[nabs-l] A Couple More Travel Questions...

Tue Dec 10 22:48:14 UTC 2013

This wouldn't help with getting to a seat in a restaurant or in a 
classroom but what I do for long, complex routes that I travel 
often is write down the directions. Then, if I'm traveling this 
route and get distracted or take a wrong turn, I can refer to my 
written directions and find my path again. Also, for finding 
seats in crowded places, it's not always necessary to know 
exactly where your seat is. In my experience, it's relatively 
easy to find the door of a restaurant or classroom based on the 
sounds of people coming and going or the feel of the air.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 9 Dec 2013 21:52:24 -0700
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Couple More Travel Questions...

Apologies for the premature send. What I was saying was that I've
tried to make a conscious effort to pay extra attention to the 
last
part of a route since that's the first part of the return route. 
Also
if you can get close, even if you mess up a step, you can often 
still
figure it out by looking for other clues. For example, if trying 
to
find the door and you get close enough, you may be able to feel 
cold
air coming in through the door or notice sound changes that 
signal you
are near the door. However, I've learned that sometimes I just 
have to
request a little assistance if I get turned around. I suspect 
that the
mental-mapping problems you describe are quite common and that 
most of
us have experienced them at least occasionally.

Regarding your second question, usually if I want someone to give 
me
directions rather than guiding it's because I want to learn the
directions for future reference if I go to the place again or at 
least
to be able to find my way back independently. I will often say 
"thanks
but I would rather you give me directions so I can try to learn 
how to
get there for next time I  go there" or some such. Most people 
accept
this. If I am going somewhere I know I  will not be returning to, 
then
I will usually accept an escort if that is offered because it is 
more
convenient and there is less need for me to learn where I  am 
going if
I won't be going there again. I think many sighted  people just 
don't
have faith in their own ability to give directions and they think 
the
best way for them to help is by escorting or guiding.
When I first got out of training I worried a lot about losing my
skills if I accepted too much sighted guide or other assistance. 
Over
the years I've learned that the skills really don't go away that 
fast.
I can spend a week or two at my parents' or my in-laws' house 
(where
I'm really not traveling much of anywhere)  and then be able to 
pick
up the independent travel right away at the airport coming home. 
I
think it would take several years of no travel at all for those 
skills
to dry up considerably. As long as you are traveling 
independently on
a periodic basis, I think it is fine to occasionally accept 
assistance
or go somewhere without paying close attention to the route. I 
think
the more important thing is to be able to get where you  want to 
go in
an efficient way and to be able to handle problems as they come 
up.

Best,
Arielle

On 12/9/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
 Hi Kerri,

 I've frequently experienced both the situations you describe. 
The
 first often happens to me if I get distracted while trying to 
map a
 route. This is especially likely at the end of the route like 
when I'm
 about to sit down at the table at a restaurant or in my seat in 
a
 classroom. Unfortunately, if you forget the last step in the 
route
 that step is usually the first step for the return trip, so this 
can
 make mapping out the return route particularly difficult. I've 
tried
 to make a more conscious effort

 On 12/9/13, Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com> wrote:
 Hi Everyone:

 First, I want to thank everyone for responding to my last post a
 couple of weeks ago. You have no idea how much your responses 
helped
 me. It truly made me feel better and encouraged me to know I am 
not
 alone and others struggle as well. Your responses also made me 
think
 about a lot of things, and made me realize how I could push 
myself
 more.
 I have a couple more questions. One thing I worked hahrd on in
 training but still majorly struggle with is mental mapping. For 
me,
 mental mapping is thinking about and really paying attention to 
where
 I am going and the turns I make.
 What often happens though is that if I am in a restaurant or 
somewhere
 I will do well mental mapping part of where I need to go but 
will
 forget one little detail. Then, because of that one little 
detail I
 forget I will often get lost.
 For example, if I am in a restaurant and I follow the hostess to 
my
 seat I will often forget a turn or something and will get lost 
when
 trying to find the door once it is time to leave.
 Another example is if I am somewhere and I try to find the 
bathroom
 often I will find the bathroom and then mess up getting back and 
find
 myself lost unable to find my seat.
 Or, I will go somewhere with someone and when we arive they will 
give
 me good directions and I'll again remember most of it but then 
when it
 is time to leave I will forget one little turn or thing and I'll 
go
 the wrong way.
 This makes me feel very embarrassed and awkward. I wish I had 
better
 mental mapping skills and these types of things didn't happen. I
 realize travel is not perfect, but I think in my mind I still 
feel
 awkward and embarrassed when I get lost or don't know where to 
go.
 Do others struggle with this mental mapping thing? Is it common 
to
 forget one little thing when you aren't familiar with somewhere 
and
 get lost?
 What do you do in these situations and how do you keep from 
feeling
 negative about them?
 When I was in training if this happened the next day I would 
have
 another travel class and would do something else and so would 
easily
 move on and make up for whatever mistake I made the day before.
 However, now that I don't get nearly as much practice and
 oppportunities, when I don't do well mental mapping I feel 
negative.
 Do you just have to tell yourself you will try harder next time 
and
 laugh it off?
 Another thing I struggle with is when I go to say a basketball 
game or
 the mall or somewhere by myself sometimes I want/need someone to 
show
 me where something is and or walk me to my seat and other times 
if
 something is nearby I just want to get directions and try to
 explore/find it on my own. I notice when I try to ask people to 
give
 me directions though they often insist I walk with them or they 
take
 me to where I am trying to go. This is sometimes fine, but I 
think it
 would help my confidence a lot if sometimes I could just get
 directions and try to go on my own.
 When I was in training if i asked directions and the person 
wanted to
 take me I would say"I am sorry but I am in training. I'm 
supposed to
 just get directions."
 However, now that I am not in training anymore when I try to ask 
for
 directions and the person insists on taking me or walking with 
me I
 don't know what to say. I'm not in training anymore so...
 How do you handle this? Should I say something like "Actually, 
thank
 you but I am trying to work on some skills I learned. Please 
just give
 me directions."
 What do you say to people so you can just get directions?
 Thanks,
 Kerri

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