[nagdu] Critical blind people

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Yikes! I'm blind only and use the find command all the time.  Mitzi loves
it, and she is very clever about finding things and likes to show off.  So I
use a find as a stress reducer and to give her some fun.  Also, I think it's
cool.  /grin/

In every day, this skill is not terribly necessary because I can use my
hearing to orient and all that good stuff.  But at a place like convention
in a big, confusing hotel with oodles of other blind people trying to get
unlost at the same time, the find is really, really great.  /grin/  Yeah, I
listened to the fountant and learned to recognize some other landmarks to
help myself stay oriented, but when I would manage to get turned around
anyway, the poodle dog would take me to the elevator or the door or...
She's also very good at finding restrooms!  And people she knows by name,
especially DD.  /grin/

Oh, well.  Now I know, I guess.  I'm just no good!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----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 4:14 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Critical blind people

Hi Dan,
Oh yes, I get judged quite a bit because I can't use my ears to orient  
to my environment.  I went to an NFB convention in 2006 which was held  
at the hotel in Dallas.  I got lost quite a bit and every time I'd ask  
someone for assistance, they'd invariably say, "Listen to the  
fountain, where you want to go, that's left of the fountain."
I couldn't hear the fountain at all and when I said that I was deaf, I  
got quite a few nasty comments, the most polite of which was, "well I  
can't help you, then."
Also when I ask a person for directions, and they snap their fingers  
or tap on a chair/table and say "Over here!" and then they get  
frustrated because I can't figure out where over here is, exactly.  I  
can hear people speaking if we're in a quiet place, but I can't tell  
where the person is because like you, I can't localize sound.
I've also been chastised by other blind people and guide dog program  
employees for expecting my dog to help me in convention settings by  
finding things such as the elevator, or the door outside.  I spend a  
great deal of time training this skill and I would say that my dogs  
are far more fluent in the "find" cue than most guide dogs because  
it's a necessity for them to be.  For many blind people, the find cue  
is just an added bonus.  I've been told that it is too much to expect  
my dog to find elevators or whatever and that I am going to stress my  
dog out, that I'm not taking responsibility for my part in the team  
and that my dog can't be expected to just take me where I want to go.
I do have very good O&M skills, but I'm also deaf so my needs are  
different than for most guide dog handlers who are blind only.
I get frustrated sometimes because I don't know why we can't just  
appreciate the one another's differences instead of getting upset when  
someone can't or chooses not to, do things like the majority.

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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