[nagdu] Critical blind people

[Cathryn Bonnette]

Hi Rox - thanks for responding. I'm trying to recall if I've gotten many
direct responses from this list. A few, I think, and sometimes I'm
distracted and don't get back to them. Anyway, I would like to learn sign
language, and given the way my eyes are currently NOT working, I would have
to learn it tactually. OK, cannot juggle any more balls in the air at
present, but to be continued. . .  
On the topic of getting lost easily-
A few years ago, I went shopping with my mom in Ann Arbor to a medium sized
mall in daylight. She was normally sighted, drove us there in her own car,
and found a parking place. After we shopped for a few hours, we went to find
the car. To my astonishment she wandered around for 2 and one half hours
looking for her own car that she parked in a not so big place!!!
(Unfortunately, I figured she knew what she was doing, so I hadn't asked any
questions or taken note of where the car was parked before we went inside.)
So much for the capabilities of some not deafblind persons!/smile/  
Abby is definitely not a great help with balance- though she has learned to
plant her feet and stand firm when I start to trip etc. On a good day when
she has a healthy appetite, Abby weighs in at approximately 63 lbs. My vet
says she looks good although she started out as a "50 lb. shepherd".  I am
5'8'', and I need about 20 more lbs.- all of it in leg length!!!! I work out
with Abby including games of "tug of war" where I make her pull against me
using her back legs. Once she gained 4 lbs. in a month, and the vet told me
it was all muscle! 
On the topic of insects being scrutinized, I think you should take an
autograph book next time. Then when you have their attention, you can hold
up the book and offer to give out autographs. They will think that you are
already a seleb and line up!/lol/ 
My comparison is the stares that I am told I get from other movie goers when
Abby and I go to a movie theater. I just turn a half circle as though I am
taking them all in, and announce that Abby watches the movie, and I have
20/20 hearing. /grin/ They laugh.  That seems to "break the ice", the
staring stops,  and we all go inside as human beings, or at least that is
what I like to think happens. 

All right, I have procrastinated long enough. The laundry waits! 

Thanks much for taking the time to read this. I am enjoying getting
acquainted.

Be well.

Cathryn (& Abby)


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of The Pawpower Pack
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 8:25 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Critical blind people

Hi Cathryn,
Ahhh, someone who is as experienced in the art of getting lost as I  
am!  Good to know I'm not alone.  In addition to being Deafblind, I  
have an inner ear/vestibular disorder which makes my life yet more  
interesting because at times I can't tell where I am in space.  I  
can't tell up from down and can, as my husband can attest, get lost in  
my house or yard because I literally can't tell where I am.  I may  
think I'm turning left, may intend to go that way but instead my body  
turns right only it feels like I'm going left.  This makes things  
extra fun, so I've taught my dogs to let me hold their collar and  
guide me to a place to sit down.  I use a walker in the home but my  
dog acts as the walker when in harness-- good thing I have a tall  
Doberman! LOL

I'm glad to know others are using the find cue and find it useful.  I  
have seen this cue misused, as an example, a dog/handler team who  
rarely goes out of their home area and they're now at a national  
convention.  The handler doesn't know where the elevator is, so cues  
the dog over and over, "find the elevator."
To the dog, who has only generalized this cue to the one or two  
elevators he usually frequents, he can't figure out what to do and the  
handler gets frustrated and begins correcting.  I think it can be a  
valuable cue to teach, but the dog should have a thorough and  
systematic exposure to several different types of elevators over a  
period of time before the cue should be asked for in an unfamiliar  
environment with such high distractions.


To be fair, I get my fair share of ignorance from the sighted as well  
who can't seem to figure out that a person can be both deaf and blind  
and who stare at me like I'm the star act at the circus.  I went to an  
outdoor concert with an interpreter and they were interpreting Cheryl  
Crow.  People had gotten out their video cameras and were pointing  
them at me.  Between songs, my interpreter said that Cheryl Crow could  
walk through this crowd buck naked and nobody would notice because  
they're all staring at me.  After the concert was over, and I was  
trying to find a bathroom, about ten people came up to me and went on  
and on about how amazing, inspirational, and just all around beautiful  
it was that I could go to a concert and enjoy it.  I felt like a  
particularly large and interesting specimen of insect that people just  
couldn't help staring at and studying.
Everywhere I go, people stare because I use American Sign Language  
tactually and have the dog and usually my braille note or a book of  
braille crossword puzzles.  People just can't figure me out and they  
think it gives them the right to stare.
Good thing my friends and interpreters find it as funny as I do. lol

Rox and the Herbal HenchHounds
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point  
out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half- 
wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."-- Neil Gaiman
http://www.pawpowercreations.com/retreat.html
pawpower4me at gmail.com
AIM: Brissysgirl

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