[nagdu] O&M skills

Fri Jan 31 18:45:16 UTC 2014

Here in NE each county has the option to have a diversion program, most of 
them require community service.  There are also probation offices with 
people that also need to do community service.  I'd start by calling the 
county Attorney or Probation office.  It's not going to be a request they 
get often, so be prepared to explain that you are in need of a volunteer and 
you thought someone needing to do community service might be a good fit. 
I'd skip the details of what exactly you need the person to do until further 
along in the conversation.

You don't need to be a member of a church to ask if they have people who do 
volunteer work.  If all they are interested in is recruiting members, then I 
think they are missing the point.  anyway it can't hurt to ask.

Here the kids in the honors high school group need to do some volunteer 
hours as a part of their joining that group.  A call to your local high 
school would get you the information about any local similar programs.  I'd 
bet that a religious high school would be especially likely to have kids who 
need or want to volunteer.

HTH
Julie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tracy Carcione
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 12:18 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] O&M skills

Julie J, these sound like excellent ideas.  How does one get hooked up with
volunteers, if one isn't part of a church or such?
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J" <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 1:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] O&M skills

> You have to be a client of a VR agency because it is vocational 
> rehabilitation funds that pay for  those services.  The VR agencies are 
> federally mandated to provide services that will lead to employment. There 
> are limited funds and services for non VR clients, commonly called 
> Independent Living or perhaps Older Blind services.  I doubt that you 
> could get much O amd M training through these non VR services though. They 
> are pretty limited and O and M is pretty involved.
>
> If you are willing to privately pay for O and M training, then there might 
> be options.  I know of one lady who is certified NOMC and I don't think 
> she's found a job yet.  I bet if you were willing to pay her expenses plus 
> a fee for her seervice, she could come and work with you.
>
> If you just need specific information about your environment, what about 
> finding a volunteer?  I work in Crimminal Justice and all of my clients 
> need to do community service.  None of them are dangerous.  Lots of 
> college and high school students need to do volunteer work for classes. 
> Quite a few church youth groups/confirmation classes also do community 
> service.  There are others, but these are some resources that aren't often 
> discussed.  Anyhow, the volunteer could walk with you, answering questions 
> and giving you visual information.  It's not O and M training, but what 
> I'm hearing a lot of people say is that they aren'tt as familiar with 
> their environment as they'd like to be.  To me that's different from 
> learning O and M.  In the case where the person isn't able to walk long 
> distances, the volunteer could go out and scccope out routes while talking 
> through the details over the phone.  Then the blind person could ask 
> specific questions to determine if it's a route they wan
> t to invest the time to learn.
>
> Julie
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On Jan 31, 2014, at 11:24 AM, "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com> 
>> wrote:
>>
>> So am I. This seems like it could and should be like any other service. 
>> Why
>> isn't it?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of melissa R 
>> green
>> Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 11:00 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] O&M skills
>>
>> I wonder if there is a way to get around being a client of rehab just to 
>> get
>> services like O&M.
>> there just has to be a way.
>> I have a really good instructor who also worked at a guide dog school.
>> Not all people are working or going to school.
>> they just want to live their life.
>> Might have to ask my instructor.
>> I am curious now.
>> best wishes,
>> Sincerely,
>> Melissa R Green
>> "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole
>> staircase." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2014 1:17 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] O&M skills
>>
>>
>> Hi Julie M.
>> I agree wholeheartedly.  Being afraid to go out is very sad.  It also
>> disgusts me to hear of people who want to get training but can't find 
>> anyone
>> to provide it.  It ought to be a basic thing provided by any state agency
>> for the blind, to help any blind person who asks for it get timely 
>> training
>> in O&M.  Is there anything we can do about this?  And I don't mean just
>> telling everyone to take several months out of their lives to attend an 
>> NFB
>> center.  That's useful, but not always practical, IMO.
>>
>
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