[nagdu] a cane and dog discussion (cane silence)

Mon Jun 20 19:24:21 UTC 2011

Albert, et al.,

I get pretty weirded out by the drastic change in social interactions
between the two also.  When I'm doing solo cane refresher work around
the mall where the groomer is, at first I'm too busy concentrating on
the sensory and time/distance adjustments I need to make to get where
I've decided to go that it's only when I start to get back to the proper
frame of mind (or whatever) for that that I suddenly notice how weird
everyone suddenly is.  So then I want to giggle.  Hm.. The behavior of
others does seem to change some at that point, because suddenly people
are more likely to approach me in a friendly yet absurdly helpful way.
I don't know if it's that the smirk on my face and twinkle in my eyes
make me look more happy, friendly and approachable or if it's because my
shoulders are hunching with the giggles and snickers and snorts I'm
trying to keep under my breath make me look more helpless.  Now I try to
remember to prepare for that mentally, since when it hits me, my own
sense of the weirdness of it all combined with the sense of people
watching me silently because of how my glowing white cane sticks out
while I try to walk like a human only smirking and snorting and giggling
really just gets to be too much.  /lol/  Actually, it was only the first
time I had to work that hard to keep from literally going along laughing
like a crazy woman, and I had to stop and just stand and do breathing
exercises to get myself some dignity.  But my inner sense of amusement
at myself along with everything else did have me smiling and twinkling,
so then people started talking to me and making jump because I didn't
know they were there.  Which made us all laugh together, so I guess it
worked.  Took me almost an hour to reach the store I would have gotten
to in about 3 minutes with my dog, though, because all the stops and
stops meant I kept losing track of where I was on a really
straightforward route.  I do better now that I'm more prepared for my
own reaction, but still...  The sense that the entire world has suddenly
become very, very weird is hard to handle with a straight face.  /lol/

On Mon, 2011-06-20 at 11:25 -0400, Albert J Rizzi wrote:
> Thanks for letting me know I am not alone on that one Hope. It is so odd to
> tell you the truth. And then, after they actually see the dog and
> acknowledge that he is in fact a guide dog, they ask me how long I have been
> training him? When I tell them I am not training him, but  actually relying
> on him as a skilled and trained service dog, the opportunity to have a
> meaningful and deliberate conversation on who looks blind and who does not,
> allows  for a breakdown of socially and generationally imposed
> misperceptions about the blind and who we are. The cane never, never allows
> that to happen. Well not for me anyway.
> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York  10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
> doing it."
> 
> 
> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Hope Paulos
> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 11:02 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] a cane and dog discussion (cane silence)
> 
> I couldn't agree more with you, Albert. at times I go out without my dog to 
> regain my cane skills. Every time I do, I feel invisible. No one talks to 
> me, I feel like eeveryone's watching me and I'm the slowest person (at least
> 
> I feel that way anyway). My dog provides me with so much freedom and speed. 
> <smiles>
> Hope and Beignet
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike" <underthetoaster at gmail.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 10:51 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] a cane and dog discussion (cane silence)
> 
> 
> > Hi,
> > I love how you brought up the silence factor of using a cane. It's one of 
> > the most irritating things in the world. People yakking away in a hallway 
> > is fine but then when you get close with your cane they all hold their 
> > breath and clam up like they're scared they're going to get whacked. . 
> > Wouldn't it be a lot smarter  if they say something to you so you know 
> > where they are instead of vanishing into silence?
> > Anyway there are irritating things about canes and dogs. Everybody being 
> > an expert on dogs and what to feed, how to groom, etc. advice is very 
> > annoying to me. And the usual roster of questions gets old quickly.
> > Mike
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
> > To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
> > <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 7:19 AM
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] a cane and dog discussion
> >
> >
> >> Hello all,
> >>
> >> Was not sure if I were going to chime in here or not. cane versus dog. I
> >> choose dog all the way. as a recent entrant into the community, and in
> >> assessing my needs from a tactile standpoint, I find the dog much better 
> >> as
> >> well as expeditious for my needs. I find that when my cane taps something
> 
> >> I
> >> am 99% inclined to reach out and touch whatever it is that is in my path.
> 
> >> I
> >> do this for my own knowledge of what is on my path and just for the
> >> curiosity of it all. with my guide none of that ever happens. I could be
> >> walking through an obstacle course full of pot holes or pillars and never
> >> once want to nor need to know what it is I avoided. Add to that the issue
> 
> >> of
> >> my sighted peers not seeing what they are looking at and again I choose 
> >> the
> >> dog hands down. I had my cane stepped on and snapped three times in my 
> >> first
> >> 4 months of being blind. that was enough experience for me to not want to
> >> use the cane. The dog for one reason or another catches the eyes of the
> >> sighted, it minimizes accidental cane breakage and it always opens the 
> >> door
> >> for a dialogue or discussion where the cane sort of acts like a dome of
> >> silence which at first glance is impenetrable  by the sighted community. 
> >> so
> >> power to the pup for me anyway. Peace.
> >>
> >>
> >> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> >> Founder
> >> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> >> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> >> New York, New York  10004
> >> www.myblindspot.org
> >> PH: 917-553-0347
> >> Fax: 212-858-5759
> >> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who 
> >> is
> >> doing it."
> >>
> >>
> >> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> >> Behalf
> >> Of Sheila Leigland
> >> Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 10:06 AM
> >> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> >> Subject: Re: [nagdu] a cane and dog discussion
> >>
> >> I think it depends on the situations that a person deals with daily. I do
> >> much better with a dog in snow and on ice than I did with a cane. I used 
> >> a
> >> cane exclusivily until almost eleven years ago when I got my first dog.my
> >> first dog. I've known cane users that have no interest in getting a dog 
> >> and
> >> that is fine. I don't know people that have lost there cane skills but 
> >> I've
> >> heard of it..
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> 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/albert%40myblindspot.
> >> org
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> 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/underthetoaster%40gma
> il.com
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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/hope.paulos%40gmail.c
> om 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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/albert%40myblindspot.
> org
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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