[nagdu] Hey Got a Question for the List

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Mark,

Catherine's points are well made! I would add that the dog's ability to
remember routes makes traveling a busy, complicated environment like a
college campus much less fatiguing.  The dog's ability to guide you around
obstacles can end up saving an awful lot of time when you're going from here
to there in a hurry.

College campuses, by my experience, anyway, seem to be rich with moving
targets and knots of people standing in the middle of the sidewalk, quad,
whatever, talking while others play music...  I love that atmosphere, but I
think the dog's ability to navigate around all that and avoid the other
scurrying students at the same time would make a huge difference for getting
around campus without losing one's sanity.  I know people who are perfectly
sane who zip about campus with their canes, but I feel frazzled just
thinking about it.  /smile/

Also, let us remember that the dog does not find every crack in the sidewalk
and jam or poke you in the gut!  I find this to be a big plus!

I have also noticed that people who are standing there trying to figure out
which way to go now and not making any noise or paying any attention to
anything else get annoyed when your cane locates them for you.  Or they
figure it out and turn suddenly into your path, and there goes the cane --
snap!  Or they trip over it while you're putting on the brakes to keep from
running into them -- laden with a heavy backpack.  Then they can't figure
out whether to yell at you to watch where you're going or to apologize you
to death.  In my opinion, their yelling and storming off is much less
time-consuming than the interminably repetitious apologizing.  I haven't had
that many such encounters, but even a near miss can result in what seems
like days of stressful politeness.  The only person who actually sort of
tripped over the cane was in as big a hurry as I was, so we both gasped out
the sorry are you all right have a nice day bit in unison and moved on.
This is my preferred scenario.  /grin/

I think I'm beginning to stretch a bit.  I'm trying to remember college days
when I was sans cane or dog but had a fair bit of tunnel vision and night
blindness going on.  Come to think of it, a cane wouldn't have hurt at all
when I was dashing across campus in the noon sun and burst into a dimly lit
building full of random groups of chatterers.  /lol/  I never thought of it,
though.  D'oh!  I never plowed into anybody, since I could navigate by sound
and manage to zip through, then I could never figure out why I got to class
feeling suddenly wrung out when I had been so peppy on the way there.  D'oh!

One factor to consider, too, is time management.  In that, I include
physical and brain energy management, as well.  Even if your VR system is
one of those that will provide you with the adaptive tools you need to
succeed -- or if your parents can provide them, either way -- you'll be
competing with visual readers.  Like it or not, they have a big advantage
when it comes to time spent on information acquisition, as well as in
proofreading their papers.  The maximum reading speed with braille or voice
-- as far as the figures I've ever heard -- are only a fraction of that of
an average print reader.  So you're going to be spending a whole lot more
time on academic tests just to keep up with your peers!  Well, a college
bound senior who is also blind probably does not find this to be news!
/grin/  When I was considering school before I realized that our VR system
is not one of the better -- or even functioning -- ones, I found that whole
prospect fairly daunting.  I'm used to whizzing through the academics
without having to spend nearly enough time studying -- as far as everyone
would tell me -- while still staying ahead of the game.  So I started
preparing myself mentally for the reality that I was going to have to work
twice to three times as hard as my peers and hope like heck it was enough.
That also applies to my profession (before VR), which is pretty reading
intensive.  Whenever I evaluated and updated my research on adaptive tools
for the sort of information acquisition and management I did easily as a
print reader, I was always focusing on building a tool kit that would enable
me to use my time best in every task or part of a task so that I could stay
competitive at something close to my then-current level.  Yikes!

Back to dog vs. cane.  Those are adaptive tools, too, and which you use will
affect both the extraordinary (compared to your peers) time/energy/stress
management you will need to achieve.  As near as I can tell, you're a really
bright guy with great language and reasoning skills.  So I'm thinking your
peers at college will be the higher achievers with similar capabilities.  So
then it's all about leveling the playing field as much as you can -- or
that's how I see it, anyway.

The dog takes more time in terms of care, need for play, grooming, etc.
However, as one who finds the dog-related tasks enjoyable and even soothing,
I consider them a good break from whatever I'm working on or learning or
trying to figure out how to do...  So doing something with or for the dog is
a great study break, if you will, because I can still think about what I'm
studying or writing while relaxing and giving my mind a chance to wander and
focus on something else a bit.  Then I get back to work with a fresh
perspective and energy, so that I can accomplish more in less time...  Even
traveling with the dog, I have more free head space to use for thinking,
reviewing and planning than I do with the cane.  With the cane I have to
concentrate much, much harder to travel quickly enough to get where I'm
going, so I can't think about anything else.  And I arrive more fatigued,
plain and simple.  With Mitzi, we get there much, much more quickly,
especially if I give her the go ahead to hit the turbo and just hustle to
keep up.  /smile/  I may be huffing and puffing a bit when we get to our
destination, but I feel invigorated and energized and more mentally alert
and able to focus as I like to on whatever I came there to do.

So the trade off in time spent maintaining the mobility tool isn't as direct
as it appears on the surface.  For me, at least.  Everyone is different that
way.  But it is one thing I considered when choosing to get a dog for the
career that was supposed to happen with tools from VR...  Without those
tools, I find I'm at a 4 to 1 time disadvantage in most tasks over my best
estimate (based on others who do the same sorts of things) simply as a blind
person doing what I used to do sighted....  So when I have to pick up and go
somewhere to use the results of whatever project I have cussed my way
through for a day or two in order to accomplish 2 hours worth of work, I am
really, really glad that I can harness up my zippy black dog and let her be
my fast Ferrari!  Great stress reliever for me to walk fast and just get
places with all that fresh oxygen to the brain and stuff.  I could get there
with the cane, of course, but that would increase my travel time and even
when I hustle with the cane, I don't get the same boost.

As far as the social aspects involved in the choice...  How they balance out
for you depends on you and what you want in your activities and friendships.
I'm a snarly old wench, so I just don't have time for people who can't or
won't deal with the dog.  I do have friends whose homes I will visit without
the poodle, just as they will visit my home which includes the hound as well
as the poodle.  A lot of my favorite fun activities are also very
dog-friendly, and a lot of my friends take their dogs along without
questioning it.  So Mitzi can just hop in their already doggy car and nobody
even has to discuss whether or not she should be there.  Everybody assumes
that if you're going, the dog goes, too.  /smile/  I find they're also very
willing -- without being asked -- to offer advice and suggestions (good
ones) and to ask questions about how to best include Mitzi in work mode when
we all leap out of the car to go somewhere to do something that does not
normally involve dogs unless they're working.  /smile/  I've ridden a couple
of times recently with someone who is fine with the dog but not crazy about
the critters and who does not have doggy hair, smell, crumbs, toys, etc.,
already implanted in her vehicle.  So I'm extra strict to make sure the
Mitziness stays 4 on the floor and keeps the nose in bounds and that I've
made extra sure she's completely clean (added goings over with washcloth)
out of respect for the car.  I also don't take her into this friend's house
because of the cat.  Although the first time I went over there to knock on
the door to ask a quick question without going in, I ended up standing
outside the big living room sliding door where the cat was puffed up and
making very sure the poodle thing knew she was not welcome on the property
or anywhere in sight!  Mitzi was thrilled of course, because the cat was
paying attention to her, so it must like her.  /lol/

When we talk about going to symphonies and plays and concerts and that sorta
stuff, Mitzi is always part of the discussion.  We're planning for when our
tight budget loosens up a bit so haven't made final decisions on whether to
take the dog, but I love it that DD just naturally considers her as coming
along with me.

But that's not college life, so I will leave it the students with dogs to
discuss the social aspects of having a dog at school.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Cathryn Bonnette
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 10:48 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hey Got a Question for the List

Greetings,

 

In response to a unique advantage of using a guide dog over a cane, I find
that canes don't know the things that guide dogs do. For example, you cannot
tell a cane to "Find right, inside." And expect the cane to guide you to a
doorway 20 yards ahead on the right.  There are countless other examples.
Canes don't ever remember routes you have taken before, no matter how
frequently you have used the route. Also, a cane cannot find you a seat in a
crowded lecture hall 5 minutes after class has started.  Consider the
prospect of poking around with a cane; even if you don't snag anyone's
nylons in the process, it is definitely not the greatest first impression.
Also, you still may not find an empty seat if the few left are in the middle
of rows and book bags etc on the floor will make it difficult to locate them
using the end of a stick, with or without a ball on the end. 

Granted, a guide dog requires food, water, relief time, exercise, and care a
cane will never ask. You can be refused public transportation if fleas are
evident and constant treatment is required.  Grooming, bathing, and keeping
your room or apartment free of dog hair are all more time consuming than
just leaning a stick by the door.   It depends on who you are as a blind
person who wants and needs to function independently. A guide dog requires
training and consistency with limits, but that well trained dog will get you
to places and find things for you that a cane cannot. If the task is
convincing parents, think about what you need in order to travel
independently and use your needs as arguments to support your request.  If
you can see well enough now, and you locate addresses, or elevators, or
stairs etc. independently in strange places using a cane, then your parents
may have a point that a stick is more convenient, and you don't need a dog.
If not, why should you be limited in where you go because a stick is not
helpful enough for you? 

Hoping these ideas will be helpful, and give you ideas to consider. Contact
me off list if you wish, cathrynisfinally at verizon.net.

 

Best wishes-

 

Cathryn (& Abby)

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