[nagdu] a cane and dog discussion
Tami Kinney
tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Mon Jun 20 17:20:58 UTC 2011
Oh! See? You just really clarified a whole line of related thought on
O&M and a couple of other things for me with your discussion of the
place of motivation and perseverance. Also, if you do not have access
to a good instructor, people who will answer questions and discuss
technigques and alternatives to help you figure it out. /lol/ With
O&M, especially when you're new to it, extra portions of both are
required because you have to overcome your own fears in the process of
learning. Well, I did! But the choice was go out or stay home, so I
guess I'm more scared of being stuck in the house than I am of the great
unknown I then needed to figure out with a white cane I didn't know how
to use... Then the switch to dog, which was ridiculously scary even
though I had spent and awful lot of time training her so that I could
use her as a guide dog. But there's a lot of sensory differences
between cane use and guide dog use, so you have to learn on a
neurological level, too, which can be troubling to the conscious mind.
Well, to mine at least. /smile/
Have a hassle free time with Monty at the conference!
On Mon, 2011-06-20 at 07:26 -0500, Julie J. wrote:
> My thoughts on this topic have changed over time and I still think I
> have a long way to go to get to the core of it. Anyhow here's my
> current thinking.
>
> I think guide dog users and cane users have the potential to be amazing
> travelers. I think how good of a traveler you are is partly due to
> inherent talent, partly to a good instructor and mostly to do with
> practice and perseverance.
> I've met really good and really bad travelers from both groups-dogs and
> canes. Dog users do have to be more committed to the practice portion
> of the equation though. Guide dog programs also require some level of
> cane skill before getting a guide. I suppose this does eliminate a few
> people from getting a dog. Although if they have the perseverance part
> of the equation, they could acquire the skills they need to qualify for
> the dog. So in the end, for me, it comes down to motivation. How
> motivated a person is to be a good traveler is going to have a huge
> impact on how well they travel, cane or dog.
>
> I'm a good traveler with either tool. My preference is obviously a
> guide dog, but I don't feel any hesitation in leaving Monty behind if
> that is what is best. Well, I don't hesitate due to travel worries, but
> I do miss him.
>
> Like Cindy, I worry about finding suitable places to relieve Monty when
> I travel to other cities. Sometimes when entering a new restaurant or
> business I wonder if I am going to have access problems. Next week I am
> attending a training thing for work. the event is taking place at an
> Asian Center. It does stress me a bit, knowing that there could be an
> access issue.
>
> JMHO
> Julie J.
>
>
> On 6/20/2011 1:46 AM, Julie McGinnity wrote:
> > Hello everyone.
> >
> > It is very late, so I hope I make sense as I pose the following
> > discussion to you. A friend and I are engaged in an interesting
> > arguement. We are talking about guide dog users and how much they use
> > their canes and a few other things. I'd just like to pose a few
> > questions. (Some of them may seem rather basic.)
> >
> > Do you think that guide dog users are just as independent as cane
> > users when it comes to travelling?
> >
> > Do you think you lose cane skills if you use a dog the majority of the time?
> >
> >
> > Do you think that the majority of dog handlers are bad cane users?
> >
> > I know these are really general questions, and if you can't answer
> > them with direct answers, please, just your observations or
> > experiences will suffice. I'm just very curious about this. I want
> > to know what people think, and I don't really want to seem too
> > invested in this or as though I am taking a side. I'm pretty young
> > and a relatively new guide dog user, so I know there are things I
> > don't know and haven't seen yet. I'm more interested in what you guys
> > say.
> >
> > Thanks. Sorry if my late night/early morning ramblings make no sense.
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast.net
More information about the NAGDU
mailing list