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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Justin, Maybe you should stick to what you know. No, guide dog schools don’t benefit from bad Caine users. No, guide dog schools don’t benefit from negative anything. Don’t knock it till you try it for a few years. Beth <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> CT-NFB [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Justin Salisbury via CT-NFB<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, September 18, 2017 2:27 PM<br><b>To:</b> NFB of Connecticut Mailing List <ct-nfb@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT@alumni.ecu.edu><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Ct-nfb] I liked the sentence she said about stupid questions people ask her.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>I know that guide dog schools and their proponents benefit from negative portrayals of white cane usage, but it must be recognized that better cane travel instruction could also empower her for greater independence.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Justin M. Salisbury, MA, NOMC, NCRTB, NCUEB</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Legislative Committee Chair</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Honolulu Chapter</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Email: <a href="mailto:President@Alumni.ECU.edu">President@Alumni.ECU.edu</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>LinkedIn: </span><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury"><span style='color:blue'>https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury</span></a> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>William Butler Yeats<br><br><br></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> CT-NFB [<a href="mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org">mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Elizabeth Rival via CT-NFB<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, September 18, 2017 7:09 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List' <<a href="mailto:ct-nfb@nfbnet.org">ct-nfb@nfbnet.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> Elizabeth Rival <<a href="mailto:erival@comcast.net">erival@comcast.net</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> [Ct-nfb] I liked the sentence she said about stupid questions people ask her.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Sonja Gunn: Finding the Joy</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Raising kids is hard. Raising three kids is harder. Raising triplets and navigating the world with a white mobility cane – well, that was just life for Oregon native Sonja Gunn. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>“It has its challenges,” she laughs. “I think people look at our situation and think, ‘Thank God that’s not me.’” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn laughs easily and often and exudes a sense of calm and delight. This is a woman who finds the joys in life. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>“I’ve always had an easy-going personality,” she says, even after her vision loss was first diagnosed at age 7, with what her doctor described as “macular degeneration.” (Since then, her vision impairment has been categorized as retinitis pigmentosa, specifically, cone-rod dystrophy.) </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>She pauses a moment when asked what it was like growing up visually impaired. “That’s a hard one to answer,” she finally says. “My parents told me my vision loss was dramatic, but for me it was not.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn went to school in the days before the Americans with Disabilities Act, but her parents were able to arrange the accommodations she needed to do her schoolwork – at first, large print, but by high school, books on tape. “I had two older siblings, so my parents were already familiar with the teachers.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>In junior high school, she could no longer participate in gym class, which consisted primarily of ball sports. “I had to convince the principal to let me do activities outside the school, like swimming,” she says. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>And art. “I was a cartoonist, the blind girl who could draw,” she laughs. “It gave me some respect from the other kids.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn enjoyed drawing and thought about going to art school, but, she says, “I had to be practical.” She attended Oregon State University and majored in dietetics and nutrition. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>In college, Gunn befriended a woman who was also visually impaired. “We memorized everything,” she says, because they didn’t want their fellow students to know they were blind. “We were young women [who wanted] to blend into the sighted world.” They made sure, however, that their professors and advisors were aware of their vision impairment. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>She and her friend refused to use white mobility canes, but eventually, the need was too great. “You want to live on your own, but living in a bustling city, you need the help,” Gunn says. But it also brought exasperation. “Having a cane is like holding up a big sign: ‘Ask me stupid questions.’”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Although Gunn received her bachelor’s in dietetics and nutrition, she did not become a registered dietician. Instead, after college, she went to massage school, thinking, “I could do this to make money.” This prompts another laugh: “It is a cliché that blind people become massage therapists, but I found it so fun and rewarding. For me, it was a way to be clinical but in a nicer setting.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn opened her own practice, but after she got married and her triplets came along – two boys and a girl – she “retired” to become a stay-at-home mom. “I had the babies, and I didn’t want to go anywhere,” she says. “I was home all the time.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#941200'>Three kids and a cane</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn has been a proficient cane user for more than 20 years, but when her kids started kindergarten, cane travel was no longer as helpful as it used to be. “I got busy, busy, busy,” she says, as she started volunteering at their school. “I was spending so much time maneuvering through the campus and fields and doorways.” She found she was bumping into poles and other things on the school grounds. Just when she needed to speed up, she was slowing down. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Although the thought of a guide dog had been in her mind since her college days, Gunn began to seriously consider a dog about five years before she took up the harness. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>She had experienced some rapid changes in her vision during that time – “I’ve had sudden loss, then you get used to that for a while, and it suddenly changes again,” she says. Still, she wanted to wait until her children were in the third grade. When they reached that milestone, she told herself: “This is the time, Sonja.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn was already familiar with guide dogs. “I had lots of girlfriends who have guide dogs, so I had background with their experiences.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>She began her search in April 2014, making calls and interviewing different schools to find the one that suited her best. When she did her research on the Guide Dog Foundation, “I had a really good feeling about this school.” Everyone she dealt with “was welcoming and encouraging,” and she liked our training methods. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn also appreciated that the on-campus class was two weeks only. “When you have little kids, it’s hard to get away for a month,” she says. “When I put all the things together, I said, ‘I’d like to go to New York. I’d really like to get my dog from the Foundation.’” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>In August, she was invited to join the September class. It could not have come at a worse time. Gunn’s husband works for a local utility and is responsible for maintaining its substations. During the summer, they hire between six and 10 contractors to make necessary repairs at each station. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>At first he asked her not to go, but then, she says, “He rearranged all the contractors and their schedules. It was very sweet.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#941200'>Ready. Set. Go!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>The day students arrive for class, they begin their training, with orientation to the building and a lecture. The next day, they meet their new guide dogs, and training begins in earnest. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn could not have been more pleased with the match the instructors made for her. “I was slowing down with a cane, so I was hoping a guide dog would move me forward. They matched me with a dog who’s got a calm nature but a fast walker.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>She really liked, she adds, “that we were on the move, with lots and lots of work. I didn’t want too much sitting and waiting. It was fast-paced, which is who I am.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>After the first day on campus, guide dog training primarily takes place in the real world: in parks and malls, on suburban streets, and even in New York City, with its crowded subways and frenetic streets. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>At the end of the two-week class, Gunn was ready to return home with her dog and put into action all she had learned during training. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#941200'>New confidence</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Gunn and her guide dog have been partners for almost three years, and she makes sure to keep up with his training.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>“Just being at the side of a guide dog and having them move you through things without even knowing they’re there is just wonderful for me,” she says. “I can move fast, I can hold my head up and have good posture. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>“All those things are important because now I feel much better about going places on my own,” she adds. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>The upcoming school year will mean more changes to the Gunn household. The triplets are almost 12 and will be starting middle school, Gunn reports. “They’re excited, and it will bring new challenges to our family. We’ll be busier than before.” </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>And by her side will be her guide dog, keeping her calm and focused and ready to go. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Photos: </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>(1) A woman dressed in a red sleeveless blouse and gray shorts walks along the side of a road, holding the harness of a black Labrador Retriever. The caption reads: Sonja and her guide dog taking a walk around her neighborhood. <i>Photo courtesy Sonja Gunn</i></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>(2) Sonja, dressed in a pink T-shirt, blue jeans, and wearing a blue visor navigates around an obstacle on the Foundation campus. The caption reads: Learning to go around obstacles as a team. <i>Photo by Rebecca Eden</i></span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>