[nagdu] Mobility and Dogs

[The Pawpower Pack]

Jeff,

There are people who can't use a cane.  I can't be safe with a cane  
because I'm Deafblind with balance issues.  If people want to judge me  
because I don't, they are welcome to it.  But I'd love to see anyone  
try and live in my body while using a cane.  Everyone is different and  
I am perpetually perplexed at by some people's need to judge others  
travel choices.

I have very good O&M skills.  I understand that others may not either  
because they choose not to or because something is preventing them  
from gaining these skills such as a traumatic brain injury,.  I think  
if your skills aren't sufficient, you need to make a plan for yourself  
so as not to impose on others because you are incapable.  Someone I  
know has terrible O&M, he freely admits it and that he has zero  
interest in improving this skill set.  So he has a hired driver.  If  
for some reason I can't take a dog where I need to go (very rare) I  
have an SSP (support service provider), it is someone who is specially  
trained to work with Deafblind people, and who can do sighted guide  
and who can communicate using American Sign Language or another method  
of the persons' choice.
I guess in my uncaffinated way, I'm trying to say there is more than  
one way to skin a cat.

Rox and the Bayou Barkers:
Bristol, Mill'E, Laveau, Baylee,!

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never  
reads lives only one." --George R. R. Martin
http://pawpower4me.blogspot.com
  pawpower4me at gmail.com
AIM: lillebriss