[nagdu] My concerns about getting a guide dog.....

[Doug Parisian]

Pauline, so-called legal blindness, as I don't have to tell you, is 
sometimes a very fluid creature.  I have met at least two folks who would 
seem on the surface to have adequate self-guiding vision but both had 
conditions which made this kind of fluctuating eyesight unreliable.  Both 
often became virtually totally blind while waiting to adjust to a change in 
lighting and struggled even more than I do with being totally blind during 
such lengthy "non-enlightening"periods.

One fellow at TSE was even able to read me a product key for a piece of 
software I was installing saving me endless grief ind struggling to read the 
number with my opticon, entering it on the puter using speech, and checking 
to see it was accurate.  Five minutes later, he nearly crashed into me 
because we had moved to a different lighting situation.

The only issue I noticed is that folks with this wicked kind of vision 
experienced more difficulties than those of us with more predictable vision 
issues in trusting their dogs.  One fellow paid dearly for this issue by 
almost not finding our hotel because he thought he saw something he didn't 
and his dog remembered from where we had come.  My dog, no better than his, 
took us back since I had no reason not to trust.

Doug: blind folks are so delightful; they can't see through me!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pauline Berger" <sispberger at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2012 4:59 PM
Subject: [nagdu] My concerns about getting a guide dog.....


: Hello everyone,
:
: I just found this list last night and I am hoping to chat with someone who
: might be in the same situation that I am in.  I am legally blind but just
: barely.  I have a lot of functional vision left and for the most part
: people around me do not even realize that I have vision problems.
: Especially if I am in a familiar area, my visual handicaps could not even
: be noticed.  Lighting is what makes the difference in me.  Either too much
: or not enough can really blind me.  I have trouble with any printed text
: unless it is blown up to about 6 or 7x.
:
: So my concern is this:  I do have enough functional vision that may get in
: the way of training a dog to see for me.  Sometimes I do see the cracks in
: a sidewalk or sometimes I don't.  I have walked off a set of stairs twice
: in my life that I did not see.  So, my hubby and daughter would like me to
: get a dog for my own protection.  It is not just them, I would love one
: too.  What I am afraid of is that the people at the guide dog training
: place will wonder if I am faking...I know.... you may think this is silly,
: but I do wonder if they will be able to work with me since I do have the
: ability to see more than others that need a dog.  I would be able to go
: around town on the bus and such with him and to go to my volunteer job at
: the hospital with him and not feel vulnerable like I do with my cane which
: advertises to everyone that I am visually impaired.
:
: Any thoughts for me???
:
: Thanks
:
: -- 
: When you are at the edge of a cliff........*a step back* is progress!
: .....heard at Pacific Coast Camp
:
: *Knowledge* is knowing that a tomato is classified as a fruit....
: *Wisdom* is knowing not to put it into a fruit salad!
: .....author unknown
:
: Two things in life you should never scrimp on.......
: *Mattresses* and *shoes*.......you will spend your lifetime in one or the
: other!
: author unknown
:
: Talk to yourself.......you will be guaranteed at least *ONE* listener!
: by Pauline Berger
: _______________________________________________
: nagdu mailing list
: nagdu at nfbnet.org
: http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
: To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
nagdu:
: http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/eggmann%40shaw.ca