[nagdu] O&M skills

[Nicole Torcolini]

I guess what it gets down to is how you handle the situation. If you don't
have good orientation skills but still know how to get from point A to point
B, that's fine. The problem arises  when people expect the dog to magically
know where he/she is going, which is different from asking for directions or
whatever they would do if they did not have a dog.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie McGinnity
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2014 11:52 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] O&M skills

Hi Tracey,

I agree with you, and that's a great speech.  I think it's great to work on
O&M skills, but some people just have a harder time with directions and
orientation.  Does that mean this should stop them?
No.  But it does mean that they have to ask for help more often when finding
a particular place or navigating somewhere for the first time.
 It's about independence: getting where you need to go with no inconvenience
to yourself or others.

The tools we use to do this don't matter as much as that we are getting out
there and doing what we want to accomplish.  We all know people who's skills
may not be as good or who may not do things the "right" way--or so we think,
but let's work harder to encourage those people who don't go anywhere, feel
like they can't travel, or are too afraid to get training of any kind.
Those cases to me are truly sad.

On 1/30/14, Darla Rogers <djrogers0628 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Tracy,
>
> 	I couldn't agree more, and sadly, we will see more peo9ple without 
> skills perhaps as good as yours or mine, but if you can do what you 
> need to do, in a manner that is comfortable for you, far be it for me 
> to judge your independence or lack thereof.
> Darla & Handsome Huck
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy 
> Carcione
> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 1:03 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] O&M skills
>
> While I agree that good orientation skills are an excellent thing, and 
> make using a dog a lot better for both partners, I've known some 
> people who didn't seem capable of finding their way out of the 
> proverbial paper bag, and yet used the dog effectively to get where they
wanted to go.
> A late lamented friend of mine always seemed confused about which way 
> to go, but he travelled all over the country and the world, going 
> places I'm sure I'll never go.  Was he the ideal dog user?  No.  Did 
> he get where he wanted to go, when he wanted to get there?  
> Absolutely.  Yet he was sneered at by people who seldom stepped 
> outside their familiar routes.
>
> I recommend people read, or re-read, Jernigan's essay, The Nature of 
> Independence, which I'm sure is somewhere on nfb.org. Dr. Jernigan 
> argues persuasively that getting where you want to go when you want to 
> go is the quintessence of independence, and judging others for how 
> they accomplish that goal is not particularly useful.
> All I'm trying to say is, we can encourage people to improve their O&M  
> to a high standard, and help them find the resources they need to do 
> so, but not look down on them if they're unable to do it, or assume 
> that, if their O&M doesn't seem excellent, that they are not 
> independent people getting where they want to go.
> Tracy
>
>
>
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--
Julie McG
National Association of Guide dog Users board member,  National Federation
of the Blind performing arts division secretary, Missouri Association of
Guide dog Users President, and Guiding Eyes for the Blind graduate 2008 "For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
John 3:16

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