Oh yes, this is very common alas. I get it more with a guide dog but it still happens with my cane too. I've worked on kind of embracing it on a good day and having a lot of quick little things to say when people are getting too in my space ("Thank you but I'm fine, please let go" and "I can follow you just fine, keep talking" are my more common phrases). People are curious by nature but you don't always have to indulge them, there are many polite ways to say "thanks but I don't need your help". I intentionally dress in very bright clothes because I know people tend to watch me; I want to give them a better reason to stare (or a reason to regret staring haha).

I don't, typically, but I suspect this may be somewhat regional. I tend to walk more quickly and with more confidence when I have my cane, so that probably helps? I think a lot of it is about how you carry yourself. If you're a new cane user and felt uneasy using it, that might have came across in your body language.

I definitely get more attention when using my cane then before I did, but not nearly as much as you are describing on a single walk. People are curious and want to be helpful, but intentions aren’t everything. You are under no obligation to answer questions, accept help or be okay with people touching you.

I respond sharply to people grabbing me because I don’t know whether they’re well-meaning, and they haven’t bothered to figure out what I’m trying to accomplish. Then I get accused of being rude. But I hope they remember my reaction before they go tugging on some other random blind person.

If I have time, and someone seems genuinely curious, I don’t mind explaining things about my eyes or my cane. I’ve got little patience for the occasional person who wants to pray for me, though. And I’ve gotten good at saying ‘no thank you’ repeatedly.

It does take practice, though. Saying ‘no thank you’ calmly and repeatedly, knowing when it’s probably better to give a sharper response, and when it’s probably not needed, how to accept or reject questions or assistance confidently.

It’s also possible, as someone else mentioned, that because this was your first try, you were projecting a lack of confidence that people picked up on, and as you get more comfortable walking with your cane, the number of interactions will decrease. Don’t expect them to stop, though.

I’ve been pushed back into the street to keep me from jumping a puddle at the curb cut, & been second guessed when I tell people that I don’t need help to get where I’m going. Both are super annoying. There are perks tho. People don’t take as a security risk at all so my bag never gets searched.

I very rarely get grabbed for some reason. Possibly it's because I could see fine until early adulthood and I have basically the same body language as a sighted person, but you'd have thought the cane would have been a giveaway. Anyway I will definitely get pretty sharp with anyone who gets physical. I did once get shoved into the street by a schoolteacher who was shepherding a class of kids and I couldn't work out what was worse, being pushed into the roadway or getting mistaken for a twelve year old in school uniform!

Usually though it's my mission in life not to stick out, not to be the obvious disabled person, and to blend in as much as possible. That's just normal social stuff you'd have thought. That's why I don't really like special stuff being done unless I absolutely need it. Like the describing yourself in a meeting issue we were talking about in another thread, if someone did that on the basis I was there I'd be absolutely mortified. The last thing I want is any more reasons for people to think I'm the special case so I do feel what you're saying.

In the end it's kind of inevitable to an extent, the trick I guess is to realise people mean well and try to let it go. I don't always succeed but we can try!

I find the uninvited grabbing of my body or of my bags or belongings incredibly intrusive


I have had people grabbed me and pull me off balance and just today I had somebody grab me on the street, with plastic gloves and when I recoiled she seemed offended


I told her that I find plastoc gloves to be incredibly disgusting and she said it's more disgusting not to be wearing gloves but I have no idea Why she thought it was acceptable to reach out and grab my bare arms with her filthy gloves without even asking if I need assistance

The reality is that most people don't know how to act but the few who do ask if you need assistance and then respect your answer are the ones I appreciate

Best of luck

This absolutely happened to me when I started using a cane, and still does. I was not anticipating being grabbed constantly, forcibly shown to a seat, and getting lots of unsolicited and unwanted help and attention. In the beginning I was usually too stunned and confused to know what to do, but these days I usually just say, "Thanks, but I can cross the street/find a seat/whatever myself. I'll let you know if I need help." Other than that, though, once I finally gave in to using a cane it has really revolutionized my life. I feel way safer, more confident, and more in control.

I also have RP, no peripheral vision, and did have good central vision but that is starting to go now.

My first thought is that perhaps this is a male/female distinction? I'm male and have not had issues with unwanted touching or hugging.

My second thought is that the alternative is worse. I started using my cane because people in metro/train stations became angry and physical when I knocked into them. Going down the stairs, a guy sitting on a step in a shadowy portion, I tripped on him and he actually punched me. Think I'd rather deal with a hug . . .

normally, unless I am having a bad day, even if I know where I am, if someone offers help I would take it.

people grabbing etc can be invasive, and I would just pull my arm from their grasp and either walk on, or if necessary, explain proper sighted guide technique

have you done outdoors stuff yet, as there is a proper technique for outdoors, and you just want to be sure you are safe when out and about

wishing you the best, and any questions my inbox always open

I don't recommend ever letting anyone touch you under any circumstances. It sets a bad precedent for future encounters, and just encourages the general view that handling someone like a package is acceptable, which it most certainly is not. I've had issues with family on that subject as well, and I don't tolerate that sort of behavior from them, let alone the general public. Stand your ground, know and enforce your own boundaries, and don't give in for one second, because if you do, it will get much worse in the future. Body language may also factor into why people do what they do when it comes to blind people out in public on their own, but it shouldn't matter what image you present to the world, people should know common courtesy and back off.

Constantly. People have no idea what to do, want to do something friendly, or deliberately want to mess with you. Clueless, stupid, weird, and some just don't care about anything - you're going to find every single one of them.

That sounds like a most interesting and entertaining walk haha!

Yeah, it’s quite common.