[nagdu] changes at GDF was Missing Washington Co. Boy Found After5-MileBarefootWalk

Wed May 19 12:41:31 UTC 2010

Shannon,

I'd be interested to know what changes have occurred at GDF since you first 
went there and which you like and which you don't.

Although it's a long way off, I am considering GDF for my next guide, if I 
decide not to owner train again.  I'm a little OCD about advance planning! 
*smile*

Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "solsticesinger" <solsticesinger at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Missing Washington Co. Boy Found 
After5-MileBarefootWalk

> Thank you for sharing this with us. I find it all very interesting.
>
> I've gotten both my dogs from GDF, and have found them incredible to work
> with. The school has grown in many ways from when I first went there in
> 1997. Some changes are good. Others, not so much, but overall, I really do
> like the program. I'm glad they were willing to work with you, and I hope
> you get a fabulous dog.
>
> Shannon and Caroline
> Are you a fan of Women's music? If so, join me each Wednesday evening from 
> 7
> until 10 eastern  for The Eclectic Collection: a Celebration of Women In
> Music.
> http://mojoradio.us:9090
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Katrin Andberg" <katrin at maplewooddog.com>
> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 8:15 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Missing Washington Co. Boy Found After 5-MileBarefootWalk
>
>
> There are many tasks that service dogs can do for adults with autism that
> are real true tasks.  Many relate to disorders that tend to coexist with 
> the
> autism diagnosis.  For example I am autistic and also have a neurological
> sensory processing disorder with poor proprioception.  The sensory
> processing disorder I have because I am autistic and that is what I mainly
> utilize my dog for.  Because of this disorder I have difficulty with
> correctly processing my environment through my senses.  Personally my most 
> 2
> affected senses are my eye sight and my hearing.  I use my tactile sense a
> lot to correctly interpret what my eyes are seeing or to tell me how far
> away from something I am and things like that.  Pretty much I can never
> trust my eye sight.  I am not legally blind but I do utilize many of the
> same skill sets that people who are legally blind use.  I have been 
> through
> O&M training, which of course the state would not fund even though my drs
> recommended it, so I had to pay out of pocket and it was a HUGE help to 
> me.
> I have also learned a lot by trial and error how to get along best in my
> environment.  One of the reasons I am on guide dog user specific e-mail
> lists is because it is a simple way for me to learn new things from others
> who have problems with vision even though the reasons we have problems are
> not the same and see how they get things accomplished.  There are things I
> have read about on the list and then gone "Hey that would really be a good
> thing for me to try!" and I do it and it is a great help to me and makes
> things a lot easier.  I am a very independent person and I tend to learn
> things a bit differently because of my disability but I still get the job
> done.  I do not though have the benefit of a vision center or a state
> commission for the blind or someplace like that as those places won't 
> assist
> me.  There is a local autism society but most of their services for people
> my age are for things like social groups or employment which I don't 
> really
> need that kind of help with at this time.
>
>
>
> For what my dog does for me, he does all of the same tasks that a guide 
> dog
> for any of you do.  He does obstacle avoidance, he does intelligent
> disobedience at streets and other dangerous situations, he does stopping 
> at
> curbs and stairs and other changes in pavement.  He also has a follow cue
> which I use quite often when we are in new places.  I have also trained 
> him
> to find our home, the last car we were in if someone takes us out, how to
> find people I go places often with by name, how to find places I go often 
> by
> name and a number of other things for me.  He finds entrance and exit 
> doors,
> he finds counters, he finds empty seats, etc.  I also have a dog who helps
> me at home only (I could have trained James but my corgi really wanted a 
> job
> so it was fun to train him too) who alerts me to various timers going off
> and the smoke and CO alarm.  Again because of my sensory processing 
> disorder
> I have difficulty with actually processing what those sounds are or simply
> not tuning them out and hearing them at all, so he tells me when they are
> going off same as a hearing dog for the deaf would do.
>
>
>
> The dog I currently have, James, I owner trained.  My next dog I had been
> hoping to owner train, but due to life circumstances I am not going to be
> able to so I have recently been accepted to GDF and will be going there at
> some point in hopefully the next 2 years.  Finding a program that would
> accept me and train the tasks I need (which is mostly guide work)  was 
> very
> difficult as pretty much no service dog programs train guide skills and 
> very
> few guide dog programs will accept people who are not legally blind.  GDF
> was the only school I was able to find that was willing to accept me to 
> date
> on the east coast.  They have been great to work with and hopefully will 
> be
> a good match for me.
>
>
>
> Katrin
>
>
>
> Katrin Andberg
>
> Katrin at maplewooddog.com
>
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