[nagdu] Leader's Accelerated mobility program

d m gina dmgina at samobile.net
Wed May 25 18:48:33 UTC 2011


yes I have baby George George and new George.
Even my dogs name is George to the public.
Not his name at all, since he will wag at anything, this works out well.

Original message:
> Hello Brenda:

> I'm with many of the others and use a pretty long cane. I'm using an 
> ambutek carbon fibre cane with a disc roller end. This is more like a 
> small wheel. Much bigger than the marshmillow tip but it rolls over 
> most things and doesn't get caught. It is for a person who is more of a 
> roller than a tapper though since it adds weight to the end of the 
> cane. I also have a guide cane which is shorter and llighter that I use 
> with sighted guide or when I'm know I'm going to be in doors mostly. I 
> have an id cane that I'd often use with sighted guide especially when 
> travelling when I want to be able to get rid of it once I'm done using 
> it in the places where it is important, or useful,  that people know 
> I'm blind (check in, security, boarding, coffee line ups, etc). For 
> kicks I also have a black guide cane that I use for my dress up events 
> where I know that I'm going to be mostly indoors and just looking cool  
> (but can still find the bathroom and bar by myself :) On the dress up 
> cane I hav
>  e a pencil tip, on the guiding cane I use a mushroom tip. Does anyone 
> else name their canes? All the above canes have names and are a bit 
> jealous of Bogart. :)

> Anyway, I think for out door mobility a long cane is the best with some 
> sort of roler tip so you can maintain contact with the ground when you 
> want. When I had more sight I mostly did tapping from side to side but 
> as my sight has decreased I use a hybrid of tapping and rolling 
> depending on the terrain. I feel the cane is a tool and as you can see 
> I have different tools for different jobs and have learned, by trial 
> and error, which length of cane works best for me. I really haven't 
> accessed any O&M training since I was a child. I know I have some bad 
> techniques but then again I get around just fine so what I've developed 
> has obviously worked for me.

> Hope that helps.

> Gary


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brenda <bjnite at windstream.net>
> Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 7:29 am
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Leader's Accelerated mobility program
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>

>> Hi Tracy

>> Yep, I'm the one that went to Leader for the AMP program because
>> of the minimal mobility training my State provided.  now is
>> a good time for me to get my mobility down solid.  I do
>> feel it is very hard for me as I have some remaining vision. It
>> was hard to ask for help because I often am treated like I don't
>> need it even though I really do benefit from a cane and some day
>> a guide dog.

>> I learned a lot at leader.  I needed concentrated practice
>> crossing busy streets, and I got that.  I still catch my
>> cane a lot, and I felt they did not address that well - they
>> just said it takes time.  I was told to pay more attention
>> to what my cane was saying but that is hard when it catches all
>> the time.  I'm going to purchase a slightly shorter cane
>> and experiment with the different tips I have from the 2 canes I
>> currently have.  My mobility instructor from my state was
>> good, he just was not allotted funds/time to give me much
>> training.  I am now combining all the tips from the state-
>> supplied instructor and leader to travel safely and
>> efficiently.  Kind of like a 12-step group - take what you
>> want and leave the rest.

>> At Leader we also did a guide dog experience.  it was
>> okay.  I walked with a small dog and the trainer said right
>> away the harness handle was     too short
>> and the dog walked slower than my pace. I had issues with
>> balance and I was trying so hard not to lead the dog which was
>> hard with this slow-walking guide. I did not want them to think
>> I had too much usuable vision for a dog.   It was a
>> good experience and I will get a guide when my pet passes
>> on.  I realize this was just a brief introduction to using
>> a guide.  As I was the last person to go out (all the
>> totally blind were taken out first) and the miss match, I did
>> wonder if I was just an afterthought.
>> There was a thread recently about letting someone else use your
>> guide.  If I had the opportunity, I would ask someone to
>> allow me
>> to have another guiding experience with them present of course.

>> Besides the badly needed traffic training I got the
>> Kapten.  This device would have been helpful for me all my
>> life as a high partial.  I still have nightmares of being
>> lost and wondering around trying to find my way.  My trips
>> were always longer because i could not read street signs.
>> The main thing is I have the Kapten now.

>> I sure hope the word about the kapten gets out to high partials
>> who are often left out because they are expected to be able to
>> see.  Growing up, all the attention, information etc went
>> to blind students/campers, etc., leaving high partials in the
>> dark.  Wwe were never given the opportunities and struggled
>> to live in the sighted world with very limited vision and no
>> adaptive strategies - we could not accept who we were as high
>> partials.
>> I really needed and benefited from leader's Accelerated Mobility
>> training (AMP).  I still do have usable vision to walk a
>> straight line, but I think somehow it is because I use my
>> cane.  When i was a high partial someone said I walked
>> crooked lines but now that I use a cane I walk straighter.
>> I still feel like my vision puts me in limbo.  I know a
>> cane and a guide dog will help me, but I don't think the
>> instructors think I need the help.  Hopefully the guide dog
>> school I choose will agree with me.

>> I am glad to see the leader AMP program there for those of us
>> that never got the chance of having mobility training which of
>> course you need before you can get a guide dog.  I think
>> many low partials could benefit from leader's AMP program.

>> Brenda


>> Brenda



>> On 5/25/2011 8:26 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
>>> Hi Brenda.
>>> Are you the person who was having trouble getting cane training
>> from your
>>> state, and so decided to go to Leader's cane program?  Did
>> you get what
>>> you needed from it?  I'd be interested to hear your
>> impressions, and I'm
>>> sure others would, too.  There are too many people who
>> can't get the
>>> assistance they should from their states, and it would be good
>> to know
>>> about other options.
>>> Sorry if I'm confusing you with someone else.
>>> Tracy
>>>> I went to the accelarated mobility program at Leader this
>> early spring
>>>> and was given the Kapten.  I love it.  I like to put
>> it in free
>>>> navigation mode and find out all the streets I cross that I
>> never knew
>>>> the names of before.  They recommend you update it via
>> the internet and
>>>> the Kapten's website, but I have never done that.  I
>> suppose if I was
>>>> going somewhere new I would try to figure that out.
>> There is also an
>>>> automobile mode which may be nice for bus travel.

>>>> Brenda


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