[nagdu] Do's and Don't's

[The Pawpower Pack]

Hi Joy,

I do travel quite a bit on my own.  When I am in airports I use a  
small bluetooth keyboard and my braille note to communicate with  
airline workers, TSA workers and the like.  Sometimes, if I'm packing  
a lot of valuable things or if I just feel like I need to, an American  
Sign Language interpreter comes with me.

I cross roads on my own using some remaining vision, a tactile mini  
guide which is a hand-held device which uses ultrasonic vibration to  
detect things in my path including moving cars.  Also my dog has had  
quite a bit of extra traffic training.  My biggest problem is  
miscounting streets and being unable to tell small intersections from  
huge major 6 lane ones.
I hope that a use of a GPS will assist with this, but I'm still trying  
to figure out the best system for me.

I can't believe someone told your friend to never cook or make  
coffee.  That is just silly.  There are so many adaptive techniques  
one can use to successfully complete these tasks.  Well, I must admit  
that I don't make coffee because I don't drink it so I tend to forget  
the amount of ground beans to water and it ends up either being very  
weak or so strong that it'd bring a dead man back to life.

Has your friend thought of contacting the HKNC; Helen Keller National  
Center for Deafblind people; they're in New York but have  
representatives all over the country.  I am in Louisiana but my rep is  
in tx but he comes to visit me and such.  You don't have to know ASL  
to get help from them; they also work with people who are hard of  
hearing and who use speech.

As for dogs on the table; my youngest dog, Laveau has not been trained  
to help with table tasks because she still likes to counter surf and  
it's important for them to understand that the table is at my  
direction only.  I'm waiting for her optional brain module to arrive,  
then we can commence with this type of training.

She is a fantastic guide and her house manners have improved ten fold  
from when I got her as a puppy, but she still has a ways to go.   
However, Mill'E, my seven-year-old golden does retrieve objects from  
the table.  I have a vestibular disorder which means that I am pretty  
much very dizzy all of the time.  We have found, through much trial  
and error, and mess-making that it is better and less messy if I go  
stand by the fridge and have Mill'E bring me things that need to go in  
there, like the jug of milk which she grabs by the handle, or a loaf  
of bread which she will grab by the top of the bag.  Then I go to the  
sink and she brings me the dishes and silver.  This way I don't drop  
things, or fall or if I do fall I can catch myself easier without  
having to worry about things in my hands.

Rox and the Kitchen Bitches

Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"Life breaks us all, but afterwards, many of us are strongest at the  
broken places." -- Ernest Hemingway
  pawpower4me at gmail.com

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