[nabs-l] First O/M lesson

[Rania]

that sounds like the kind of instruction I had in high school. I had lessons 
something like once every 2 weeks. I feel I got a lot more out of it when I 
went to BISM because when I was in high school all she did with me was teach 
me a root that I never used. Looking back that was pointless.
Rania,
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jamie Principato" <blackbyrdfly at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] First O/M lesson


> You sound like you're describing my old O/M instructory as well as the two
> instructors I met prior to him and blatantly refused to work with for what 
> I
> felt were very good reasons. That's every O/M instructor I've ever met
> The NFB, in my opinion, has an excellent idea of how O/M *should* work, 
> and
> from what I've heard they put it to extremely good using at their centers
> for the blind. But to anyone's knowledge, has the NFB made any recent
> efforts to take their philosophy further than teaching O/M skills to the
> blind? Has anything been done to address this at it's core, at the
> universities that educate and train the O/M instructors themselves?
>
> On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 3:53 PM, Jim Reed <jim275_2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey all,
>>
>> I just had my first O/M lesson under sleepshades, and I was not 
>> impressed.
>> I am not convinced
>> that my O/M instructor has the time, skill, or proper additude towards
>> blindness to
>> teach me what I need/want to know. My goal of O/M training is to be
>> able to safely travel and navigate non-visually anywhere I want/need to
>> go in Billings (or anywhere else for that matter).
>>
>> Given
>> the goals I just mentioned, I told/asked my O/M instructor  to teach me
>> under sleepshades, and I asked her to teach me universal
>> travel and navigation skills, rather than teaching me specific routes.
>> Before I could turn
>> around twice, she is teaching me a specific route to campus. Then, even
>> though I was under sleepshades for the purposes of learning non-visual
>> techniques, she insisted that I take off my blindfold nearly every
>> block so that I could check out the terrain ahead, and she also made me
>> take off my sleepshades quite frequently so that I could visually see
>> the landmarks that she was pointing out. I must have took off and put
>> on those sleepshades about 20 times during the lesson. There were also
>> two times where she told me to take off my sleepshades and walk with
>> her, "so that we can find the best route visually". I think I probably
>> walked 4-5 blocks without my sleepshades on. I'm sorry, but I don't need 
>> a
>> lesson on sighted O/M, I've
>> been doing that since birth. And what the hell good does it do me to
>> see a landmark visually that I may not be able to see visually when I
>> am walking to school at night? Additionally, she wasn't letting me
>> figure out anything for myself. She was telling me of all the landmarks
>> that were around, she was telling me everytime there were bushes
>> sticking out into the sidewalk, or trees overhanging it, she was
>> telling me everytime there was a bench, lightpost, sign, or any other
>> obstacle in my way, and she kinda made a gasping sound everytime I
>> approached a curb at full speed. She was doing all of this before I
>> even had the chance to detect the obstacle with my cane, and she was
>> doing all of this without having seen me run into anything; I guess she
>> just assumed that I would not/did not have the skills to be able to
>> detect and avoid obstacles on my own.
>>
>> Towards the end of the
>> lesson I got sick of her pointing out where every curb was, and I told
>> her that she wasnt doing me any favors by pointing out every curb. She
>> seemed to be taken by suprize at this, and she said something like
>> "fine, I'll let you walk off the curb". Whenever we get our next lesson
>> I intend to tell her to stop pointing out every little obstaclle, and I
>> intend to leave the sleepshade on for the duration of the lesson.
>>
>> Additionally,
>> I asked my O/M instructor  if she herself actually gets under a 
>> sleepshade
>> and
>> travels. Her response was, " I was trained under a sleepshade, but I
>> havent been under one for years." A blind friend of mine (who wants to
>> become an O/M instructor) made a good point that I am begining to agree
>> with, she said, "if your O/M
>> instructor can't/won't travel under a sleepshade, then she really
>> doesnt have any buisness teaching O/M. All the theoretical knowledge
>> learned in O/M masters programs are nice, but without practical
>> application of the theoretical knowledge, she will never be as good of
>> an O/M instructor as her counterparts who routinely practices or works
>> with clients under sleepshades."
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> "From compromise and things half done,
>> Keep me with stern and stubborn pride,
>> And when at last the fight is won,
>> ... Keep me still unsatisfied." --Louis Untermeyer
>>
>>
>>
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