[nagdu] another perspective

Sun Feb 22 21:50:57 UTC 2009

Haben,

    Just out of curiosity about what sight you still have:
1. Is it stable? That is, are you 99% sure that it is not going to get 
worse?
2. Do you know and not try to push the limits of your vision?

Nicole

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] another perspective

I have the interesting experience of being told by several staff at the
Louisiana Center for the Blind that it might be a good idea for me to
get a guide dog. Indeed, one of the staff actually said that if he were
in my situation he would get a guide dog. As well as being legally
blind, I am partially deaf. I struggled to listen to traffic during cane
travel classes at LCB when I was required to wear sleepshades. Too often
there was a car coming that I could not hear. Outside of classes I could
use the little vision I have in combination with my hearing to help me
get across streets. I do much better when I am allowed to use this
vision, but it's still not perfect, not as safe as it could be. Some
intersections are too large for me to either see or hear the cars on the
other side. So, many of the staff at the NFB center felt that I might be
safer crossing streets with a guide dog.

I can't say what the staff at LCB would have done if I had come to the
center with a guide dog. However, I do know that they consider each
student's individual case to see if they need to make reasonable
adjustments to the program for that student, or if the program is even
appropriate for that student.

Haben

the Pawpower Pack wrote:
> Julie,
>
> Thanks for bringing up this topic.  I am blind and profoundly deaf
> with a vestibular disorder which makes it impossible to bend to
> retrieve dropped objects or do things like empty the dryer.  I can't
> use a cane and be safe, and that is just that.  How could someone like
> me attend a center if my dog who is not only my eyes, but my ears and
> my balance and my ability to walk upright in a straight line is forced
> to be in another room away from me?
>
> I depend so much on my dog that I have two.  No they do not work out
> in public together at the same time, yes I switch them out and if one
> has worked with me outside the home all day, the other does things for
> me when I am home.  Things like alerting me to door bells, phones,
> microwave timers, emptying the dryer, retrieving dropped objects,
> helping me in and out of the bath tub.  I can't imagine getting
> through eight hours in a day without a dog.  I wouldn't be very
> independent.  Also it would be very frightening for a D/deaf/HOH
> person to be without a hearing dog to alert to smoke alarms.  People
> may say that of course someone will come and alert the person with
> hearing loss but I have found that this doesn't really work and in the
> rush and hustle to get outside the D/deaf/HOH person is forgotten about.
> I wouldn't want to put myself in that kind of situation because I was
> not allowed to use a dog.
>
>
> Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
> Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD and Laveau guide dog, CGC.
> Do not meddle in the affaires of dragons, for you are crunchy and
> taste good with ketchup.
>
>  pawpower at cox.net
>
> MSN: Brisomania at Hotmail.com
> AIM: Brissysgirl Yahoo: lillebriss
>
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