[nagdu] An O&M self teachig site

[Gail]

Hello! 
 
Yes, I know the best thing to do is to have a teacher, and believe me, I
would by far prefer that! But as far as I have found so far, all the old
State instructors were fired, and in the weeks I have been searching, I have
not found even one who is still working. I have a list of phone numbers as
long as your arm, that I've been calling, including orgs like Envision, but
every single one has the person on the other end who says 'I'm going to
start checking around and I will get right back to you tomorrow/in a day or
two/fill in the blank time frame. When I call back, they all say the same
thing -"still looking", sounding peeved I didnt trust them to call back. 

About the street corners- we live in a very small Kansas town, and in our
whole county, there is only one stop light! <g> So all corners are 
unprotected'. And yes, they give me the willies, along with the fact that on
some streets, there is no sidewalk, very few crosswalks (and even fewer
drivers who give a turkey if someone is in one...a fact that really is scary
 because those drivers are mostly semi drivers, or half drunk kids). Even
walking from here to church will be a nightmare of crumbled sidewalks, curb
cuts full of sand (guess I can use that as a signal I'm at a corner, after
all! <G>) and crazed kids who shouldnt be let behind a wheel till they are
old enough to have to pull a long white beard out of the way, and throw
their crutches in the back seat before getting in the car.
 
What makes this hunt for an O&M teacher bad is that every guide dog school
insists that I have professional O&M before they will take me, which is
beginning to limit me down to the only school in the country that teaches it
as well as training you with your new dog. And I **really** dont want to go
there, unless forced by no other option. I cant handle working outside in
Midwest weather, in any season, summer or winter, because of my asthma. But
if I have to, I'll bite the bullet and hope the school will realise though I
m 50, I am more like someone 10 or 20 years older, when it comes to walking
speed.

Just hope I can find an O&M teacher first....rrrrr!

Gail
~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Message: 10 
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:07:07 -0400 
From: "Ann Edie" <annedie at nycap.rr.com> 
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
Subject: Re: [nagdu] An O&M self teachig site 
 
 
Hi, Gail, 
 
Dona Saurerburger is a well known O&M instructor, and the site looks very 
Good and packs lots of good information. The self-study guide you posted 
The link to is designed to help O&M instructors teach their blind students 
How to cross streets where there is no traffic light or stop sign. It is 
Not meant for blind persons as a self study guide for O&M skills. While you 
May gain some very useful information from this site and this study guide, I

Wouldn't advise starting with this particular information, since crossing 
Streets where there is no traffic control mechanism is a rather advanced O&M

Skill. But if there is contact information on this site, you might want to 
Write to Dona and ask her for other resources that might be more appropriate

For your purposes. 
 
Best of luck, 
Ann