Blind artist who was told "you don't look blind" has a mission to educate: "All disabilities are a spectrum"

Paul Castle, a blind author and illustrator, has come face to face with a number of misconceptions about blindness.

"He blinks. He can't be blind."

"His eyes aren't white."

"You don't look blind."

Some appear as comments on the social media pages he started with his husband, Matthew. But in a recent interaction at a Seattle restaurant, Castle and his guide dog, Mr. Maple, were denied entry because an employee didn't believe Mr. Maple was a real service animal. 

The man was suspicious of Castle because it appeared he was making eye contact with him, Castle said.

"He said to me, 'You don't look blind,' which is something I've heard a lot in my life, unfortunately," Castle told CBS News. "It's like telling somebody you don't fit my preconceived notion of what your disability should be."

Castle has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, untreatable disease that causes loss of vision over time. Castle has so far lost more than 90% of his vision. He often describes his remaining sight as the equivalent of looking through a straw or pinhole. 

He notes that legal blindness often does not mean a complete loss of sight. 

"There's a real big spectrum, and this man clearly didn't know that," Castle said.

"Blindness is a spectrum" has become a motto for Castle. "I say that a lot because I really want people to understand that, and I even extend that — all disabilities are a spectrum."

At the restaurant, Castle offered to get Mr. Maple's paperwork, which is not required under law, but the employee told him he would call the police if he returned with the dog.

"In retrospect, I should have let him because the law is that I'm allowed in this establishment and what he did and how he handled it was not legal at all," Castle said. 

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, service dogs are allowed in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go, such as restaurants, shops, hospitals, schools and hotels. A business or entity can only ask two questions: if the dog is a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task the dog has been trained to perform. 

Getting denied access with his guide dog is uncommon, Castle said, but the incident spoke to what he calls a lack of education. 

"People really underestimate the blind community, our ability to use our other senses," he said. "Just because sight is gone, and in my case, mostly gone, does not mean that I am not alert and aware of my surroundings, and have the ability to do things very capably."

His social media accounts aim to show snippets of daily life as a blind person and answer questions such as, how does a blind person cook? Or how does a blind person have a career as a visual artist? (In Castle's case, he uses a tablet to illustrate.)

Castle later received an apology from the manager of the place he was denied entry and was told they would provide better training.

Then, a few weeks later, a friend of Castle's who is a Guide Dogs for the Blind volunteer puppy-raiser in Seattle, was also turned away from a public space because she was with the puppy her family is raising and socializing to become a service animal.

"It was all really courteous, it was handled well, but it was just surprising because it doesn't happen that frequently," the volunteer, Barbara Sweeney, told CBS News.

Sweeney's family has helped raise four guide dog puppies since 2020. Part of what she calls their journey to service is helping them get comfortable in public spaces.

"Most people do recognize that this is different than me trying to bring in a pet," she said. 

According to Guide Dogs for the Blind's guidelines, raisers should only bring guide dog puppies into spaces where they are willingly admitted, regardless of state laws.

"Public access for working guide teams and other service dog teams can be damaged by a volunteer demanding access to a site where a puppy is not welcome," the organization says in its guidebook for volunteers.

This year, Washington state amended its laws to say service animals in training are also permitted in public spaces. It defines a service dog trainee as one "that is undergoing training to become a service animal." The changes took effect in early June and many people and businesses may still be unaware, Sweeney said.

Castle says he doesn't blame anyone for not knowing a law about service animals or facts about blindness.

"There's so much to know," he says. "I just hope that it's something I can continue to shine more and more light on so that it's just more common knowledge."

In:
• Disabilities
• Service Dogs

Nicole Brown Chau

Nicole Brown Chau is an associate managing editor for push and platforms on CBS News' Growth and Engagement team. She has previously reported on local New York City news, politics and crime.