Bed bugs in NYC apartments for the blind and visually impaired

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Bed bugs in NYC apartments for the blind and visually impaired

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Nobugsonme

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 17 2010 17:15:36
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More here.
StillLiving

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 17 2010 19:29:58
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I couldn't believe it, coming to this site and seeing this. I was teaching computer classes in that building when the bed bugs first hit. I thought it was silly when some students didn't come to class because of it, but if I had known what I know now, I'd have insisted we cancel them all till the problem was resolved. Well, I'm not 100% sure that's what I have, but, to the person who thinks blind people don't know they're there - I can certainly feel them on me and around me. At least if I'm right and that's what I have. The problem is that so much detection is being based on visual detection, being able to see the pictures and compare. Good descriptions of what a blind person should be on the lookout for are non-existant. And the digital divide is bigger for blind people, especially older blind people, so access to things like all the info on this web site isn't available, neither are the few print resources out there. Guess that's something I'll have to work on after I get through this. I don't know if the detectors out there are things a blind person can use independently, but the building management could certainly buy one. For that matter, they should be scheduling regular inspections of all apartments. A lot of the people who live in that building are low income and don't have independent resources for dealing with this. It's awful. That really sucks big time. I was thinking that if I got stuck with landlord problems, I'd move. People who live in places like that are in a place they hope to spend the rest of their lives, because of the low rent. They are really stuck.
DeedleBeetle

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 17 2010 19:55:10
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Ohh my Dear Lord...

This is the worst!!

and what about paralyzed people who can't quickly hop out of bed to examine the sheets?

Old or sick people in nursing homes?

my heart is breaking
Nobugsonme

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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 18 2010 2:38:52
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StillLiving - 7 hours ago »
I couldn't believe it, coming to this site and seeing this. I was teaching computer classes in that building when the bed bugs first hit. I thought it was silly when some students didn't come to class because of it, but if I had known what I know now, I'd have insisted we cancel them all till the problem was resolved. Well, I'm not 100% sure that's what I have, but, to the person who thinks blind people don't know they're there - I can certainly feel them on me and around me. At least if I'm right and that's what I have.

Hi StillLiving,

That was probably me you were referring to -- I said, in my post on the blog end of the site:

"Living with bed bugs is an awful experience for anyone. I can only imagine that being blind and unable to see if bedbugs are on or near you makes it especially horrific."

I appreciate that you may be aware there are bed bugs crawling on you or biting you. I can't say what you are experiencing.

However, I will say this: most sighted people do not feel bed bugs crawling on them or biting them when these things actually occur.

Many of us (perhaps most who react allergically to bites) do report feeling crawling sensations on our skin, and some report feeling a sting or biting sensation.

However, when we go to look, there's nothing there.

(I would say in the thousands and thousands of stories I have heard, maybe one or two people claimed to feel those things -- at least once -- and to have looked and seen the bug in question. It's really rare.)

We know bed bugs inject something which numbs you first, and then they feed. They seem to be designed to get away with their feeding behaviors and live to see another day (unlike mosquitos).

As for the crawling sensations, no one knows a whole lot about what bed bugs do to your skin, but we Bedbuggers know a thing or two about our experiences, and many have noted these sensations in the absence of an actual bed bug. I suspect they may be delayed reactions.

Or perhaps some kind of histamine response to things which happened at the site or elsewhere on the body, at the particular moment, or earlier.

It's not much, but all I can do is speculate.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 18 2010 2:42:42
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StillLiving,

ps -- if you can think of any ways we can help support blind people with bed bugs via this site, I would be interested in doing that.
DeedleBeetle

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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Jul 18 2010 4:34:26
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and Still Living..

some of us suspect (and there appears to be literature to support the fact) that some of the chemicals used to kill the bugs can also cause the sensation that something is crawling on the skin as well as a sensation of itchiness.