[nagdu] getting around in places you don't know

[Danielle Burton]

Hi Stephanie, my name is Danielle. I am also totally blind and wear hearing aids in both ears and yes this is a challenging situation that I tend to also find myself in sometimes. I am working my first guide dog a female yellow lab named Willa from Guiding Eyes. And yes my dog does pick on on this as well. One thing you could do is if you are traveling with someone who is sighted walk a step or 2 behind you on your right and tactilely give you direction on your back like take their finger and drag it to the left or to the right or up and down for forward. Stop is simply a flat palm on your back near your shoulder.  Another option is an FM system connected to hearing aids. Feel free to email me offlist. My email address is: danielleburton94 at gmail.com 

Danielle and Willa 


> On Nov 19, 2014, at 4:46 PM, Stephanie via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> Hope you are all well. I have decided to write about some challenges I am having, even though I am feeling rather embarrassed to do so. But I am feeling a little restricted and want to know if any one has some ideas for my situation. As background to the following, I am hearing impaired as well as totally blind.
> I'd like to know how to navigate places I don't know. I never did this much with my cane, but Gypsy has changed that for me and I'm finding I want to get out more. I want to do things like go to concerts at the melbourne recital centre and St pauls in Melbourne. Problem is,  I don't know   how, and getting a taxi from the station to  those places is not possible due to the short distance. I could  ask the public but that's taking a risk.
> I contacted my guide dog school and they sent an instructor out. But we just didn't jell. He couldn't seem to understand that I cant hear the audio lights, unless I'm touching it which is not possible when a lot of people are around. They also gave me such a huge amount of info like the whole route in one hit and I couldn't follow the directions due to struggling to process his info in a noisy train station. And to top it off, Gypsy seemed to pick up on all this, stopped and wouldn't move with out a lot of coaxing, and the instructor told me I wasn't supporting my dog. Gypsy has never reacted like this before or since.
> I'm thinking of contacting the alternative school just for o and m purposes, or finding another solution on my own that will actually work for me.
> Even catching trains can be a challenge although I have my systems in place. I always ask for assistance from the station as I cant hear the anouncements.
> Thanks for taking the time to read my rather lengthy email.
> Steph
> 
> 
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