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How do live with a blind person?
Brenna
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi everybody,
In January, I will be moving in with a person who has recently lost his sight (about three months ago). He also is HIV+. I'm kind of concerned because I don't know what to do. As for the HIV: do I need to worry about giving him a virus or something? (we will be sharing a bathroom and kitchen) And as for being blind, the only thing I can think of is to not move things in the house.
Another aspect of this situation is his mental attitude. He has suffered a huge setback and is not doing well. I feel like he needs to stay active and reclaim as much of his old life as possible, but I don't know what kind of resources are available to blind people and if he really will benefit from them.
Basically I want to be better prepared for the move. I feel there is only so much I can do to assist him, but I don't want to make some huge mistake that hurts him. Any help appreciated.
In January, I will be moving in with a person who has recently lost his sight (about three months ago). He also is HIV+. I'm kind of concerned because I don't know what to do. As for the HIV: do I need to worry about giving him a virus or something? (we will be sharing a bathroom and kitchen) And as for being blind, the only thing I can think of is to not move things in the house.
Another aspect of this situation is his mental attitude. He has suffered a huge setback and is not doing well. I feel like he needs to stay active and reclaim as much of his old life as possible, but I don't know what kind of resources are available to blind people and if he really will benefit from them.
Basically I want to be better prepared for the move. I feel there is only so much I can do to assist him, but I don't want to make some huge mistake that hurts him. Any help appreciated.
Brenna on
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I think the OP is asking if they're more susceptible to getting something from you (like a bad cold) and having it be a much bigger deal for the HIV+ person... right? After all, their immune systems are generally worse-off than a healthy person. I'm not sure I have a good answer for this, however. I guess practicing good hygiene is the best place to start.
As for the rest, American Federation for the Blind has some good resources. It's a bit weird to navigate the site - > the links on the right are the ones to use.
I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
I'm going to have to say you'll be alright and so will the blind person. Many people are HIV+, but that doesn't mean they have AIDS. AIDS is what causes your immune system to lapse and you end up with common colds killing people. HIV leads to AIDS, but the time line for that is unique to each person. The buzzwords were thrown around a lot in the 80s and 90s, but I don't think many people understand the link between them (myself included until I did a report on it in high school).
HIV leads to a lower of CD4 counts (CD4 is a molecule on the surface of certain T-lymphocytes, which are generally T-helper cells - without these your immune system doesn't function properly), and when it drops sufficiently below average you are more vulnerable to disease. AIDS is the final stage of this, and defined by certain illnesses you only tend to get when severally immunosuppressed. Certain cancers, pneumonia, thrush, stuff like that. The time to develop AIDS after infection from HIV varies considerably, anything up to several decades (if ever), but generally only a few years.
An HIV+ person who is given proper HAART treatment should never develop AIDS now. Hence why it is a chronic condition, such as diabetes. Deaths in the west are generally due to people not being aware they are HIV+ and turning up in ER in the final stages of AIDS and very ill. That and people not taking their daily bucket of pills properly.
Also, if you are exposed to infected blood (e.g. needleprick), and you are given appropriate treatment, you are almost certainly not going to be infected yourself.
It's all rather interesting, particularly as this field has changed so much in the last decade (HAART only came in during the mid-1990s, prior to that HIV was basically a death sentence).
Anyway I think this is correct, but there are plenty of sources that are more reliable (hopefully) than me.
For the HIV+ part: don't have sex with him, don't share needles, but this is obvious. Most likely, no extreme measures are needed to keep him from getting sick. I mean, don't sneeze on the silverware if you've got a cold, but you can't keep him in a protective bubble and you shouldn't try.
Basically, this is just normal good-roommate stuff. Keep communication open, be responsive to his requests, let him know if you have a problem, find a balance between hanging out often and smothering.
Also, I appreciate the link!
I hope things work out between us - my mom thinks I am setting myself up for disaster. She thinks he will get me depressed because he is so inactive. But I'm just renting a room from him in his house. He has a family and all to look out for him. So I just want to make sure I don't do something callus around him by accident.
She confided that the reason she pressured him to get a roommate was so that he wouldn't be alone if a medical emergency came up. That made me nervous because I've never had to take somebody to an emergency room (other than my dad) for an actual emergency.
Well I'd assume he knows how to cope - he might need help with taking his medication though. It's a big pile of pills often for HAART. Different colours, but that's not too useful if you're blind.
Anyway sounds like you're in for an interesting experience, make the most of it. Talk to him, see what help he needs, if any.
(Just for the record, that's a really long time to be HIV+ for, because proper medication wasn't available until 1996ish.)
She almost certainly means 'so someone will be there to call 911 if something happens'. Which is really all that can be expected of someone without any formal medical training.
For both issues, I recommend just talking with the guy. Start it up with 'hey I want to make sure I'm not making things more difficult for you, so is there anything I should do/avoid doing?' Obviously leaving crap lying around is a bad idea, but if he's been HIV+ for 22 years then he'll have a very clear picture of what to avoid. As long as you don't make it seem like you're trying to accomodate for a freak or something it should be fine.
www.rockmidgets.com
Any medication should be different size and shape, or somehow sorted by his doctor so that he can take it easily.
As others say, just talk to him to find out what he wants you to do. It's much more respectful than trying to work out what you think he needs.