[nagdu] EXTERNAL:Re: Motorized wheelchairs and scooters

[Brenda]

Rebecca

I do not use my husband as the gold standard for guiding, I just said he 
has almost gotten hit by several motorized vehicles and he can see them 
coming.  Sometimes they go fast and unlike cars go too fast in a 
building.  with the discussion of quiet cars that you cannot hear that I 
have found on this list, I wanted to know how a blind person could avoid 
this unforseen obstacle in a building.  From the answers I got, having a 
guide dog appears to me to be more helpful than a cane.

I am slowly losing the rest of my vision.  As a high partial for many 
years, I was never given the opportunities blind people were as far as 
mobility training, Braille, etc.  I may well have benefited from a guide 
dog years ago, but high partials were never considered to need any type 
of a guide or mobility training.  I had to get by in the world between 
the sighted and the blind.   I have learned to function and accept 
myself as who I am as a high partial.  As I cross over, I have had to 
figure things out on my own as my state rehab agency is very unhelpful, 
and I believe even the mobility instructor thought I only needed a cane 
for identification.  The only mobility training I received is minimal 
street crossing.

I believe a guide dog would suit my needs and  lifestyle, and my husband 
is not a good guide.  Also, I value my independence.  Realizing this, I 
have started using my cane full time and am planning on going to Leader 
Dogs to get accelerated mobility training.  I subscribe to this list to 
learn about guide dog issues as one day I will get a guide dog.  This is 
not an option at this point as our pet dog is unreceptive to other dogs 
and I will not give away a family member.  Besides, it will give me time 
to get proficient with cane mobility.

I will continue to read and learn from this list.  I did learn a lot 
from the replies from Julie and others about my motorized vehicle in 
building question.

Brenda




On 10/29/2010 8:13 AM, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) wrote:
> Brenda,
> What Julie and others have said are correct.
> What I'd like to know is why you're using your husband as the gold
> standard for guiding. Remember, your husband is there to shop, not
> guide. He may guide you, but that isn't why he's there. Your dog will
> have nothing else to do but guide.
> What I'm getting is that your husband isprobably one heck of a person.
> Still, his experiences don't transolate into your dog's job.
> Also know that if you don't want to use your dog in this environment,
> you don't have to. Many of us use our canes when we feel we need to. We
> all have different scenarios when we do this, this may be yours. Nothing
> wrong with that.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Julie J
> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 4:02 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: EXTERNAL:Re: [nagdu] Motorized wheelchairs and scooters
>
> Brenda,
>
> the dog will back up or move appropriately to keep you from contacting
> any
> moving object including wheelchairs, shopping carts, bicyclists,
> skateboarders, and the like.
>
> I have always felt like people should take some responsibility for where
>
> they are and what is in their intended path.  Saying "excuse me" would
> be
> nice, but if you've ever shopped at Wal-Mart on Saturday morning...well,
>
> I've learned a new appreciation of Monty's quick reflexes. *smile*
>
> HTH
> Julie
>
>
>
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