Special Notice Option For The Blind Or Visually Impaired (2024)

FAQs

Special Notice Option For The Blind Or Visually Impaired? ›

Braille notice and a standard print notice by first-class mail; Microsoft Word file on a data compact disc (CD) and a standard print notice by first-class mail; Audio CD and a standard print notice by first-class mail; or. Large print (18-point size) notice and a standard print notice by first-class mail.

Instead use: Person with a visual impairment. Person who is blind / visually impaired.

AP style: Included in its “Disabled/Handicapped” entry, the stylebook describes blind as “a person with complete loss of sight” and suggests using the terms “visually impaired” or “person with low vision” for those who have some sight.

We pay benefits to people who are blind under 2 programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Although the medical rules we use to decide whether you are blind are the same for each program, other rules are different.

First, the word blind is respectable and positive. No need to find euphemisms. Our recent research shows that ¾ of all our users have some vision. Consequently, the two words to use are “people who are blind or have low vision”.

The correct and more polite alternative for "blind" is "visually impaired" or "person with a visual impairment." These terms focus on the person first, emphasizing their individuality rather than defining them solely by their condition.

Expressions such as “suffers from”, “afflicted with” or “stricken with” are inappropriate. They suggest constant pain and powerlessness and carry the assumption that persons with disabilities have poor quality of life. Instead, you can simply say that a person “has [a disability]” or “is [blind/deaf/deafblind]”.

It is okay to use words or phrases such as “disabled,” “disability,” or “people with disabilities” when talking about disability issues. Ask the people you are with which term they prefer if they have a disability.

What not to say to a visually impaired person? ›

Vision impairment means that a person's eyesight cannot be corrected to a “normal” level. Vision impairment may be caused by a loss of visual acuity, where the eye does not see objects as clearly as usual.

We apply a higher SGA, $2,590 if you are blind (effective January 2024). The local Social Security office personnel does not make the disability determination. The local Social Security office sends the claim to a State agency that we call the Disability Determination Services (DDS).

Newer charts do have that capability. Under the new criteria, if a person's visual acuity is measured with one of the newer charts, and they cannot read any of the letters on the 20/100 line, they will qualify as legally blind, based on a visual acuity of 20/200 or less.

This is because Social Security considers the help you are getting to have value, meaning you need less help from SSI. The maximum SSI benefit in this situation is $873.87 ($958.25 if you're blind).

Alt text and image descriptions are text-based descriptions of visual details in an image written primarily for people who are visually impaired (inclusive of blind/low vision). If an image fails to load on a website, alt text will be displayed in its place, and alt text is also used for search engine optimization.

Others (with either limited or no vision at all) soon became "visually impaired," "visually limited," "visually challenged," "unsighted," "sightless," "sight-impaired," "low vision," or "hard-of-seeing," etc.

The correct and more polite alternative for "blind" is "visually impaired" or "person with a visual impairment." These terms focus on the person first, emphasizing their individuality rather than defining them solely by their condition.