[nagdu] Giving Commands to Canes
Marion & Martin
swampfox1833 at verizon.net
Sat Feb 13 05:48:15 UTC 2010
Joy,
I guess that's the biggest negative aspect of a white cane: They don't
come when you call them. Well, I almost feel like someone might overanalyze
me, but at that risk I will say that there are three things I have never
lost: 1) My wallet; 2) my keys; and 3) my white cane! I did lose a hat on
the Philadelphia subway in 2001, but it was attached to my head! (smile)
BTW, if anyone rides the Philly subway, it was a green Panama Jack hat!
(grin)I did lose my phone the other day, though! But I found it...in my
hand! I was a teenager in 1969! 'Nuff said!
Fraternally yours,
Marion
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joy Relton" <jrelton at verizon.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Giving Commands to Canes
> So Marion,
>
> I'm curios, do either of your canes respond to those commands any better
> than mine does? I have threatened to put some sort of a sonar device on
> the
> darn thing so that I could find it, since I occasionally forget where I
> put
> it. Something I've never had to do with my dogs.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Marion & Martin
> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 5:28 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] Giving Commands to Canes
>
>
> Tami,
> I sure am glad to hear that Merry and I are not the only ones who give
> commands to our canes! (smile) Not so much now, as I have been dogless for
> about one year, but when I was working my dog and needed (or wanted) to
> use
> my cane, I know I told it "Forward!" or "Right!" more than once!
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 3:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>
>
>> Julie,
>>
>> A week or so ago when Mitzi was at the groomers, I was doing some
>> shopping and stuff with my cane. I walked into one store and stopped,
>> remembering that it is confusing in sound and in layout because of
>> counters and bins between the door and the aisles. I simply could not
>> remember how to get past that to the aisle I wanted to find. I was
>> with DD, who was looking for an assistance to show us where to go, but
>> I wanted to solve the problem on my own and get there with my cane.
>>
>> The solution finally hit me! I looked at my cane and commanded it,
>> "Find the bones!" /lol/
>>
>> Well, that is usually how I find that aisle. Mitzi loves to find
>> things, especially when it's something for her.
>>
>> Cane not so good at find. /grin/
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Julie J
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 5:49 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>>
>> I don't have any ideas on your college dormitory questions. I have
>> had to deal with the ,"but you travel so well, why do you need a
>> dog?", argument. Unfortunately there is a perception that you have to
>> be perpetually lost in
>> order to benefit from a dog. I am a very good cane traveler, but a dog
>> is
>> still my preferred means of mobility. I like that I can teach the dog
>> all sorts of additional things that a cane simply can't do. I can
>> teach the dog
>>
>> to find a counter, vehicle, chair and frequently used locations. I
>> definitely feel that travel is easier with a dog, at least it is after
>> the initial bumps get worked out. *smile*
>>
>> I just wanted to say that I can empathize with folks not understanding
>> why you might want a dog when you can travel without one. It's
>> frustrating and I haven't figured out what to say that has made any
>> difference. I'm not sure a person could understand until experiencing
>> it first hand.
>>
>> My best advice is to keep talking to your parents. It may just take
>> them some time to warm up to the idea. It is a big change. Or you
>> may need to wait a couple of years until you are at a place in your
>> life where you are able to make your own decisions.
>>
>> Good luck,
>> Julie
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mark J. Cadigan" <kramc11 at gmail.com>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 6:58 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>>
>>
>>> Thanks all of you for your suggestions. I like both the Seeing Eye,
>>> and GDB. Ware as I live in MA the Seeing Eye is a lot closer. I am a
>>> junior in
>>
>>> high school so I haven't yet decided what college I will be
>>> attending. What I do know, is I want to be in a big city with access
>>> to a good public
>>
>>> transit network such as the MBTA. I currently take the T to and from
>>> places all over Boston using my cane. Because of this independence I
>>> am having difficulty explaining to my parents that a dog would only
>>> enhance it making me a more competent, safer, and faster traveler.
>>> Have any of you
>>
>>> ever experienced complaints about your dog either shedding or
>>> smelling bad? Is this a problem with roommates in college? Like most
>>> teenagers my room is never clean for long, but it is never that
>>> messy. I always take excellent care of all my equipment, and don't
>>> see how the maintenance of a
>>
>>> dog will be a problem. My parents seem to have concerns of how I will
>>> maintain a dog in college. Any thoughts?
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 2:29 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>>>
>>>
>>>> First, where are you located? Maybe there is a guide program in your
>>>> area
>>>> which would allow you to sort of host a dog for sometime until the
>>>> guide
>>>> is
>>>> matched up with a handler. This would help to introduce your parents to
>>>> the
>>>> concepts and strength having a guide could and would lend to your
>>>> life.
>>>> You
>>>> could also let them know that their role in your life is to make you as
>>>> completely independent as possible and that the introduction of a guide
>>>> dog
>>>> into your life would do just that. you could also play on their
>>>> sympathies
>>>> by letting them know you are looking to be able to walk independently
>>>> with
>>>> friends and thereby depend less on their eyes and more so on your own
>>>> senses
>>>> coupled with the security and independence a guide would lend to your
>>>> life.
>>>> Where are you intending on going to college? If you are hoping to go
>>>> away,
>>>> your parents would need to understand that a guide would help you to
>>>> move
>>>> swiftly and securely through a campus ensuring your timely attendance
>>>> to
>>>> all
>>>> your classes. Again, maybe a talk with a teacher/principal might help
>>>> advance your crusade.
>>>>
>>>> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
>>>> CEO/Founder
>>>> My Blind Spot, Inc.
>>>> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
>>>> New York, New York 10004
>>>> www.myblindspot.org
>>>> PH: 917-553-0347
>>>> Fax: 212-858-5759
>>>> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one
>>>> who is doing it."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>> Behalf Of Mark J. Cadigan
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 2:11 PM
>>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>>>>
>>>> Dan W,
>>>>
>>>> My mom claims to be terrified of dogs, but yet we have a pet dog.
>>>> My parents claim that a guide dog will smell, then I point out that
>>>> if you take
>>>>
>>>> care of it properly it won't. Then I point out people we know with
>>>> guide dogs that don't smell. My dad's response to this is to tell
>>>> this story of his friend's son's roommate's friend had a roommate
>>>> with a smelly guide dog.
>>>>
>>>> This happened so long ago, and is so far removed from the situation
>>>> that I can't see how it possibly has any bearing on the current
>>>> situation. Also that story is so convoluted that is impossible to
>>>> verify. And the argument
>>>> goes on and on Ad nauseam. It is getting to the point that I think they
>>>> are
>>>> just attempting to exorcize there ability to make arbitrary decisions.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Dan Weiner" <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
>>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 1:33 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Well, first question is "Is the reason your parents don't support
>>>>> your idea of getting a dog that they don't like dogs?"--smile.
>>>>> Second of all, what is your parents objection, I mean presumably
>>>>> you're
>>>>> the
>>>>> one who's blind so maybe you might know a little better than they do
>>>>> whether
>>>>> a dog would enhance your lifestyle or not.
>>>>> I'm fortunate that by the time I wanted a dog, my parents had figured
>>>>> out
>>>>> I'd pretty much do what I wanted without permission, so my Dad just
>>>>> asked
>>>>> one or two feeble questions and then left it alone.
>>>>> He asked "Are you sure a dog will be worth the trouble, how do you
>>>>> know
>>>>> it'll work out."
>>>>> I explained that, never having a dog, a guide dog, that is, I'd need
>>>>> to
>>>>> find it out for myself and I really wanted to take care of the dog and
>>>>> was
>>>>> ready.
>>>>> When I got home, he admired the dog enormously. But he asked the
>>>>> second
>>>>> day
>>>>> back home if the dog really had to go out with us to breakfast. I said
>>>>> it
>>>>> did, when he seemed to balk I said "I love you Dad, and enjoy going
>>>>> out,
>>>>> but
>>>>> this is important to me and if you don't want my guide dog than I'm
>>>>> afraid
>>>>
>>>>> I
>>>>> won't be going".
>>>>> Dead silence ensued, and the issue never came up again. As a
>>>>> matter of fact, my Dad adopted my first hound after he retired and
>>>>> loved him. The dog, Grant, even went to my Dad's funeral's
>>>>> The only thing I wasn't really ready for was the access issues. Being
>>>>> the
>>>>> brilliant young man I was--smile--it never occurred to me that people
>>>>> would
>>>>> have issues with a dog, I mean access issues to public places.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, tell us more what the problem is and we'll be happy to talk
>>>>> about it. There are some folks on this list who can be very good
>>>>> role models and mentors, I wish there had been such a list when I
>>>>> started out. But, then
>>>>> I
>>>>> don't think there were such things as computer lists--smile.
>>>>>
>>>>> Good luck
>>>>>
>>>>> Dan W. and the Carter Dog
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>>> Behalf Of Mark J. Cadigan
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 1:17 PM
>>>>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>>> Subject: [nagdu] Explaining to parents that guide dogs are useful
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello list,
>>>>>
>>>>> I am new to this list, and I am thinking of getting a guide dog for
>>>>> when
>>
>>>>> I
>>>>> go to college. The only problem I am having is convincing my
>>>>> parents that a
>>>>> guide dog is a useful mobility tool. As you can probably guess, that
>>>>> is
>>
>>>>> a
>>>>> large obstacle. I am currently in high school, so I have to abide
>>>>> by my parent's wishes, or at least for now. What I am asking for is
>>>>> how best to explain to them, that guide dogs are useful mobility
>>>>> tools, that will enhance my independence rather than detract from
>>>>> it. I have given them literature, DVDs and have attempted to talk
>>>>> to them. Any instructional materiel finds its way into the circular
>>>>> file, and they change the subject
>>>>> when I talk to them. Any and all suggestions are welcome.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Mark
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> et
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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