[nfb-db] More Questions About Street Crossings

Fri Oct 19 20:56:20 UTC 2012

Hi Everyone:

Thanks so much for all your responses. You all have no idea how much
they have helped. It has helped me a lot to know that I am not alone.
If I ever lived in a bigger city or on a college campus, I believe
there are enough people around at intersections that I could just ask
assistance from.
But, here in Ruston, it seems like there really isn't anyone around.
For example, on the travel route my instructor and I did yesterday
going to and coming back we saw a total of three people the entire
time and one was on a bike.
My instructor said there is a business nearby but the doors are locked
and there would be nobody around to help me even if I went to it.
So, that is why he/she suggested the cards.

Thanks again!
Kerri

On 10/19/12, Marsha Drenth <marsha.drenth at gmail.com> wrote:
> Carrie,
>
> I am very much in the same place as you. I recently recieved my third guide
> dog. I have choosen to use a guide dog, because I also have blanace issues.
> While at the guide dog school, I saw even more of the need for me to cross
> street safely. My O&M person, and now the guide dog school suggested that I
> need to use the cards. I have been visually impaired much of my life, a cane
> user for eons, very independent. The difference with me is that my hearing
> loss is progressive, and over the summer has gotten worse. To even function,
> I wear hearing aids and use a FM system. We have a part of us that wants to
> be independent, but another part that says we should be safe. Its
> emotionally draining and difficult to come to a reasonable answer. In my
> case denial is a great thing, but then when you come to being hit by a car,
> because you didn't hear it, denial goes no where else. I guess what I am
> saying, while I have sahred this all with you, your going to have to do what
> is best for you. If your traveling on a college campus likely there will be
> others around who do not mind  helping you. If there are local business
> around, the busy intersections, who you can ask to help you across then that
> is another method. Independence means you do what you need to do, in the way
> that fits you, while you keep safe. What independence is to another blind
> person is not what is not independence to us. And the same goes for a
> deafblind person.
>
> Hope all that made sense? If you have other questions, please ask away.
>
>
> Marsha drenth
> Sent with my IPhone
> http://adventureswith2feet4paws.blogspot.com
>
> On Oct 18, 2012, at 4:59 PM, Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone:
>>
>> I have a few more questions about street crossings and getting
>> assistance.
>>
>> In my last message to this list a few months ago, I said I was a
>> student at the Louisiana Center for the blind and had been struggling
>> with using my hearing to cross some of the busier streets.
>> Well, after everything has been said and done, here is the situation.
>> It looks like there are streets that I can definitely use my hearing to
>> cross.
>> However, there are streets (mainly streets that are busier) that I
>> won't be able to cross independently mostly because I only have
>> hearing in one ear and can not tell which street is moving.
>> So, here are my questions.
>> What methods do you all use for getting assistance across busier streets?
>> What are my options exactly when it comes to this?
>> Today, my travel instructor and I discussed ways for me to get
>> assistance. Because there really aren't a lot of sighted pedestrians
>> who walk the streets in Ruston, my instructor suggested using the
>> cards.
>> I really hate to use these cards though. It makes me sick to my
>> stomach to think about holding out a card saying I have hearing loss
>> and need help crossing the street.
>> Is there any other way besides these cards?
>> What is using them like? Are they effective and does using them give
>> you independence and freedom to travel that you otherwise wouldn't
>> have?
>> When drivers stop to assist you, are they usually the
>> Oh-let-me-help-this-poor-blind-person type or are they understanding?
>> How did you deal with all this emotionally? I hate hate hate the idea
>> of having to potentially use these cards.
>> I guess this sort of thing is also hard for me because I have
>> relatively good hearing in my left (good) ear. So, this has made me
>> feel my entire life like I have pretty good hearing. Now, all of a
>> sudden all these issues are coming up regarding my hearing, and
>> crossing streets and it's hard for me to deal with the fact that my
>> hearing really isn't that good unlike I have thought my entire life.
>> Travel is very important to me. I am really beginning to like it and
>> am doing extremely well at it. My street crossings are usually
>> perfectly straight. I am great about staying on the sidewalk and am
>> good about getting through parking lots. My mental mapping which has
>> been a problem is getting better. I've gotten to do a lot of things in
>> travel which has really built my confidence. For example, A few days
>> ago, my instructor and I went to the Louisiana Tech campus and walked
>> around. I had never been on the campus before but had to find several
>> buildings and then things inside the buildings and I had to do it
>> based on asking directions, following the directions, and exploring.
>> It went wonderfully! I loved it and am now excited about going to
>> college when I graduate from the center. I want to use my cane and
>> walk to my classes. I am now also walking home from classes.
>> Previously, I took the van but now I have to walk home like the rest
>> of the students. I don't walk by myself, but I still have to walk, try
>> to make the decision on crossing the streets, mental mapping, and
>> figuring out whether I am at the street or a parking lot/driveway. I
>> am saying all this because I really like travel and want to continue
>> to do it when I leave the center.
>> If I am going to have to get assistance on a lot of streets, will this
>> hinder my being able to travel with my cane, problem solve, mental
>> map, and all the things I am learning here?
>> Can a person with hearing loss be a good traveler and go anywhere
>> similarly to the way someone who is blind without hearing loss can and
>> learns to do here?
>> I want to continue to use these skills once I leave here and I guess
>> now I'm unsure because it looks like I am going to have to get
>> assistance crossing some streets and I am not used to this.
>> So far, I have just been traveling with either my instructor, or other
>> students and trying to make the best decision I can. But, I've been
>> asking my instructor a lot of questions because I will be graduating
>> from here in a few months.
>>
>> Thanks so much! I am so glad to know I am not alone in this. Like
>> Kathy Miller says, I strongly believe through leadership, and
>> education, we can do anything through the power of the federation.
>> Even though this has been a very tough emotional adjustment for me,
>> and there have been some rough times, I am so happy I chose this
>> center and will be graduating from here. I am also so happy I have the
>> instructor I have. He/she is a huge mentor/role model to me and it has
>> been this person I have expressed many feelings and emotions with that
>> I would never talk to anybody else about because they would not
>> understand!
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Kerri
>>
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