[nagdu] Drop-offs

Wed Apr 22 19:57:06 UTC 2009

Rebecca,

I've been asking myself the same question since my blindness reached the
point where I needed to ask for assistance.  /smile/  There are still days I
have to work myself over to ask a question or to ask for something I would
not have thought twice about a few years ago.  Irrational, I know, but there
it is.  Heck, I've caught myself being unable to say, "Please pass the salt"
at the dinner table.  Don't worry!  I'm pretty much over it. /smile/

In my experience, the reactions of others over simple requests can really
reinforce that reluctance to ask for anything.  When you're used to being
passed the salt when you ask for it in the socially prescribed way and end
up getting and angry rant -- and an absolute refusal of salt! -- instead...
One doesn't want to experience that again.  The salt is just an example off
the top of my head, but I have experienced those types of reactions before.
Very odd, especially since they invariable come from some total stranger I
haven't had the opportunity to offend or injure or even breathe on.  Good
grief!

People who do know me, just pass me the salt when I ask for it. /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Pickrell, Rebecca M (IS)
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:43 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Drop-offs

Don't ever accept anything you don't want, and that goes for anything in
any context. 
If you don't want it, just say no. 
The other question I have though is why some of us feel we can't ask for
assistance. 
Sighted folks can and do ask for assistance when needed, why
can't/shouldn't we do likewise? 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Julie J.
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 7:24 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Drop-offs

I can't help you with the publication/information question.

I did want to say that you can decline assistance without being rude.
Just say "no, thank you" in a polite but firm tone.  Most folks will be
respectful of your wishes.  There will be a few that don't, but I'd say
they are being rude.

HTH
Julie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew J. LaPointe" <alapointe89 at comcast.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 2:46 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Drop-offs

> Hi, sorry to post this but, I am interested in this topic.  Now, I 
> remember
> being dropped off years ago just once.  I had some usable vision then.

> Are
> there any publicationsout there that could give me some good read on
drop
> offs?  I know when I get lost, or misplaced, I have a tuff time
getting 
> back
> on track.  Sometimes, I end up with sighted assist due to here in
Salem, 
> MA.
> people come out of the woodwork to help.  The problem with that is,
you
> don't have the chance to get back on your own.  I don't want to be
rude 
> so,
> I except.  Andy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
Behalf 
> Of
> Wayne Merritt
> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:52 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Drop-offs
>
>
> There was no greater confidence boost for me than when I successfully
> returned to the Colorado Center after being dropped off on the side of
> the highway out in the middle of nowhere. Let me tell you, you don't
> really know where nowhere is until you're out in the middle of
> nowhere. Then all the rules of addresses and street patterns in a
> given city go out the window. Granted, those were in the between dog
> days, but I was also on cloud 9! When on NFB center drops, you are
> only allowed to ask one question. It might sound cruel, but by that
> point of your training, toward the end, you can do it.
>
> Wayne
>
> On 3/10/09, sblanjones11 <sblanjones11 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> I experienced a drop-off last time I was in class at Guiding Eyes.
>> There is a good bit of detective in me, and I love the exercise of
using
> my
>> clues, and working at figuring out where I am.
>> One of the things I love about working with a guide dog is, I don't
feel
>> stuck, b/c she and I keep moving.
>> With my cane, I often got stuck in places where I could hear where I
was
>> supposed to be, but couldn't get there, b/c there was a wall in the
way,
> or
>> I was inside a maze, etc.  (I experienced that in the renaisance
Center 
>> in
>> Detroit where we're going this summer) but my dog can see the logical
way
>> out, where as I might be walking around for a long time, trying to
find 
>> it
>> with my cane.
>>
>> Anyway, I admit, when I was younger, and not so patient, and
unskilled at
>> using my clues, I didn't like drop-offs very much.  Now I find them
kind
> of
>> fun, and challenging.
>> Susan & Rhoda
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Allison Nastoff
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 2:23 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Drop-offs
>>
>> Occupaws did a drop-off with me the day before my graduation.  I had
> walked
>> the sidewalks around my college where we trained countless times, but
I
>> admit the prospect of being dropped off and lost was a little scary.
I
>> think it was a valuable exercise though because getting lost
occasionally
> is
>> an inevitible part of life.  The trainer wanted to prove that if it
> happens,
>> it's not the end of the world, and he told me to start walking and
when I
>> hear a pedestrian coming, get their attention and ask them what
street 
>> I'm
>> on.  There was a lot of fumbling, and the trainer, who was watching
at a
>> distance did have to come to my rescue after a pedestrian gave me bad
>> directions.  But I think it was a great confidence builder, and a
great
>> exercise in trusting strangers.
>> Since then, I have gotten lost occasionally.  Of course when I get
myself
>> lost, it is a little easier because usually I know where I started
from,
> and
>> can figure out where I went wrong.  I used to panic when I was lost,
but
> now
>> when I am lost I think to myself, "I survived a drop-off, so I will
> survive
>> this (grin)."
>> I do think that when schools do drop-offs, students should have a
partner
>> with them.  When I had my training, the blind person who founded
Occupaws
>> came to observe some of the lessons.  Since she was there on the day
of
> the
>> drop-off the trainer had her and her guide dog accompany me.  She 
>> couldn't
>> really help me because she was unfamiliar with the area.  But there
is
>> something comforting about being lost, but not alone.
>> Allison and Gilbert
>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com
>>>To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
>> Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>Date sent: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 10:52:05 -0400
>>>Subject: [nagdu] Drop-offs
>>
>>>Someone asked me recently which schools still do "drop offs"
>> where they
>>>drive you around a familiar area until you are basically lost
>> then turn you
>>>lose to return to the lounge or van or whatever is the agreed
>> upon landmark.
>>
>>>The person asking was mortified that this was actually done at
>> some schools,
>>>including the one from which she obtained her dogs, obviously
>> prior to her
>>>time there though.
>>
>>>So, I'm pretty sure GDB still does this for most students,
>> correct? What
>>>other schools currently do "drop offs"?
>>
>>>If you've done one of these recently, would you care to share
>> your feelings
>>>about them?
>>
>>>I can tell you GDF does not do "drop offs", not since I have been
>> attending
>>>class, 1990, unless it was an individual instructor's practice
>> for some
>>>students.  They may have done it in the past though.
>>
>>>Personally, I see great value in doing this if appropriate
>> preparation is
>>>done in advance.  I'm a fan of solos too though.<grin
>>
>>>I do recall in my very first class at Pilot, our instructor did
>> such a "drop
>>>off" route, letting us out on a street, not telling us its name
>> but telling
>>>us to follow our dogs because they knew where  they were and how
>> to get back
>>>to the school.  It was only three blocks straight back but whew,
>> that trust
>>>exercise was harrowing but good in the end.  I've never done
>> another one and
>>>have always wondered how people feel about them.
>>
>>>I completely understand and appreciate anyone who has serious
>> anxiety about
>>>"drop offs".  Believe me, I hate being lost or feeling as if I
>> may be lost.
>>>So no judgment calls on liking or disliking such training
>> exercises.
>>> Jenine Stanley
>>>jeninems at wowway.com
>>
>>
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