General Home Safety for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated 4.7.2020

Staying safe and complete activities independently is important for lifelong independence. Adaptations can help individuals who are blind or visually impaired move safely and efficiently through their environment. A persons need for adaptations to the environment depends on their visual impairment and any additional disabilities. It is important to understand each persons visual diagnosis and the implications with regard to functional vision to make the appropriate adaptations in order to maximize each persons use of vision.

There are simple adaptations you can make throughout the home that can help you or your family member achieve independence. Learning to move safely and perform tasks independently is critical to prepare your family member to either live independently or to continue to live independently following vision loss.

General Safety Tips

An excellent rule of thumb is to have a place for everything and keep everything in it's place.

Keep items that are used together near each other.
Label drawers and cabinets to help your family member locate items but also helps younger children develop literacy skills.
Move fragile items out of traffic paths and out of harm's way.
Remind all family members and visitors to push their chairs under the table, close/open doors fully, and pick up after themselves.
Throughout the house, be sure to cover sharp corners on furniture to prevent injuries if a person bumps into the edge. You may choose to purchase edge and corner protectors such as these, or cut foam pipe covers or pool noodles to cover corners and edges.
Make sure furniture is stable and won’t be easily knocked over if an individual runs into it.
Secure rug edges to the floor to prevent slips/trips by tacking down rugs and runners.
Be cautious of overhangs (upper cabinet doors, things hanging from the ceiling/wall, or including wall mounted fire extinguishers) as the person may not have enough vision to detect them and duck down.
Keep doors wedged fully open or firmly shut as a person who is blind could walk into the edge of a half-open door or trap their fingers in the hinge while feeling their way around. Use a door stop or door wedge to keep the door in a fully open position.
Consider keeping electrical outlets covered, particularly with younger children or persons with multiple disabilities that are curious and frequently tactually explore their environment.
Be sure to tape down any electrical cords lying on the floor to prevent trips or falls.
Avoid clutter scattered around the floor and in the hallways. Instead, encourage everyone to put belongings away when they are done using them.
Be cautious of stairs and drop-offs. Add visual adaptations such as painting color contrasting strips on stairs; and/or add tactual cues such as non-slip mats, adhesive tread strips or different type of flooring by stairs or drop-offs.

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