How to help a blind person organize.

Blind person here. You are best asking him what he needs. Don't view this as "how do I help this blind person get organized?" Look at it as, "How do I help this person get organized?" Don't make blindness a factor until it's relevant to the situation. Ask what he wants out of the situation. Work to achieve that want. His individual needs will never match up with any individual ideal. Each blind person is different. Eyesight is a particularly varied thing from person to person. There are far too many variables. Memail me if you want to discuss this in detail. I'd love to help. Also, if your friend needs to talk I'm available. I've been visually impaired my whole life and have lots of practice adapting. I'd love to give back if I can. Having lost the entirety of his vision in the last year must be very trying. I'd offer something more concrete if I could, but without knowing this person's individual needs, that's difficult. Also, don't worry about offending. Communicate as though nothing at all were amiss. He'll thank you for it down the line, I guarantee it. Too much sensitivity to the needs of others robs the blind person of his agency in the matter. If you don't understand something or need to comprehend his methodology, just ask how he does certain things. Awkwardness is bound to happen thanks to your differing methods of perception, but if you approach him with goodwill and a sense of empathy, that's all that'll matter in the end.

Nthing the "it's different for every person" - because even a blind person's blindness is different for every person. My first theater gig ever was with http://www.tbtb.org/ which works with blind and visually-impaired actors. And what surprised me was - there are a lot of different degrees of blindness and visual impairment, everything from the woman who was fine as long as we gave her large print scripts and made sure the lights were bright, to the guy who only had peripheral vision, to the guy who could see colors but not shapes. Only one member of the cast had absolutely no vision. So I went in thinking I was going to have to do all sorts of helping-people-adapt work, but learned that it was totally different for every person what we had to do, and they actually knew how they liked things best and just needed to grab me for help now and then. I think the only "adaptive" thing I did once was reading one actors' cues to him so he could type them out on this cool Braille typewriter thing so he could study his lines at home. (Oh, and I think I once took his seeing-eye dog out to pee when he was rehearsing a scene.) My point is - I'm recognizing the "am I going to have to do THIS or THAT or how can I Best Help A Blind Person" instinct that I also had going in, and the thing I learned was, they have a pretty good idea already what suits them personally best; so go into this not asking "how can I help a blind person" but "how can I help THIS person". Because the degree of vision they have is only one facet of what makes them who they are. Good luck.

The answer to both questions is "It varies from person to person. Ask him."

I agree with 'Ask him' -- but -- it shouldn't be too hard to come up with some second-hand shelving and/or drawers. Put out freecycle requests, check the Craigslist free section, ask all your friends, ask on Twitter/Facebook; if you are doing the assisting through an agency ask the agency to help source furniture or ask for permission to invoke their name when approaching thrift stores; some give items for free if it's going to a charity/charitable purpose. Approach any local organisation for the blind, ask if there's a way you can get $20 to spend on dollar store plastic bins. Finding a bit of basic furniture for somebody in need should not be too demanding a task.

Be genuine. Each person is different. My cousin lost her sight as an adult but you could ask her exactly any question on your mind and she'd answer. Use a clock as a reference. "I'm putting your mail here at twelve, your change jar at three and your cell phone at six. Ask him what he wants to accomplish. Ask him if he's familiar with any particular methods. He may have ideas you can help him implement. To my knowledge, the word blind isn't offensive. If he has a guide dog, if the harness is on, the dog is working, wait until you get the okay to give the doggie love. My cousin's dog was my running buddy when I was a baby. We loved each other and we'd share food. But if the harness was on, Julie was working and fun would have to wait.

I think you'll find that he's a lot less sensitive about it all than you are. Blind people are used to having the sighted be freaked, and have learned to cope. (At least that's been the case with all my blind friends over the years.) For instance, a lot of people are embarassed when they use "I see" to mean "I understand", and then get all flustered. Don't be. One of my blind friends used that construction deliberately in order to defuse it.

My oldest is kind of one of "the sighted blind" and my vision is just crappy these days. Plus my mother is blind in one eye. Some thoughts: Try to get him to walk you through his routines. Muscle memory and physical placement are big things for the visually impaired. You can use his routines to try to tweak where things are to make his life easier without tripping him up. Put things as close as possible to point of use. Put cups where he can pull one out and promptly pour something instead of walking across the room between the two steps. I found I could rearrange the apartment as long as the pathing did not change and certain really important things stayed in the same place (like his basket of medication). So if you do move stuff, make sure it does not literally or figuratively trip him up. I read a story where a blind person organized their paper money by folding different denominations differently. So, yeah, I think texture, etc can be useful. Try to keep things simple. If you have to watch yourself do it to accomplish it, it is probably too complicated for him. Do not underestimate hearing, smell etc as ways he may be compensating. My oldest son does some pretty uncanny things at times because he pays closer attention to his other senses than most people seem to.

You might be interested in http://www.youtube.com/user/TommyEdisonXP/videos. Here's one about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhvbHRaTrTI.

Agree to reach out to various sources to get basic furniture and storage containers (and to check if the gentleman you're helping finds them easy to use). If there is an organization for the blind they might be able to provide tools like label makers for braille (if he can read it) and talking color analyzers. Texture is important for identifying clothing, those color analyzers help match clothes. There might be apps for color analysis out there, in case he has a phone that supports apps.