[nagdu] Re New Member

Tue Jun 15 19:13:49 UTC 2010

Hi there. 
What you need to do is explain to this doctor why you'd need a dog that
being able to see or not doesn't mean that if you are in the can't see
camp that you just sit at home, it does mean that you can't see. 
I'd explain to him using the same words you've used here. 
Know too, that if you do not feel like you are getting competent and
compassionate care, he does havea medical liscense and he won't want to
loose it. Go to whoever liscenses him and report him. 
To me, he made an inappropriate comment re the "Why do you want to be
blind" and "The man goes everywhere even to his kid's ballgames". He
needs to know that these comments are inappropriate and you may need to
be the one to convey this first using your words then by getting the
liscensing board involved. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Gail
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:03 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Re New Member

Thank you for the vote of confidence! 

Yes, this state doctor is rather daunting and frightening to me, in how
he
acts. And the reason I worry about what he says is because I am on
medicaid,
and he is *the* one to determine this, being the State doctor for this.
When
I asked what the results were from other Humphries and similar tests, he
goes 'why do you want to be blind? You arent even close to being even
legally blind (he and another doctor told me my visual field is below
the
minimum for the legal blindness requirement.), that he has a patient
with RP
and a field of view pinhole sized,'but he isnt legally blind, and goes
everywhere, even his kids ball games'. I was like 'whaaaat?!' if that
isnt
blind to him, I'm sunk. 

For how well I see...I can read regular books(with good glasses, or
sometimes putting storebought reading glasses on top of them), use my
PC,
(with the text cranked up to large, and often using the magnifier on my
mouse). But when I go outside, eek. Not fun, to say the least. I can see
where I am going, but no depth perception, and not knowing what is
coming in
from the sides, makes me afraid as I never was with my dogs. As for
trusting
my dog's judgement, even with my crazy Anja, she was an excellent judge
of
when I hadnt eaten and would either forcibl lead me to a bench, or a
checkout counter when I could get a drink and a nosh.(a med I was taking
at
the time was making me hypoglycemic). 

You mention the schools 'doing eye exams'...I hadnt heard of that? They
send
you to a doctor they know? But I can say with confidence, if a tester
were
to come from a school and run me through the Juno test, I would pass
that
well. Well, after they told me their system of commands. I'm used to
working
with a dog, and have missed it so much. 

Gail 

-------Original Message------- 

From: Elizabeth Rene 
Date: 6/15/2010 12:59:38 PM 
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org 
Subject: [nagdu] Re New Member 

Dear Gail, 

Fear not. 

Don't fret over the possible result of any one eye test. And don't let 
Anyone bully you by asking," What do you mean: do you want to be blind?"

That person isn't partnering your husband or parenting your children.
You 
Are. You have the right to anything that will strengthen you for the
life 
You're living. 

The fact that you fear going outside without the help of a dog or a cane

Says it all. You need a guide dog, and you need the confidence that
would 
Come with some skilled O&M instruction. Neither of these have to exclude

The other, and guide dog school can help with both. 

The point of the eye examination done by guide dog schools is to
determine 
Whether you could benefit from a dog guide, and to help determine
whether 
You could trust your dog's judgment, and not second guess him (though, I

Think, sometimes a little usable vision can help you to understand why
your 
Dog is disobeying a command--exercising intelligent disobedience). 

>From my experience, I don't think that either GDA or GDB would deny you

Admission based on anything you have written about your vision or lack
of 
Formal O&M instruction. They would be interested in whether you could
allow 
Your dog to guide you. I have quite a bit of usable vision, though my 
Electroretinagraph has been flat since 1990. 

I was born with what was diagnosed in the late 80's as cone dystrophy,
and 
Delayed getting my first guide dog until age 27, because I believed one
had 
To be totally blind to qualify. I was wrong. I was first attracted to
GDB 
In 1977 because of their willingness to work with my usable sight,
provided 
That I would entrust myself to my dog's guidance. 

The remaining sight that I do have has never stood in the way of my
getting 
Subsequent dogs, either from GDB or GDA. 

At worst, or, depending on your perspective, at best, you may be asked
to 
Wear a sleep shade or put translucent tape over your own glasses, so
that 
You can get used to trusting your dog as a guide, during the first week
or 
So of training. 

As a sidelight, I want to tell a story of an exercise that we did at GDA
one

Afternoon last July when it was too hot to train outside (it was about
106 
Degrees that day). All of us who had any sight to speak of were asked to

Don glasses covered with tape. The totally blind didn't need these. Then

An obstacle course was set up in the main corridor. Each of us was asked
to 
Go down that hall, first with our canes, then with our dogs. We were
timed 
to see how long it took to get through the obstacles with a cane, then
with 
a dog. This was done for fun, and not as a test. No one got hurt, and no

one got upset, though at least one class member was newly blind. WE all 
supported one another and cheered each other on through the exercise.
The 
interesting fact that emerged was that even the most seasoned cane user 
among us cut her travel time through the obstacles in half with her dog!

Every one of us got through the maze about twice as fast with our dogs.
I 
still grin to remember this. 

Gail, you deserve not to be afraid. You deserve the confidence, the 
competence, the independence, and the joy that a guide dog can bring
into 
your life. 

Call GDA, GDB, or any other school that attracts you, and start the 
application process. 

Call today. 

You owe it to yourself. 

Happy tails. 

Elizabeth 

_______________________________________________ 
nagdu mailing list 
nagdu at nfbnet.org 
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org 
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nagdu:

http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/deerskin%40oct.ne
t

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nagdu:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/rebecca.pickrell%
40tasc.com