[nagdu] Applying structured discovery to guide dog travel

[Raven Tolliver]

On an online forum, I found a thread about structured discovery.
Within this thread was a link to a Braille Monitor article on
structured discovery in cane travel. Here is the link:
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm07/bm0704/bm070405.htm

Within this article is a dialog between a student cane-user and a
training center O&M instructor, , demonstrating what structured
discovery is, or rather, how it works.
Below I will paste this dialog. And afterward, I will paste my
adaptation for guide dog users. Then, I will explain some problems
that a training center O&M instructor might face when working with a
guide dog user, and how to overcome those challenges.

Here’s the dialog:
As an example of how the technique works, consider the following
transcript of a travel lesson. The student is a young teen who is
about two weeks into the early guided practice phase of her learning.
She is walking in step, when she suddenly comes to an abrupt stop.
Note that both the instructor and the student are blind, so when they
point, they make physical contact to do so.
Instructor: Why did you stop?
Student: I think I am at a corner.
Instructor: Why do you think you are at a corner?
Student: I don't know.
Instructor: What did you feel with your cane?
Student: Oh, yeah, it's going up.
Instructor: Good. How else might you have known you were at a corner?
Student: [Pausing.] Um, I don't know.
Instructor: Did you feel anything else with your cane?
Student: Well, it is a little more rough right here.
Instructor: Good, you felt a little texture change. What do you hear?
Student: Well, there is traffic over there. [Pointing to the left.]
Instructor: Good, what does that tell you?
Student: Well, that I am next to the street.
Instructor: Good. Does it tell you anything about the intersection?
Student: No. [Pausing.] Well, it might, if a car turned here.
Instructor: Yeah, that would help, but how else might you know you
were about to walk into the street?
Student: I don't know.
Instructor: What else do you hear?
Student: Nothing, just the traffic over there.
Instructor: Listen far away. Do you hear anything far away?
Student: [Pausing and listening.] Oh yeah, I can hear traffic down
that way. [Pointing to the right.]
Instructor: What does that tell you?
Student: That there is a street over there.
Instructor: Good. What street do you think that is?
Student: I don't know. [Pausing.] Oh, it must be Vienna.
Instructor: Yeah, good, Vienna. We traveled on Vienna yesterday. What
was the traffic like?
Student: Busy. About as busy as Trenton.
Instructor: So, as you were walking along back there, could you hear
the traffic on Vienna?
Student: I don't know. I wasn't really listening for it.
Instructor: Well, what was to the east of you as you walked along?
Student: You mean that way? [Student points to the right.]
Instructor: Yes.
Student: [Uncertainty in her voice.] I think there were buildings all
along there.
Instructor: Remember on Monday when we checked that out?
Student: [Now with certainty.] Oh, yeah, there are buildings all along there.
Instructor: Do you think you could hear the traffic through the buildings?
Student: No.
Instructor: So what does that tell you?
Student: If I hear the traffic from the next street, I'm at a corner?
Instructor: Good. But you have to be careful about that. It might be
something like a parking lot or a park or something, so you have to
use your head. You might not be at a corner, but it is another piece
of information you can use.
In this short interaction the instructor asked the student nineteen
questions, reinforced her answers when they were leading in a positive
direction, and redirected her thinking only when she was giving up or
getting off track. The result of this small bit of instruction is
anything but small in its importance to the student's learning. She
constructed several ideas that she will probably retain and use in the
future. By guiding the student toward her own discovery of the ideas
of different sound profiles, for example, the teacher has enabled her
to gain deep understanding of the concepts, and that makes it likely
that she will be able to build on those concepts as she develops her
travel skills.

Here’s my adaptation mirroring this same exchange if this young
student had been a guide dog traveler. Say this is an instance where
the sidewalk is nearly flush with the street, and the student
understands how to adequately use foot-probing techniques taught at
guide dog schools.
Instructor: Why did you stop?
Student: I think I am at a corner.
Instructor: Why do you think you are at a corner?
Student: Because my dog stopped.
Instructor: What else? What do you feel under your feet?
Student: Oh, yeah, there is a small step down here.
Instructor: Good. How else might you have known you were at a corner?
Student: [Pausing.] Um, I don't know.
Instructor: Did you feel anything else with your feet?
Student: Well, it is a little more rough right here.
Instructor: Good, you felt a little texture change. What do you hear?
Student: Well, there is traffic over there. [Pointing to the left.]
Instructor: Good, what does that tell you?
Student: Well, that I am next to the street.
Instructor: Good. Does it tell you anything about the intersection?
Student: No. [Pausing.] Well, it might, if a car turned here.
Instructor: Yeah, that would help, but how else might you know you
were about to walk into the street?
Student: I don't know.
Instructor: What else do you hear?
Student: Nothing, just the traffic over there.
Instructor: Listen far away. Do you hear anything far away?
Student: [Pausing and listening.] Oh yeah, I can hear traffic down
that way. [Pointing to the right.]
Instructor: What does that tell you?
Student: That there is a street over there.
Instructor: Good. What street do you think that is?
Student: I don't know. [Pausing.] Oh, it must be Vienna.
Instructor: Yeah, good, Vienna. We traveled on Vienna yesterday. What
was the traffic like?
Student: Busy. About as busy as Trenton.
Instructor: So, as you were walking along back there, could you hear
the traffic on Vienna?
Student: I don't know. I wasn't really listening for it.
Instructor: Well, what was to the east of you as you walked along?
Student: You mean that way? [Student points to the right.]
Instructor: Yes.
Student: [Uncertainty in her voice.] I think there were buildings all
along there.
Instructor: Remember on Monday when we checked that out?
Student: [Now with certainty.] Oh, yeah, there are buildings all along there.
Instructor: Do you think you could hear the traffic through the buildings?
Student: No.
Instructor: So what does that tell you?
Student: If I hear the traffic from the next street, I'm at a corner?
Instructor: Good. But you have to be careful about that. It might be
something like a parking lot or a park or something, so you have to
use your head. You might not be at a corner, but it is another piece
of information you can use.

My comments:
First, I will state that I am unfamiliar with teaching O&M to students
from the perspective of an instructor. I only have experience as a
student learning O&M with a cane, then with a dog from both a O&M
instructor and a GDMI, guide dog mobility instructor. Below is a sort
of training plan or approach to take with guide dog travelers.
A practical approach to teaching O&M to a guide dog traveler, and cane
users, is to assess their cane skills. First, an instructor evaluates
a student’s cane technique. If it is assessed that the student has
poor technique, the student starts at square 1, learning to walk with
the cane effectively, and use the cane to identify changes in texture
and elevation. In addition, the student learns to explore the
environment and locate landmarks. Once a guide dog traveler has
perfected their cane technique and use of their cane to explore the
environment, then the dog is phased in.
If it is concluded that the guide dog traveler has excellent cane
skills off the bat, then the guide dog is phased in.
Cane and dog can be used in companionship. US guide dog schools
discuss this method of teaching the dog and learning the environment,
but don’t typically teach exactly how this is done. Many guide dog
users have explored unfamiliar territory or shown their dogs familiar
routes while using a cane and heeling their dog, or working their dog
and using their cane to locate landmarks, breaks in a building line, a
certain driveway, etc.
In this instance, the cane is not used for obstacle clearance if the
dog is leash or harness guiding. If the dog is heeling, the handler
gets to take the wheel, so to speak.
Eventually, the handler is allowed to use the dog completely, and is
required to rely on their hearing, feet and hands to identify texture
changes and minimal landmark location, or pull out a cane for quick
identification/exploration of immediate surroundings.
Whatever it is that guide dogs do that prevents a person from learning
or using structured discovery through touch is easily overcome when a
person understands how to sense texture changes without the cane, and
to rely more on texture and sound than physical landmarks. For some
guide dog users this is goal, whereas others always carry a cane on
them because there are times when they need the ability to explore
what’s around them without actually walking around and feeling with
their hands and feet. Either way should be acceptable. If we’re going
to teach people practices that will translate into a variety of
environments and situations, we should work with the methods and
practices that those people will use when they leave. Let’s be
realistic, and not so idealistic.
Perhaps the O&M instructors at these training centers are not skilled
at relying so heavily on their feet for tactile information. When I
transitioned from cane to dog, I certainly wasn’t. However, it isn’t
impossible for O&M instructors to learn something about how guide dog
travelers obtain information about their environment. Every instructor
wouldn't have to, maybe 1 or 2 instructors from each of the 3 training
centers. How unreasonable is that?

When I worked with a private O&M instructor, she was able to give me
the best O&M training I've received. And guess what? It was with a
guide dog. She was able to tell me how to use my feet and hands to
gain information from the environment. She was able to use the
Socratic method of teaching, and she worked with me according to my
learning speed and learning style.
Of course, she has years of experience with cane users and guide dog
travelers, and training center instructors would stand to gain such
experience to be more comprehensive in their training method and
teaching approaches.
It would be very easy to teach effective cane technique and
orientation, and phase in the guide dog. Resisting this change says
something about the training centers, not the guide dog travelers who
go their to gain independent living skills. Instead of being wrapped
up in organization philosophy, the focus should be on improving
independence skills.
I understand there is much psychology around being blind, public
perception, and self-perception. Does it have to exclude guide dog
travel?
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs