[nfb-db] My thoughts on training centers blind, and deaf blind.

Fri Nov 8 00:54:31 UTC 2013

Hi Everyone:

I am one of those people who attended an NFB center and had a very
positive experience. I attended LCB and graduated with a freedom bell
on January 31.
I was able to socially fit in fine. I made many friends.
Of course, I was required to take all the classes but I mainly
attended the center to work on my travel and cooking skills.
I had probably the best travel instructor in the country. I loved how
my instructor held me to such high expectations even with my hearing
loss.
In fact, when I first began attending LCB, I was very unaccepting of
my hearing loss. I felt like I had a lot of hearing.
It was through hours and hours of communication and patience by my
travel instructor that I came to accept that I in fact do have severe
hearing loss and it does affect my life, and I needed to accept it.
I admired my travel instructor and wanted to be just like him/her. I
worked as hard as I possibly could in that class.
Since I am only able to cross streets with very little traffic with my
hearing, and I can not reliably orient to traffic patterns, my
instructor made me use a card/sign to get assistance from people to
cross streets. I also used a braille compass and the compass on the
Iphone for cardinal directions and I used cardinal directions to
orient because I could not use traffic sounds.
In the beginning, my instructor would make me go into businesses and I
had to tell the person I was speaking with that I had hearing loss and
to please give me verbal directions since I couldn't follow them by
their voice alone. I hated hated hated having to tell people I had
hearing loss but I gained confidence soon enough.
Normally, when the instructors give students assignments, they are all
walking and finding addresses. However, my instructor knew with my
hearing loss I would need to use other forms of transportation to get
to places so he/she would often give me assignments where I had to
take a taxicab places. I also learned to hire a driver, and he/she
even made me plan a trip to another city and I had to hire the driver
and negotiate the times and pricing with the driver.
I happened to be the only student with hearing loss when I attended,
and once I began using the card/sign to cross streets, I was afraid
the other students and staff wouldn't approve. But, one day I talked
about it during seminar and everyone clapped and cheered for a route I
was able to do independently by getting assistance across the streets.
For my graduation route, I had to do an out of town route. I had to
pick somewhere I wanted to go in another city, take the greyhound bus
there, and then take a taxicab to my destination. I took the greyhound
bus to a nearby city, and took a cab to the mall and navigated the
mall all day.
I went rock climbing, white water rafting, horse back riding, and to
the NFB convention in Dallas with the center just to name a few
things.
I even got to participate in the LCB play at the 2012 NFB convention.
I also performed in the Christmas play.
I made a meal for 8 people and a meal for 40 people.
A friend and I even independently planned a trip on our own and took a
five-day trip from Louisiana to Oklahoma to attend a football game. I
love sports so my friend and I attended three football games all in
different states.
It was a rough road, but in the end my training showed me that I can
do anything and by using the techniques I learned and enough planning
I feel I can travel anywhere.
I loved my training at LCB and felt it was very positive.
Were there rough times? Definitely.
There were even times where I questioned whether LCB was for me. But
in the end, when the nine months was up and I graduated with my
freedom bell, it was all worth it and I knew I had made the right
decision.
I feel each person should make the best decision on training for them.
They should not rule a center out based on their hearing loss.
HKNC is not the only game in town, and it angers me that so many seem
to think it is and NFB centers seem to unfairly get a bad rap. The
training is very individualized for each person. LCB definitely had to
change some techniques to modify me. They normally don't teach blind
students to use a card/sign but for me it was necessary so they did it
and they said from now on they will continue to do it for any future
deaf-blind student that attends there. Most students don't need to use
a compass, but I had to use one. They definitely modified a lot of
techniques for me.
The director, Pam Allen is very very supportive. She along with other
staff members at the center are good friends and mentors of mine. Even
now that I have graduated, I often receive emails from Pam just saying
she was thinking of me and asking me how I am.
Even though I am not a student, my travel instructor said I could call
him/her anytime to ask a question or if I need help.
I have talked to other staff members from the center even though I
have graduated. They truly care even after training.
A person should be able to attend the center that is best for them,
not for their hearing. I briefly considered attending HKNC, but I felt
LCB was better.
I just want people to realize that LCB and the other NFB centers do
definitely definitely work with people who have severe hearing loss
and they (NFB centers) should not be ruled out. I had a very positive,
successful experience.
Thanks,
Kerri

On 11/7/13, Marsha Drenth <marsha.drenth at gmail.com> wrote:
> Randy,
> I'd like to know more about these methods in how to learn ASL? Very very
> curiously.
>
>
> Marsha drenth
> Sent with my IPhone
>
>> On Nov 7, 2013, at 10:33 AM, "Randy Pope" <randy.pope at aadb.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hey Scott,
>>
>> Whatever you do, don't let these people advise you to stick the Rochester
>> method.  That is a very bad idea.  Many of the DB people would not have
>> the
>> patience to communicate with those using this method.
>>
>> With the right people, you will...not maybe....you will master ASL
>> somehow.
>> There are deaf ASL teachers out there who would be willing to work with
>> people like you.  For those DB people who cannot see, there are other
>> method
>> to teach ASL.  I know of several who are teaching ASL to totally blind
>> students, successfully,
>>
>> Randy
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-db [mailto:nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Scott Davert
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 8:33 PM
>> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] My thoughts on training centers blind, and deaf
>> blind.
>>
>> Hi marsha.
>> Sadly, my vvocabulary is maybe 100 signs. The classes until very recently
>> have been so infrequent that I haven't benifited much from them. My
>> receptive skills are certainly better than my actual signing ones. People
>> have started to tell me that I should just stick with the Rochester
>> method,
>> but I want to keep trying to learn, you know?
>>
>> Scott
>>
>>> On 11/6/13, Marsha Drenth <marsha.drenth at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Gene,
>>> sounds like you have some things to do. In all due time it will get
>>> done.
>>> Good luck, perhaps you will get to come up while I am there.
>>> Keep us updated.
>>>
>>> Marsha drenth
>>> Sent with my IPhone
>>>
>>>> On Nov 5, 2013, at 10:00 PM, "gene richburg" <gene5402 at austin.rr.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Marsha, well I have either some time in Jan or Feb, but that
>>>> hasn't been determined yet.  I still have to develop my iep plan with
>>>> dars, the department of asistive rehabilitation services, HKNC can't
>>>> give me a date with out that I e p plan, but I have to have a prep
>>>> meeting  that will include my mom and everyone else.  We were gonna
>>>> have it on the 24th of october, but Molly Rimer had a death in the
>>>> family, her niece passed away that morning at age 22, or 23, I for
>>>> get which, so hopefully things will work out on the 8th of this
>>>> month, then after the prep meeting then we will be able to develop
>>>> the actual I e p.  The reason I need a prep meeting, is so my mom can
>>>> help me figure out what I will be able to expect from Dars, and what
>>>> they will expect of me.  It's really frustrating, I was supposed to
>>>> get in back in either august but couldn't because every one that was
>>>> helping me with the application totally dropped the ball, and me and my
>> mom finally had to step in and straighten everything out,.
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Marsha Drenth
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 4:19 PM
>>>> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] My thoughts on training centers blind, and deaf
>>>> blind.
>>>>
>>>> Jean, yes I did receive the student handbook. I got it from the
>>>> admissions person at HK and see. I think I also read that they do
>>>> provide the vibrant call alert system. I'm interested in seeing that.
>>>> Do you have a start date?
>>>>
>>>> Marsha drenth
>>>> Sent with my IPhone
>>>>
>>>>> On Nov 5, 2013, at 4:52 PM, "gene richburg" <gene5402 at austin.rr.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Marsha, did you receive the HKNC student handbook?  I don't know
>>>>> if they provide consumers, or what ever they call people who come
>>>>> there, but I think they provide some kind of vibra call system, but
>>>>> I didn't get that part very clearily, I'll have to go back and read
>>>>> that, perhaps Scott can clear that up for sure.  But if you need the
>>>>> handbook, I can email you off list and atatch it to the message.
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Marsha Drenth
>>>>> Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 8:26 PM
>>>>> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] My thoughts on training centers blind, and
>>>>> deaf blind.
>>>>>
>>>>> Maurice,
>>>>> I think hands down that no one will argue with you that if someone
>>>>> is in need of blindness skills training, and if they are just blind
>>>>> with no additional disablity, then going to a NFB training center is
>>>>> the
>> best.
>>>>> With that said, I am not just blind, but severely hard of hearing. I
>>>>> have chosen to go to HKNC because of two main reasons, I do not need
>>>>> blindness skills. I was blind before I lost my hearing. But I do
>>>>> need the skills in order to live as a deafblind person. I have
>>>>> traveled with a cane, with a guide dog, read braille, and am able to
>>>>> use technology. The problem lays in that I also can't hear. There is
>>>>> only one center in this country that can train a person who is both
>>>>> blind and hard of hearing. With that said, most persons who go to
>>>>> HKNC, are in need of a audiologist who has worked with the dual
>>>>> sensory loss. An in house audiologist who understand the needs of
>>>>> blind persons, visually impaired persons, and those who also who are
>>>>> deaf, hard of hearing and or hearing impaired; is something that an
>>>>> NFB center does not have. Just because I have made this desicion,
>>>>> doesn't not mean that I am less of a person, less of an NFB member, or
>> think less of the philosophy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Its awesome that you had a successful experience at the CCB. And I
>>>>> am also not sure, of your hearing issues. But if I am reading your
>>>>> message correctly, your saying those persons who go to an NFB center,
>> are better.
>>>>> This is the sort of attitude that divides a group. The NFB centers
>>>>> are no less better than HK, nor is HK better than an NFB center. Its
>>>>> just different, serves different disabilities, different needs.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have heard of both good and bad experiences at the HK center, jsut
>>>>> as I have heard of persons going through an NFB center. I just know
>>>>> that for me, with my hearing loss, it would not be successful to go
>>>>> to a NFB center. For them to ask me to listen to traffic in order to
>>>>> indicate when its safe to cross. I can't hear traffic. It would not
>>>>> be viable for me to have an NFB center to tell me, listen for the
>>>>> water boiling, I can't hear it boil. The techniques are different,
>> similar but different.
>>>>>
>>>>> Granted I haven't been there yet to begin my training. My desicion
>>>>> was one I made for me. But with that said, I can understand why
>>>>> other deafblind persons make the same desicion.
>>>>>
>>>>> Its unfair to say that HK is not what blind, or deafblind people
>>>>> should be going to for training, especially if you haven't been there
>> yourself.
>>>>> I would say that all blind persons should be tolerant of those of us
>>>>> who have different needs, are in need of different skills than just
>>>>> those you learn as a blind person.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Marsha drenth
>>>>> Sent with my IPhone
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Nov 4, 2013, at 6:19 PM, maurice mines <kd0iko at icloud.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Good afternoon, I have been thinking for quite some time as I've
>>>>>> read emails on this list recently, that it might be of some benefit
>>>>>> to talk about the benefits of attending an NFB training center. Of
>>>>>> course the question that many on this list will ask why are you
>>>>>> even discussing this? Because I've heard a lot recently a.k.a. read
>>>>>> a lot recently that the feeling seems to be that HK in C is
>>>>>> apparently
>> be only game in town.
>>>>>> But I believe that if my past experience at the Colorado Center for
>>>>>> the blind is any indication of how and if the training centers
>>>>>> handle death blindness, one need not have very much worry about.
>>>>>> Remember that the training is very individualized. So what may work
>>>>>> for you and what level of deaf blindness you have, it may not
>>>>>> reflect how they deal with your neighbor at all. Also as far as I
>>>>>> understand the training centers do reach out to resources to help
>>>>>> that training happen appropriately. So you're not going into the
>>>>>> great void of the unknown. Also it is good to know that based on my
>>>>>> experience we found alternative techniques not only to blindness
>>>>>> but the issues surrounding the lack of hearing. And of course we
>>>>>> discuss the options should one's hearing get worse. I guess one
>>>>>> getting at here is that if you are considering going to a training
>>>>>> center I think that's the first part, the second part is actually
>>>>>> figuring out which one you should go to and the reasons why you
>>>>>> want to go to it? I think that based on everything I've read and
>>>>>> people I've talked to that all three of our centers can handle this
>>>>>> well. I think a comment by a current staff member made when I was a
>>>>>> student at the Colorado Center for the blind came out of it
>> conversation regarding the disabilities that is neither deaf blindness
>> were
>> just great blindness.
>>>>>> It surrounds my at that time anyway great fear of writing anything.
>>>>>> The staff member said quote you can't just not right. The
>>>>>> translation that I took away from that and have come to realize in
>>>>>> the years since I graduated from the Colorado Center for the blind,
>>>>>> you can't just not live life because you can't hear ordered their
>>>>>> blindness involved. And depending on what you have to do, in many
>>>>>> respects you have to get out there and just plain live one's life.
>>>>>> Another thought of course comes to mind in many of the writings and
>>>>>> things that are second national president Dr. Jernigan when he
>>>>>> spoke about not throwing the nickel. I guess it kind of blows down
>>>>>> to accept help when you need it and of course find ways of not
>>>>>> accepting it if you don't. And last but not least he believed in
>>>>>> blind people and I extend this adept line people blending into
>>>>>> society when in wherever it is possible. Just some food for thought
>>>>>> on a rainy Monday afternoon. I'd certainly would like to read some
>>>>>> of the thoughts that you all may add to this. But I'll just leave
>>>>>> it at this I have an abiding belief in all of the training centers
>>>>>> and what they can do in the fact that the NFB difference is that
>>>>>> they care not just there for a paycheck. But because they care and
>> believe in turning out capable and competent people.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sincerely Maurice mines. Phone 360-524-0791, work/school email
>>>>>> address, Maurice.mines at PCC.edu.
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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