Great question!

I fly probably two or three or four times a year. No security check in experience is quite the same. I've has some security officers skip the machine all together and spray some sort of gunpowder residue detector on my hands, I've had others just talk me through how to move inside the machine, where to step, and where to put my hands. I've had some wave one of those hand held metal detectors around me.

I really don't care how you do it, except that spray thing was kind of weird. Getting scanned is a necessary part of getting onto an airplane. In general, the more you treat me like you're treating everyone else the less uncomfortable it is for me.

If I'm standing in the machine but I'm not in the right place, **introduce yourself as airport security** and either tell me to take a small step forward or **ask my permission** to take hold of my elbow and guide me to where you need me to stand. I don't mind either way. All I ask is that you introduce yourself as airport security and that you ask permission before physically moving me.

I'm just as self conscious as you are. You're worried about offending me and I'm worried I'm holding up the line, but in the end we want the same thing - to get me through the checkpoint. It doesn't need to be awkward.

Sometimes you do have to use your hands to guide someone's hands/feet to specific places, if they are unable to locate them. This is especially true when it is a situation that happens irregularly and there is a time limit. I can take as long as I want to talk someone through the elevator buttons because there isn't a line of people waiting (if someone else comes in, I press the button while the client focuses on finding what they need).

Depending on cultural situations, you should ask because some cultures don't allow for men to touch women or something like that. Ask for permission and state "I'm going to guide to hand to the location" or something like that. If they can't allow it, you may need to ask their family or another person to do it.

Introducing yourself can also be helpful; "Hi, I am Bob with Security Group. I need to guide your hands to specific markers for the scanner" (obviously replace your name and whatever group you are).

Are you in the US? The TSA has training for this. I actually requested assistance at the airport pre-pandemic and they had someone assist me through security. They had training on how to assist people with disabilities.

Explain what will happen before it happens. Let the person ask questions.

When you touch someone ASK FOR PERMISSION FIRST. DON'T TOUCH SOMEONE WITHOUT ASKING IF IT'S OK. Asking someone if something is ok while you are doing it really doesn't give the person any choice. When walking with a blind person let them take your arm, don't take their arm and don't push or pull them.

Much depends on gender as well, I wouldn't want a person I didn't know, especially a man, touching me without going over the procedure beforehand and asking permission first.

You might try experiencing what it's like yourself by being blindlolded. I think you would find it's not very comfortable or easy.

I'm sure you did the best you could and asking questions and getting input is always good.

From reading this you did an amazing job at assisting them with the minimal knowledge that you had at the time. In these situations there is nothing really you can do and you may have to touch them and there’s nothing you can do to get around that, one thing I will say is ask the person first if it is ok if you touch them and tell them everything you are going to do before you do it so you don’t surprise/ scare them. Also I would ask if they want to be guided (looping arms) or if they are happy to just walk beside you or whatever their preferences are. Every blind / visually impaired person will have a different level of sight and different preferences so it is important that you ask the questions with each different person but you are doing a great job!!

I wouldn’t worry about it some people are just freaking rude. I don’t think you did anything wrong here. I would say if you did that to me, I’d be fine, fairly friendly and easy going here.

That the title of your post is "How do I improve?" earns you an upvote. Also the content.

If it wouldn't cause you problems with your supervisor, you could say something like "Until this process is more accessible, I'll need to guide you. The machine requires precise placement of the feet, so I'm going to guide you to..."

**Anything** to make the process consistent and predictable would be great. I flew a lot before and after the TSA came into being in the U.S. From airport to airport, security procedures are still highly inconsistent. I've generally had better experiences overseas.

In U.S. airports it's hard to predict where to go, what is expected, whether anyone will give instructions, whether those instructions will be relatable, and whether I should ask a question of a security person staring intently at their cell phone. (The airport in Orlando, Florida is especially bad on all these points.) Should I take off my shoes? Leave them on? Am I supposed to unload five pounds of electronics into one bin? Two bins? And will people be annoyed if this takes more than, say, ten seconds?

Something to consider: people don't necessarily want "help" or "assistance." They may need guidance because everyday activities aren't accessible. So for blind and visually impaired (BVI) folks, your work could be construed as making up for a deficiency in the design of airport technology and security processes.

Your organization may label your work as "assistance," but you might want to use different wording to make a connection with a traveler. "Hi, I'm Pat and I'm going to **work with you** to get through this machine."

Consider how to support someone's **independence**. It may take someone extra time, but that person should have that extra time. Fairness means acknowledging problems with accessibility.

Finally, I'd suggest watching one or more videos of blind YouTubers talking about their airport experience. Blind YouTubers are like all YouTubers--some may strike a chord with you, others may annoy you--but some of the more popular videos are worth watching. The video I often recommend for sighted folks is this one from Molly Burke:

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I'll mention that I'm sighted but $1. Mostly I'm fine in airports, but sometimes I'll be confused by building designs that rely on people having good depth perception. For example, if glass doors don't have signs, or if the glass isn't smudged, it could take me longer to realize there's a glass door rather than a doorless entry. Anyone sighted or blind could walk into a glass door or a glass wall, but people with vision impairments are much more likely to do so.

I just came back from a three week trip throughout Europe and the US and went through several airports.

I never used a body scanner, just walked through a regular metal detector (or a handheld wand) followed by the chemical swab of my palms. I usually joined the line with those needing assistance in a wheelchair. Obviously you wouldn't require a wheelchair user to go through the body scanner, and it would be the same for a blind person.

It really sounds like you did the right things here, and as people have mentioned, the person may just have been annoyed about the general TSA process. I don't see anything wrong or offensive in your post. I'm a 31/F and I don't mind being touched and positioned if they make me go through the body scanner. Let's just get this over with so I can leave! Everyone is different though, as you can see from the comments. Just be sure you know how to interact with service dogs and people with other disabilities. I think wanting to do your best goes a long way towards great interactions.

Been on the other side of that a hundred times and my experiences are extremely variable.

So long as you asked before touching, which you did, you're fine. Possibly you were nervous, which at least shows you care. Personally I'd have tried to chill the situation out and said, you're fine, where do you need me? here? like this? and do my best to follow instructions. If you need me in a specific place I just can't hit without seeing a sign, fine, ask, then move me.

In general airports are sometimes a festival of suck when you can't see and what you report sounds mild. $1. What happened there is that the security people just weren't paying attention. They'd been told she was blind and it just didn't get through the brain fog of just unthinkingly doing the procedures they always do. It didn't sink in. That's not great.

I get that you see ten thousand people a day, they all ask the same daft questions and say the same daft things. I also get that you operate under a huge pile of rules and regulations. The thing is just not to end up operating on autopilot, which I guess is hard after doing it for years. Those people were so on autopilot that they just couldn't hear what they were being told and I guess the hope is that shouldn't happen.

It sounds like you did what you needed to do at the time and you treated them the way I've been treated in airports when I needed that kind of assistance. They may just have been bothered for some other reason. Sometimes we get burned out in big spaces like airports because we've been manhandled by staff the entire time we're there and it's just unpleasant, so even when we hit a point where being touched is necessary and warned for in advance we don't want to deal with it as courteously as we could have.

Thank you all for you help, I will take this on board and implement your suggestions & advice when assisting an individual who is blind.

In particular introducing yourself first. I see how this can be super important. When interacting with a person who has clear vision an introduction isn’t really necessary however I now understand that an intro can help an individual who is blind be a little be more comfortable.

Thank you!

Edit: and importantly asking for permission!!!!

writing my comment before reading the rest.

Personally, but this is just me, I'm very comfortable with touch for the purposes of being directed etc, and even more so when I know the person doing it is working in a professional capacity, and when they are asking first if it's ok to direct me, or touch my hands or whatever to show me correct positioning etc, in my mind that's very respectful and I would have no problem at all with this.

If I had an interaction like this with you at an airport I would not find anything at all wrong with it, you seem very respectful of boundaries, but at the same time still helpful, so that's a nice balance

The metal detector comments are interesting. I flew regularly from the age of 7 in the late 70s to 1997 and was never physically guided through a metal detector once. The person I was with pointed me in the right direction and I walked slowly trying to walk as straight as possible, and only ever had a problem if the machine beeped. Then I'd take my watch off and anything metal I forgot, or I took off my belt and walked through again. I haven't flown since 1997 though.

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Sometimes people get annoyed when strangers touch them or try to guide them in a manner that they don’t prefer. You meant well, but next time you could ask, "How may I assist you through the process? You need to pass the sicurity check point."

It’s good that you’re being conscious of it, some security people just tug me around and sort of push or pull me through. Maybe try things like “hold your arms a little straighter/higher/lower etc…” before asking if you can position their arms, then touch them as little as possible. Try not to take them being miffed too personally going through security sucks for everyone and it’s a little worse when you’re disabled and have to take even more time to do awkward stuff while people make impatient sounds behind you.

A lot of places have airlines with TSA trained people that can take them through security.

Otherwise it's "Sir, my elbow is a six inches in front of your right hand, please take it. Then guide them and verbally tell them where their feet should be in the scanner.

Then, please lead them to their belongings and a suitable place for them to put their shoes on.

If they need further assistance after that, either call someone or just go back to your job. Your problem ends with you getting them to one of those benches.

Sounds like you tried to be very respectful and helpful. The only thing I might do is in the future you could ask them what is helpful for them. What helps one person may not help another. Don’t feel bad though if they were annoyed I might be on them in the situation

I don't care much for being manhandled. I would much rather put my hand out to be held so I can be led. You could try asking for the individuals hand. Something like "hello I'm airport security. Passengers need to stand in a specific place for the security check, can I please have your hand so I can guide you to where you need to stand?" That could make the experience more pleasant. To be honest though, the airports themselves could do a lot to make these checkpoints more accessible.

We don't use body scanners at airports, you guide them through with your hands through the metal detectors (guide stick needs to be given to security) then the person walks through with someone reaching their hand out for the blind person to hold.

From there a chemical swab is done to the hands and that's it. Give back their guide cane.

Never try making a blind person walk through a body scanner.

Edit: As for your other question on how to be a human guide, this video shows you $1