[nagdu] Drop-offs

Fri Mar 13 03:35:37 UTC 2009

I burned my one question shortly after being dropped off. I started
walking down a stretch of the highway and soon cars began passing me
with the drivers calling out street names. I'm sure I must have looked
odd though, a blind guy traveling on the side of the road, but I was
traveling with purpose. Anyway, I forget how it was phrased, but
someone called out to me saying, "You're coming up to a street." And I
replied with, "Which one?" Then I immediately thought, "Damn, there
goes my question." But I made it back without incident, though it took
over 3 hours. Most of that time was spent waiting for busses. I was
smiling from ear to ear though when I entered the Colorado Center and
told of my adventures. Aside from waiting for busses, my only other
trouble was a certain woman who kept coming up to me and asking if I
knew where I was going, or offering to help by giving me information
about the environment. By the third time, I finally told her politely
but firmly that, "I'm on an assignment where I have to get back to the
training center that I attend on my own without any help. And, you're
not helping me do that." She left me alone after that. That whole
experience, of the drop off not of the woman, taught me something I
haven't forgotten since: even if you know where you are, you still
have to be able to get back to your destination.

Wayne

On 3/12/09, Dan Weiner <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net> wrote:
> Well, Wayne:
> What was your one question?
>
> Dan W
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Wayne Merritt
> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 2:52 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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