[nagdu] The Process of Getting a Guide

Tami Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Mon May 21 17:25:56 UTC 2012


Tracy,

The requirement for an O&M instructor to verify that I can travel 
independently and safely all by myself is on my list of things to use in 
ruling out any program I may apply for. After the whole "really great 
vision" fiasco, I'm pretty well over agreeing to jump through that 
particular hoop. /smile/

Video or some other form of realistic assessment is one thing. It would 
show that I can navigate and find my way hither and yon and judge 
traffic and all that. My eye exams show that I do not have really great 
vision, not even when I am wearing a sleep shade! So that should cover 
that problem.... One would have thought it would clear things up before, 
but I guess they don't always look at the medical stuff you send in? I 
dunno.

The fact that I do travel around and do this and that and live to tell 
the tale and everything can also be verified, I suppose, by witnesses to 
my comings and goings. I do need to get around to getting some good 
video of my owner-trained guide working in various places. I never 
remember to bring a camera or person to use it. /lol/

The issue should not be one of dire concern for me in the foreseeable 
future, but I am glad that at least some of the programs will accept a 
substitute to the requirement to mess around waiting on a state-employed 
"Certified O&M Instructor" and then being held hostage to that 
individual's assumption that the applicant uses their really great 
vision to get places or that when they were traveling all over 
previously it was because their husband was helping them... Huh??? /lol/ 
Where was I when all that help was going on? And who was that guy I was 
traveling with instead of my wonderfully helpful husband? They won't 
answer those questions for me.... So I remain mystified. /lol/

So, if/when I do ever apply for a guide dog through a training program, 
I may or may not by then have access to an O&M instructor who is capable 
of making a reality-based assessment of my skills... The fact that I am 
almost entirely self-taught there seems to be something they really 
can't grapple with. Sigh. The same is true, I am afraid, with most of my 
adaptive skills. I taught myself, then started asking questions of 
people who actually know what they are doing. /lol/ But lacking 
certified instruction... Ah, well.

Adding another layer of patronization and condescension to the process 
of acquiring my choice of mobility tool, then, is not something I want 
to have to tackle ever again. So any program that insists that it's an 
assessment by a certified O&M instructor through the state VR agency or 
nothing will have to do no work at all evaluating my skills because I 
won't apply. /lol/

Tami

On 05/21/2012 09:57 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:
> If a school insisted on an actual statement from an O&M instructor, I'd
> find that rather patronizing.  Some places seem to assume that every blind
> guy gets cradle-to-grave services, and it just ain't so.  Like Greg, I
> haven't talked to an O&M person for at least 25 years, except for those
> who happen to work for a dog school.  Imagine that.  I've actually been
> rehabilitated, and escaped from the rehab system. And I know for a fact
> that many other blind people have, too.  Isn't that supposed to be what
> rehab is all about?
> Tracy
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)
>> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 11:49 AM
>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Process of Getting a Guide
>>
>>          Bibi makes a great point re mobility.
>> We're all here meaning that however we learned it, we do manage to get
>> around.
>> What do the schools do if someone wants a dog but can't prove via
>> paperwork
>> that they can navigate safely?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Criminal Justice Major
>> Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 12:13 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Process of Getting a Guide
>>
>> I've been trying to go through that process of getting O&M refresher
>> through
>> Denver Vocational Rehabilitation here in denver, Colorado.
>> No, I didn't get anywhere at all, despite filling out paperwork with an
>> O&M
>> teacher in January, 2012.
>> That same teacher ended up having another baby last month and from that
>> time
>> on despite me contacting my rehab counselor, I never got any calls or
>> emails
>> from her.
>> I was originally going to do O&M in the hopes that GDF would reconsider me
>> to go through training there as they turned me down last year: claiming I
>> needed more mobility skills.
>> Main reason for wanting to go through GDF is to have a guide dog trained
>> to
>> not only be a guide, but being able to guide me while I do have to use a
>> support cane or walker on the days when I don't have the physical strength
>> due to arthritis or having a seizure happen.
>> I'd also like to be able to have the dog still be able to guide while I
>> would have to use a power chair.
>> Since I haven't gotten anywhere with DVR, I figure it was best for me to
>> just go train with another guide dog through Pilot Dogs.
>> I definitely understand that mobility is important, but what if a blind
>> individual doesn't have a rehab case, then what are they supposed to do
>> from
>> there?
>> Truth is that there are a lot of other visually impaired individuals who
>> aren't able to get Vocational Rehab to help them out and even with filling
>> out the necessary paperwork, a person would either end up on a waiting
>> list
>> for probably a year or not be taken in.
>> Yes, I'm aware that SEGDI (Southeastern Guide Dogs Incorporated) does
>> wheelchair training, but I'm way out of their bounds for any follow up.
>> TSE (The Seeing Eye) will do wheelchair training, but I would have already
>> had to be a graduate in order to receive the training.
>> GDB (Guide Dogs for the Blind) is doing  wheelchair guide do training, but
>> I'd still would like to know more.
>> A grad is willing to talk to me more on a handler she knows who did go
>> through training there, but I just haven't had a chance to contact her
>> personally as of yet.
>> No, Pilot doesn't do any wheelchair training and I don't think they would
>> plan on going that route either.
>> So, I'd have to teach the next dog myself directly.
>> Back to the mobility thing...
>> I do have an outtpaitient therapist from Denver Health Medical who is
>> willing to help me deal with contacting my rehab counselor and I admitted
>> to
>> her it was better that she'd end up speaking with my rehab counselor on my
>> behalf so I won't stress that bad.
>> Well, I guess I'll end right here and hide out underneath my quiet rock
>> again.
>> Bibi
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