[nagdu] changes at GDF was Missing Washington Co. Boy FoundAfter5-MileBarefootWalk

Wed May 19 15:25:27 UTC 2010

Julie:

My guide dog is also from GDF.  I find them a great school, they do leash 
guiding as well, and step refusal, they are a great school.

Cheryl Echevarria
Independent Travel Consultant
C10-10646

http://Echevarriatravel.com
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J" <julielj at windstream.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 8:41 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] changes at GDF was Missing Washington Co. Boy 
FoundAfter5-MileBarefootWalk

> 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
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nagdu mailing list
> > nagdu at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
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> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/solsticesinger%40gmail.com
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > nagdu at nfbnet.org
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> >
>
>
>
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