[nagdu] Applying structured discovery to guide dog travel

[larry d keeler]

Raven, this is great! I'd sure love to see something like this! I've helped with discovery workshops here in Ann Arbor as far as canes go. I remember asking the instructor, Doug Boone if he knew anything about how to teach mobility to those with dogs and he didn't really know how. Being here in Michigan, you've probably met him at conventions. Don't know, I haven't met you yet but anyway, he knows his job well and comes up with some great ideas. But, it proves my point that for some reason, O and M folks aren’t learning about guide travel the way I think they should! I was thinking about it. I think an analogy with writing might work. I was taught braille at the School for the Blind way back in the early 70's. I learned the braille writer, then the slate. I had some sight when I was a wee one so I learned large print and some hand writing. Then, came typing and finally, in the 90's the computer and Smart phone. I was never asked to stop practicing hand writing or the braille writer when I started typing. I was never asked to not use the computer so that I could learn braille. I have learned to use all of these things together so that I can increase my cummication skills. In the 80's, I also learned sign language. Without knowing that I would have a daughter who would require it! Well of course the point is, why can't you learn cane travel in that class and use the dog during other classes. The only class I might not use Holly in by choice might be a cooking class. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver via nagdu
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 3:31 PM
To: nagdu
Cc: Raven Tolliver
Subject: [nagdu] Applying structured discovery to guide dog travel

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

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