Pup Play for The Blind

Pup Play for The Blind

August 23, 2019 Off By Tycho Aurora

This is an article for awareness of blind members of the community and understanding skills that can help introduce blind pup players into community scenes like moshes. There is no reason that blind people cant get safely onto a mosh floor and pup out. Let me introduce you to a skill that many blind people know, passive and active echolocation.


How Can Your Mosh Space Accommodate Blind Pups and Handlers

  • Mosh organisers could promote and design a hankie system that flags in a visual way that the pup in question is blind, they wont have a seeing cane in their hand if they are on all fours and there is no reason they cant be allowed on a mosh floor.
  • Have event members aware of members of disability, and i do not mean single them out and point them out. just general education and awareness can do wonders.
  • Tried running an intentional blind pup mosh event? where pups are all blindfolded? see how they can use barks and yips for them to try their own echolocation. This would also be a great education tool for pups on all fours to learn to be aware of their surroundings in a respectful way.
  • How about blindfold the handlers, see if they can find a pup themselves.
  • Consent! grabbing, holding, touching, guiding a blind person even if its to help them is a no no, ask first! This could really impact a blind person mentally and hurt their feelings of Independence, they will ask for help if they want it. Only resort to grabbing them if their life is in danger (don’t let them walk off a roof for example)
  • Don’t be a douche and sneak up to them. make yourself known that your approaching in a respectful audible way. Over time you’ll find out what works best for each person because every disability is different.
  • Maybe run a workshop in your local area to teach rudimentary passive or active echolocation.
  • Guide dogs are working dogs. its safe to assume to never pat a guide dog without explicit permission first. No matter how tempting it may be!

A majority of people with disabilities have a high unemployment rate, keep this in mind when reaching out to people to help teach these things. You can make a big difference to paying a blind person to come in and teach this than asking for them to volunteer their time (you’d be surprised how people think they will do work for free because its “nice to promote disability awareness”)