[nabs-l] NFB Training Centers

[Harry Hogue]

Let me make a commen on skills, confidence, aptitude, and so forth.
 
Perhaps I am speaking from the position of someone who doesn't know what he is talking about because I haven't been in every possible circumstance (I do not have significant physical/mental challgnes, no hearing loss, etc), but I think the idea of a "natural cane traveler" is nonsense.  At least for me, and afterall this is where this comes for is what I hope and expect fo myself, it comes down to a matter of relaxation.  If I worry about something, my body becomes tense, and I find myself walking around that way.  If I relax, and know that what I want is possible, regardless of waht it is, then it will be.  I want to go through a cafeteria, get my plate, find a table, go back for seconds, and so forth?  Why shouldn't I, a totally blind person, do that?
 
Is it because I doubt myself?  I've never done it, so maybe I'm unsure how to do that.  The only reason someone says something is impossible is because they have never done it themselves and can't imagine how it might be done.  So if I want to do this, why shouldn't I ask questions, pay attention, not excessively to the point of strian/stress, but simply be aware, go through, ask simple questions, use common sense, and expect to do it?
It seems to me, and agin this is only from waht I have discovered within myself, that I, or someone else woudln't/coudln't do what I've jsut said for a couple of reasons.
 
1.  When they think about asking questions, going through the line, down the salad bar, etc. theyget nervous.  This nervousness, although a mental anxiety, comes out physically in their movements, and so they feel shook up, unsure of themselves, and they appear this way to other people.
 
2.  They have never done it before.  Simple, isn't it?  Well, yes, in a manner of speaking.  A bit of anxiety is normal.  Think about anything that you had never done before, then think of how you felt immediately after you did it.  There is a feeling of 1, that was not as bad as I initially thought (this is nearly almost always the case), and 2, what was I worried about?
 
Just a brief illustration.  I regularly (almost daily) go to this food court inside my university's student union.  I have a bad habbit of being nervous around sighted people--so basically am nervous anywhere.  Because of this I have a difficult time finding the counter to the food station I want, despite the fact I go there all the itme--I have this problem even still.  When, however, I make an effort to consciously relax and not be so uptight, the difficulties disappear--when I am simply aware and gently focused I find things, avoid poles, and maneuvre without a problem.
Make sense?
 
Harry

--- On Sat, 11/15/08, T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote:

From: T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] NFB Training Centers
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 11:32 PM

Sarah, let me offer most of what I wrote on another list just days ago on the
subject of what I got out of the Colorado Center for the Blind:


I am an alum of the Colorado Center, like many on this list.  I can tell you
honestly that the CCB did not teach me all of the things I learned while I was
in Colorado, but the experience put me in the right places at the right times to
leave the center a far stronger individual than I arrived.

When I first went to the CCB, I was a cluttered, disorganized "high
partial" who depended extensively upon my vision (which I already had
accepted as mostly useless).  I had accepted the label of blind, and I used a
cane, though not well.  I couldn't cook, didn't really clean up after
myself, and was afraid to cross streets in sunlight.  Busy streets made me
nervous even at night when I can see better.  I didn't know Braille, and I
had never really used tools other than for fixing computers before.

I came back from the CCB still cluttered and disorganized (it'll take more
than eight months to change that in my case!), but I now know how to clean up
after myself.  I can cook well enough to feed myself, and the food I make is
good, if simple.  I can do and have done basic home repairs on my own, and I
know that I can use the tools in a shop safely.

While I never got near the record for Braille speed, I did set the record for
fastest Braille reader who had never known Braille as an adult--165 words per
minute.  Closer to 250 if I can predict the words as on a warm read or a
Homerian epic or something.  (How many times would I have to read "wine
dark sea" before I began to read the phrase automatically?)  I can say with
certainty that I've since lost almost all of that speed because I have not
had the opportunity to practice in three month stretches over the course of
graduate school.  But you know, I can still feel the dots, if more slowly now,
and I know my contractions--I can get it back, any time I am ready.

And then there are travel skills.  I've got some of the best you'll
find anywhere.  Some blind people wield their canes with big, heavy-handed,
clumsy movements.  I use very light, highly controlled movements in a style that
is uniquely my own, developed because the way taught by Brent and Eric hurt my
hand at first.  Eric Woods showed me how to attend to distant sounds and track
information available from sometimes several blocks away.  I had a natural
talent for direction-tracking, and very sharp ears once I began learning what to
listen for, but the rest was learned.  Combined with problem-solving skills I
learned years ago and a few basic tips, it's not really a boast that I'm
one of the best travelers to come out of any training center.

Just about everything I did is achievable by any blind person who really wants
it badly enough.  There's nothing really that special about me.  It is a
testament to the NFB that a guy who is pretty clever can go from virtually no
skills to mastery level performance in just eight months.  Most state-run
centers would have told me 40 words per minute was all an adult Braille learner
could do or that there were just some intersections that aren't safe to
cross or that one thing or another just wasn't practical.

At the CCB, the usual answer to the impractical thing was, "Okay. 
That's gonna be hard, but okay.  How much are you willing to invest to make
it happen?"  My answer was whatever it took.  I won't lie to you, it
took a lot.  But I put the effort in, and look what I got for it!

I believe that what a person will get out of the Colorado Center for the Blind
is a function of what they put in to it.  The thing is, you'll always get
more out than you put in.


Hope that helps Sarah!  I will be happy to answer any questions you have.

Joseph


On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 12:17:55AM -0500, Sarah Jevnikar wrote:
> Hi all,
> I have a question. What do you learn in NFB training centers? There
isn't
> anything comparable in Canada but I'm wondering what you guys learn so
I can
> try to seek out similar opportunities here, though probably in a less
formal
> or organized setting. Who can access these centers? Are there scheduled
> classes or is a drop-in type deal?
> Thank you for your help.
> Sarah

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