I am registered blind and live alone in London. I frequently shop independently (the shop assistants locate the items I require and I pay using either card or cash). I am, almost always unaccompanied on shopping trips, consequently the interaction is purely between myself and the shop assistant.
I spent the Christmas festivities visiting my mum and her partner in Liverpool. While there I visited a branch of W H Smiths and purchased a book, as a Christmas present for my sister. I paid for the item using my debit card and given that the transaction was between myself and the sales assistant I was surprised when she attempted to hand my receipt to my mum! My mum is non-disabled so I can only assume that the assistant felt more comfortable interacting with a non-disabled rather than a disabled person. The incident was resolved with the assistant handing the receipt to me (my mum refused to take it and I continued to hold out my hand)!
Having experienced similar incidents I’m able to see the funny side and my mum and I laughed about it afterwards. Had I been alone the assistant would have had no alternative other than to hand the receipt to me, however due to the presence of a non-disabled individual she automatically attempted to pass the paperwork to that person rather than the rightful recipient, yours truly!
On the whole attitudes towards people with disabilities have (and continue) to improve in the UK. In 1995 the Disability Discrimination Act came into force outlawing discrimination against people with disabilities in the fields of employment and service provision. The legislation has been strengthened since 1995 and has been superceeded by the Equalities Act. However despite the implementation of legislation and greatly improved social attitudes people with disabilities such as myself continue to encounter misunderstanding and, on occasions prejudice as is exemplified by my experience in purchasing a book in W H Smiths. What is the solution? Greater integration of disabled people into mainstream society is vital. As a child I attended several schools for visually impaired children and it was only on attending university that I entered mainstream education. Today greater numbers of children with disabilities are being educated with their non-disabled peers. The exposure of non-disabled children to those who are disabled is to be welcomed and will assist in enhancing understanding, however the incident in Smiths demonstrates that more education is required.
(Kevin Morris is a writer. For his latest book, The First Time” please visit https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/the-first-time-by-kevin-morris-availible-at-waterstones-for-only-0-98/).
K Morris - Poet 
wooww! it’s a good thing that you and your mom where able to see the funny side of that situation. What she did is kind of weird. but i suppose i can not judge her.. sadly most of the population around the world reacts like this when dealing with a disabled person. i hope this is not too much of an intrusion, but may i ask what your disability is? i only ask because i still can not rationalize what in the world made her believe you are incapable of holding a receipt?!
abichica, many thanks for your comment. I am visually impaired which means I have poor eye sight. I can not see to read print nor can I recognise people using my eye sight (I can, however recognise family and friends by their voices). I use screenreading software (Jaws which converts text into speech and braille which enables me to use my computer, send emails, access the internet etc). I can see light and dark so turn the lights on when it gets dark as having the lights on helps me to avoid tripping over objects. I can see outlines of objects so, for example I can see my guide dog, Trigger who is currently lying on the carpet next to my desk, however if there was another dog of a similar colour to Trigger (he is brindle) and both dogs lay next to one another, I’d see two animals but I would not know which one of them was my dog. I use a guide dog to get around when I go to the office, to the supermarket etc. Here in the UK shops and restaurants must allow guide and other assistance dogs to enter because they are helping disabled people. If a business refuses to allow a guide dog owner in with their dog then they can be prosecuted. I’d be interested to know about the position of disabled people in Malaysia. Any other questions please ask. Kind regards, Kevin
Abichica, you may be interested in this article http://everything2.com/title/Does+He+Take+Sugar%253F. I entitled my post “Does He Take Sugar?” in honour of a former programme, on the BBC of the same title. I believe the programme took it’s name from an incident in which a disabled academic from Oxford University had the indignity of having his companion asked “does he take sugar?” Kevin