so I appreciate the separation that distinguishing between the two provides. However, everyone has a preference for what they do and don't like. It's really cool that you went out of your way to find this subreddit and ask this question, though, because a lot of people wouldn't bother.

First off, good on you for asking. That shows a willingness to learn and be respectful. Thank you for that. The difficulty lies in the fact that it sounds like this person's vision is impaired (all blindness can be varying degrees and types/causations of visual impairments) based off other comments I read. My vision is impaired. Our vision is impaired and we are visually impaired. I identify as visually impaired or blind. Just like my body is disabled. they are physical limitations my body has, head to toe. None of those words are offensive to me unless the intention is there behind them already. It's okay for a person within a community to take issue with a turn of phrase that is used to describe them or others like themselves. However, asking how the person with the issue of the phrasing how they would like to be addressed is the best and only person to really answer your query. Everyone is different is how they wish to identify and what they don't wish to identify as. If the generally accepted terms of the community are offensive to an individual, the individual is responsible to come up with how they wish to identify for themselves. The responsibility from the community is to respect how the individual wishes to be addressed. We can only answer for ourselves, not another.

I prefer blind. I feel Visually impaired implies either that I am a broken sighted person or that blind is somehow wrong or less than. I don't correct Visually Impaired unless I know the person well, and then I just explain why I feel that way. I know others who feel the same way, and some who think it's silly. But for me using the term blind gives more dignity.

It‘s the first time I hear about someone finding the term offensive. It‘s not only common for sighted persons to use it, but also in the blind community it‘s standard. So, I don‘t think you have to replace it by something else. If someone again disagrees with the term, ask them their preference and use that for them.
Different people feel differently about terms. Personally, I mostly say I‘m legally blind. That‘s not because the term visually impaired bothers me in any way, but it‘s so wide a spectrum that I find it helpful to be more specific, so that people understand a tiny bit better where I fall on that spectrum. On the other hand, I also don‘t mind being called blind in principle, but that‘s misleading as I have a some functional vision in one eye.

Good for you for trying to be a better ally. If that happens again ask what term to use and then use that with them. I think getting into a discussion at the moment might not be effective. Telling someone who finds it offensive that you asked other people and they said it's ok is probably not going to come off well.

Bottom line is to call people what they want to be called. As a general term I don't think it's offensive.

I call myself visually impaired and I might balk at using the word blind FOR ME but others in my same situation might not.

A blind person is what I prefer, followed by low vision. But never visually impaired. To me the word impaired should be saved to indicate a person is intoxicated and not used to define a disability

Saying someone is visually impaired when they are isn’t offensive. It’s the medical term that we are all told when we get diagnosed. Now I don’t know if this person is sensitive about the topic or whatever but it’s not offensive to use it

Don't get too hung up on words. There are a bunch of people around these days who make a hobby out of nitpicking this sort of thing and you will never make them all happy because they all have different ideas about what's okay. Honestly I get frustrated that people look so hard for reasons to get upset because it makes everyone's life harder, for you and me alike.

If you were to meet me, my attitude is that whatever you do, if it's done without any intention to cause offence, you're fine. Once we got to know each other I might laugh and say, well, if I were visually impaired I'd need some vision to be impaired, but I'd be kidding around, the term is totally fine, and I would hope we'd feel like we could kid around about it afterward, which we totally can.

Do not over think it, I will be much more annoyed if you try to walk on eggshells around me. I'm me, you're you, let's have a conversation. Even if you somehow manage to say something crazy we'll just talk about it, it's not a big deal unless you mean it that way.

In the English-speaking portion of the U.S., it's common to refer to "blind and visually impaired" (BVI) people, or to the BVI community. My organization works with and is half composed of members of the BVI community, and "BVI" is the term we use.

Terminology changes over time. Once terminology is codified in law or medical practice, the terms will change only slowly.

In the U.S., many state-level departments that provide services to the BVI community have the word "rehabilitation" in their department name. Rehabilitation was a term current in the mid-20th century when U.S. veterans returned home with war-related injuries to their eyes. The notion was that these veterans could be rehabilitated so that they could work again. In the culture at the time, the focus was ensuring men in particular could assume the role of head of household. U.S. culture has shifted since then, but the term "rehabilitation" remains.

So it's possible you'll read or hear a term not everyone accepts. It's good you're aware of the possibility that a term could be outmoded or possibly even offensive. But to follow up great comments from other posters, I'll make a few suggestions:

Don't worry about offending people if you're not trying to offend. If you take correction from someone who prefers a specific term, then you can quickly move on. No big deal!

**Do not lean heavily on guidance from typically sighted people when it comes to terminology for BVI people.** Take into consideration the opinions of TVIs (teachers of the visually impaired), instructors of O&M (orientation & mobility), and others who work professionally in the field. But even then, observe the terms BVI folks use to refer to themselves.

Within the past few years I heard someone insist on using the term "people with blindness." This was a sighted person. Not once have I heard a blind person refer to herself as a "person with blindness" or as a "woman with blindness." It strikes me as phony and condescending.

Can you imagine someone referring to a spouse as "my brother with blindness" in a genuine conversation in English?

If we start with the assumption that all people have equal value--nothing else makes sense--then it's straightforward to consider that we should learn how a community of people names itself. Often times there are multiple such names. Find a term that works, use that term until it's natural for you, and then adapt as you need to.


For example, I've come to accept that I should call myself "stereoblind." I'm sighted, but my depth perception is impaired because my brain doesn't fuse the images from my two eyes into one image with stereo-based depth cues. Rather than use medical terms related to the physiological cause of my stereoblindness, which is distracting, I emphasize the everyday impact of my condition: since I don't have stereovision, certain activities are harder for me than for a typically sighted person. But the "stereoblind" community isn't cohesive, so the term doesn't have much currency, and we don't have much political or cultural power to advocate for ourselves.

Definitely best to ask a person what their preference is, how they would like to be identified.

Personally, I prefer mostly blind or low vision. I don’t mind being called blind, but I have a lot of sight for a blind person, so it can give the wrong idea. I will also refer to myself as a person with sight loss—it’s the generally inclusive term we use at work—but I’ve never lost any sight, so I don’t identify with it very strongly.

I don’t personally care to be called visually impaired because 1) it’s too imprecise (a sighted person who wears glasses is also visually impaired but my experience is very different from theirs), and 2) being impaired feels like a value judgment. I’m not a broken sighted person that needs to be fixed, I’m not less than because I don’t see as well. Generally, I’m not going to be offended though, unless you keep using the term after I’ve told you my preference, or you’re using it in a derogatory manner.

I would have to say this person who told you that's Offensive has to have something deeper going on.

Personally for me I have real problems and policing someone's use of the proper legal tern is a waste of my time.

Besides unless you were doing it to hurt this person I'd say your ok

I have it easy. I have no vision, so it is perfectly fine to call me blind, but if someone doesn’t know that, I have no problem with visually impaired.

I use visually impaired and will until I fit the criteria for legal blindness. It is a correct term for me as I can still see so much, but the distortion is bad enough most days that I can’t make sense of what I’m seeing. If people want to use low vision or partially sighted, that’s fine too. Once I hit the threshold for legal blindness, I’ll use Deafblind exclusively.

The person you were talking to may be taking some thinking from the Deaf/Hard of hearing community. We do not tend to use hearing impaired. This is because using a visual language negates any impairment. There’s a whole lot of history there about language deprivation and oralism which leads to that term being offensive.

I call myself visually impaired and don’t mind people using the term. I think it’s a very individual thing. I stay away from blind myself as I’ve got a lot of useful vision.

Personally, I refer to myself as being “visually impaired.” I find that people understand better that I do have some vision that way, rather than by blind or legally blind.

From my understanding, the deaf community, on the other hand, are very opposed to the term “hearing impaired” and I suppose some in the blind community feel the same..,

I'm not blind. I would think calling myself blind would be an insult to people who actually are blind. But my vision is pretty blurry (advanced Glaucoma). "Vision Impaired" seems like a perfect term for me.

Depending on how much use you get out of your remaining sight theres sightys who have sight. You might want to get a pet one sometimes for navigating difficult areas blinkys who have a little useful sight and and blindys who have no useful sight.

At my college we got sick of all the long names so we did this between ourselves.

Before you start using the system ask first!

😂 that amazes me because i assumed the term visually impaired and severely vision impaired were terms made so that people wouldn’t get offended and so that people would use it more then term blind ( which i assume is the more offensive term)

I think a lot of people get offended on other peoples behalfs these days and it's not good.

The only word I find offensive is cripple. I'm legally blind, I usually just shorten it to blind.

However, I've always found it rather frustrating that the US definition of legal blindness is basically what you can read on an eye chart that's 20/200 or worse. It doesn't take into consideration that a person can have multiple issues that combine and result in legal blindness.

That depends on who you ask. Some use the term "blind", short-hand for "legally blind", some use "partially sighted", while others use "visually impaired".

wat

It's not offensive ppl will always complain like one time at school I got told off for referring to someone really short as a dwarf in a conversation, well what was I supposed to say it's called dwarfism

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> Someone told me the term “visually impaired” is offensive.

Can be offensive? Absolutely.

Is offensive? Maybe. Depends one the circumstances.

To the outside world I identify as blind. It is rude when someone insists on calling me visually impaired after I have identified as blind (no less than it would be if I identified as a transgender man and people insisted on referring to me as a woman or vice versa).

Because I have some vision on good days I will sometimes identify as a partially sighted blind person within this community (and to other blind people). They are free to refer to me as they choose (I'm sure that a**hole has made an appearance or two).

If an outsider refers to me as visually impaired before I have identified as blind I will be irritated but accept it (and may or may not correct them depending on my mood and the circumstances). If they continue to address me as visually impaired after I have identified as blind I will be (rightly) offended and will correct them (or write them off as a clueless idiot).

TL;DR Stepping on my political soapbox...you may be offended if you continue to read.

As for my personal beliefs and what I try to convince everyone of...

I am blind. Even though I have enough useful vision on good days to read, write, and use a computer under the right conditions I must use nonvisual techniques to cook, clean, eat, bathe, and groom myself. I can still do all these (along with most other) things. I just have to use other methods to do them. This makes me different, but not less than, most people. Calling me impaired, however, does imply that I am less than people with normal vision. I am blind (different), not visually impaired (less than someone sighted).

When we, as blind people, identify (or allow others to identify us) as anything else we alienate ourselves from our community, reducing the power and influence of that community.

I am probably more upset (though not offended) by blind people identifying as visually impaired than I am by outsiders referring to blind people as visually impaired. We are different, not less than.

Tbh there’s many terms I use low vision and legally blind and visually impaired interchangeably lol and I am part of the community

It isn’t who said this. Hopefully not a visually impaired person. You can try low vision high or low partial or legally blind?

Unless they’re using it to indicate just anyone. I’ve ben called visually impaired but I am more often called just blind or totally blind as well. Visually impaired makes a lot less sense for me.

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