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

Fri Nov 8 13:06:47 UTC 2013

And the cost for this training? Here in Mexico there's no such thing as Commision for the blind to cover expenses; thus starting to save! Sounds like what I need someday! I feel I've got potential but have never gotten; I've surrounded by stereotypes of, and have gotten to really believe, that because of my hearing loss, isn't safe for me going out alone. Good thing I discoved this list! Keep posting such great/inspiring tips! And I'll start posting some questions of my own I've hadn't known where to ask.

Gera
Enviado desde mi iPhone

El 08/11/2013, a las 12:26 a.m., Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com> escribió:

> Hi:
> 
> LCB is located in Ruston, Louisiana.
> It is near Monroe, Louisiana. It is also near Shreveport.
> It's a college town.
> Scott, thanks for your message. I hope with you working at HKNC I did
> not offend you or anyone with my message. I guess I am just very
> passionate about this. I feel deaf-blind people should be able to go
> wherever they want for training and get as good training as everyone
> else gets and to be pushed to their fullest potential.
> Secretly, I knew I wasn't the typical student coming into LCB. I knew
> they hadn't worked with tons of deaf-blind people before. However, I
> wanted to change things.
> Remember, the more deaf-blind people go to training at an NFB center
> the more the staff is exposed to deaf-blindness and have to deal with
> it.
> I knew I wasn't the typical student they were used to, but I knew they
> had to train me. They have to train you for nine months. They can't
> just give you lackluster training.
> I am very involved with the NFB in my state. It just so happens that
> my state president also has quite a bit of hearing loss. She really
> recomended me going to LCB. In fact, she introduced me to Pam Allen,
> the director of LCB at my first NFB convention in 2010.
> When I finally decided I needed to go to training, I called Pam and
> the first question I asked her was whether the center had trained
> anyone with hearing loss. She said they had.
> As I worked with Pam to get the funding and get a start date, I
> noticed how professional she was. She always called me right back when
> I called her. She always responded promptly to my messages. She really
> seemed to care about me. That made me feel good.
> I had a big adjustment at the center. I was absolutely terrified of
> everything. When I first began attending, I wasn't even sure if I
> could do it.
> If any of you have any other questions about training at LCB feel free
> to ask. Also, if you want to attend LCB and the staff gives you any
> hassle or seems to not understand please let me know and I will do
> whatever I can to help you. I am close to Pam Allen the director. But,
> based on my experience a deaf-blind person shouldn't have any
> problems.
> As I said earlier, I don't want to offend anyone or make any other
> center look bad. I guess I am just passionate that the NFB centers
> work with deaf-blind people and push them to their fullest potential
> and do their absolute best to give a deaf-blind person the same type
> of training a person who is just blind gets.
> Because I had such a positive experience at LCB, I feel I need to
> speak up and let people know that in fact LCB does work with people
> who are deaf-blind and the more of us go to training there the more
> the staff will be exposed to it and will be better educated and
> equipped to deal with it.
> As I have already said, a person should be able to go to the best
> training for them, not their hearing loss.
> Thanks,
> Kerri
> 
> On 11/7/13, DELCINA M BROWN <delcenia at prodigy.net> wrote:
>> Kerri,
>> Thanks for sharing. Where is LCB?
>> Delcenia
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Kerri Kosten" <kerrik2006 at gmail.com>
>> To: "NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List" <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 7:54 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] My thoughts on training centers blind, and deaf
>> blind.
>> 
>> 
>>> 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.
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> nfb-db mailing list
>>>>>>>>> nfb-db at nfbnet.org
>>>>>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-db_nfbnet.org
>>>>>>>> 
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