I’m not on TikTok. I’ve hit thirty-years-old so when the latest social media craze took off I figured, “eh, I’m too old.” But I still have friends who are active on it. Most of the TikTok videos are silly fun, but there is one TikTok video that is actually quite informative. And it’s making the viral rounds, so it’s worth watching as it’s an instructional guide about how to better help blind people with guide dogs.
The TikToker behind the now viral video is Jemma Brown. In her clip, she features her own mother, as well as her mother’s guide dog, Vivvy. The video went viral after a Twitter user, Jake Turkle, shared it.
In the video, Jemma shared some vital information that we should’ve all known about. As the TikToker noted, when a blind person is in need of help, they will release their guide dog’s harness. Jemma then stated that anyone can offer assistance by approaching from the opposite side of the guide dog.
Jemma decided to make her video in response to someone online who asked the question, “How would you approach someone with a cane?”
In her video, Jemma used her mom and guide dog to help demonstrate her point of approach. With the question in a text bubble in the corner of the video, Jemma replies to the query by saying, “Easy, the owner lets go of the handle and laces it on the dog’s back.” She then goes on to show viewers the correct way to approach a blind person who might need help.
Her mom then demonstrated how a blind person would go about signaling for help. That is when Jemma approaches and asks, “Would you like some help?”
After the quick demo, Jemma added for viewers that if the blind person does acknowledge that they do indeed need assistance, the sighted person should reply with a statement such as, “Cool, would you like to take my arm? I’ll come around to the other side of the dog.”
It is such a short yet effective clip that many across social media have been sharing it after it was posted on Twitter. The video has been viewed more than 1.3 million times, and it has more than 54,000 likes and counting. So many people are praising the simple and easy tutorial – with many calling it either “heartwarming” or “informative.”
What do you think? Let us know!
