[nfbmi-talk] Blog by Federation Writer In omaha

Fri Apr 15 04:28:34 UTC 2011

Hi Cheryl,

I am so happy you are on this list.  You are definitely preparing for the right profession.

This post was not to bring up the old, tired and irrelevant dog/cane debate.  This is a subjective matter and your story is perfect proof of this.  The whole point is to travel, who cares if you use a dog and I use a cane.  

Again, the NFB philosophy of training is significantly different from that of Western Michigan University, when it comes to travel training.  We believe that blind people can teach blind people to travel.  We believe in structured discovery where skills are built upon skills and a thought process for problem solving is developed.  notice the example of when Bridgit strayed into the body shop.  She used environmental clues to resolve her mistake and did it on her own.  There is no shame in asking questions.  With structured discovery, I believe that some fundamental skills can be taught that will serve in any city or town or countryside at any time to create a self-confident capable traveller.  Dog or cane, no different.  Your point about your relationship with your travel trainer is telling.  At Leaderdog you received respect.  That is fundamental to structured discovery.  The instructor must respect the student enough to believe in them and help them to develop universal and generalizable problem-solving techniques.

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cheryl Wade
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:43 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Blog by Federation Writer In omaha

Hello,

Here I go running my mouth off again.

I am glad there are centers where blind travelers can get lots of concise cane training. I had cane training at the Michigan School for the Blind summer program and later at the college prep program at the University of Detroit. In all these instances, I never was able to reach a destination independently. I cried on the shoulder of one O&M instructor when I was in about seventh grade, and asked him what would happen to me. These instructors were grad students from WMU, I think.

So I didn't use a cane in high school. After all, I was convinced it would not work for me. I was afraid I would only be able to take curb-to-curb service to my job -- when that job should happen -- and that I would always go sighted guide.

Then I reluctantly and fearfully got my first guide dog. I had lots of problems and cried through the training. My family and I expected this dog to be a kind of four-legged human who would sit around and be nice. Anna, my shepherd/husky cross, wasn't! But somehow, over the ensuing months, I learned my way around Central Michigan University's campus, then learned about the shops downtown and the shops just off campus. For the first time in my life, I was free! I could walk straight because the dog would do the eyeballing and walk straight. I not only knew the directions, but I could execute them.

I definitely advocate the long white cane as the first line of defense. I think children should have canes by the time they're three years old. But I was not fortunate enough to have that kind of training, or at least I did not do well at it. I truly would like to know, how would you have helped a discouraged, frightened kid like me? What went wrong in my education? Why couldn't these teachers in the summer programs have a rational discussion with me -- I was certainly bright enough for it -- and help me strategize for getting to destinations alone? How do you teach a totally blind person spatial relations and get them accustomed to what "straight" feels like? I now tell people to imagine a steel cable extending straight in front of their stomach, and follow it. I continue to be an independent traveler, but the people at Leader Dog were much friendlier and kinder to me, and made me feel much less "on trial" than the cane teachers did. Using a dog was fun; if you screwed up, they didn't yell at you. They didn't make me feel like everything was a big test, and that if I failed, I couldn't do all the cool assignments the other kids were allowed to do. I was made to feel like a colleague in this journey, not a subservient. (I had one cane instructor who called me "Little Cheryl" because I could not use a cane like a "Big Cheryl" 
should be able to. Talk about patronizing!

I do feel that travel skills are transferable, but I do NOT like the idea that a kid can go to some other city and learn to get around, then come home and have no one to help them get started identifying locations. It takes a fairly seasoned traveler to figure out where stores and other places are. 
You have to use the Internet to compare addresses of places you know with addresses of places you don't know. You have to know cardinal directions, absolutely. You have to ditch your fear of getting lost, and love yourself enough to feel comfortable asking people for directions.

Is an eight-month training program the only answer?

End of rant.

Cheryl Wade
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at att.net>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 8:47 PM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Blog by Federation Writer In omaha

> Notice, there is no travel instructor following Bridgit as she goes on her 
> first route.  The Iowa Center teaches well and then truststhe student to 
> use their skills.  This is what I mean by the professionals building 
> confidence in blind clients.  Iowa practices the positive philosophy as I 
> mentioned earlier in the post on this list about rehabilitation 
> counselors.  Again, I strongly encourage everyone to read “Blindness: 
> handicap or Characteristic,” probably the best single essay on blindness 
> ever written.
>
>
>
> As a note, Bridgit is writing in the Omaha World herald as a staff 
> blogger.She is a member of the NFB Writers Division.
>
>
>
> Livewell logo
>
> Using the long white cane
>
> Published
>
> Thursday April 14, 2011
>
> By
>
> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>
> The entryway of the Iowa Department for the Blind was warm.  Heat streamed 
> out of
>
> the vent enveloping me in warmth.  I reveled in it as I prepared to step 
> out in the
>
> cold of February.
>
> Flipping the glass lid up on my watch, I felt the raised dots and arrows 
> checking
>
> the time.  It was now or never.  I had been at the training center for two 
> weeks,
>
> and after working with an instructor on how to use a long white cane, I 
> was now going
>
> out on my own for the first time.
>
> I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
>
> A blast of icy air greeted me as I slid my cane down the first step, my 
> feet following.
>
> Repeating this until the final step, I turned south beginning my walk 
> around the
>
> block.
>
> My black heels click-clacked on the pavement as my cane arced left to 
> right.  Keeping
>
> the motion in a shoulder width pattern, my body avoided collision with 
> parking meters
>
> and buildings.
>
> Halfway down the block, a cold breeze flitted around me, and the faint 
> sound of traffic
>
> echoed through the alley separating the Department from the building next 
> door.
>
> I crossed the alley, continuing toward Grand Street.
>
> Traffic in front of me sounded closer.  A greasy warmth permeated the air. 
> I wrinkled
>
> my nose as I passed the Domino’s on the corner.
>
> Cars whooshed and rumbled by on busy Grand Street as I turned the corner. 
> My cane
>
> tapped against the cement planters which surely were empty in late 
> February.
>
> My pace remained steady until my cane slid off a curb.  Stopping, my ears 
> detected
>
> cars to my right.  The traffic on Grand was still speeding by.  This was 
> the parking
>
> garage so I listened to determine if any cars were pulling in or out of 
> the garage
>
> before crossing the drive.
>
> Reaching the other side, my cane found the curb, and I stepped up on the 
> sidewalk.
>
> Nearing the end of this block, I was elated with my progress.
>
> Arriving at Fifth Street, whirring, buzzing and hammering blared in the 
> distance.
>
> The sounds came from the auto body shop midway down the block.
>
> The sounds magnified and the temperature changed slightly.  I stopped to 
> recognize
>
> my surroundings.  The traffic was muffled and people shouted over the 
> heavy-metal
>
> music mingling with electric screw drivers and the pop of hydraulic car 
> lifts.  I
>
> realized I had meandered into the body shop.
>
> Listening to the sound of cars, my cane began its rhythm once more as I 
> left the
>
> shop.  The air grew chill again, and the buzz of traffic was no longer 
> muffled.
>
> Since the sun was beaming today, it assisted me in finding my directions 
> as its weak
>
> February warmth flirted on my face.  I returned my gate to a quick, 
> succinct pace
>
> continuing towards Watson Powel Street.
>
> My cane soon slid into an object in front of me.  Gently tapping it along 
> the object,
>
> I discerned a car was parked.  Hearing the distant traffic to my right, I 
> knew I
>
> was on the other side of the alley by the Department.  This must be the 
> mail truck
>
> that parked in the alley each day.
>
> Using my cane to tap around the front of the truck while maintaining the 
> shoulder
>
> width motion, I crossed the alley drive.
>
> My feet started up an incline.  This was the wheelchair ramp at the back 
> of the Department.
>
> A moment of temptation seized me as I contemplated cheating.  It was cold 
> and I wanted
>
> back in, but it would be worth it to finish this first independent travel 
> lesson.
>
> Turning around, I caned back down the ramp.  A metallic ring echoed as my 
> cane found
>
> the railing along the ramp.  I lined myself up using the sun again as a 
> guide and
>
> clicked on down to the end of this block.
>
> Finally, I came to home block.  I sidled closer to the brick building. 
> Tapping my
>
> cane against the brick, I was searching for the stairs.  I tapped my cane 
> to the
>
> left on the ground, but tapped against the building on the right so I 
> would find
>
> the stairs.
>
> Sure enough, a quarter of the way down, my cane slid onto the first cement 
> stair.
>
> Holding the cane in front of me this time, I followed it up the steps.  My 
> body prickled
>
> as warm air ushered me back into the entry way.
>
> I opened the second set of doors and walked into the building.  The tip of 
> my cane
>
> clicked again as I left the rug of the entry way and found the marble 
> floor of the
>
> reception area of the department.
>
> Angling slightly to the left towards the elevator, I smiled.  My first 
> outdoor travel
>
> lesson, and I made it back in one piece.
>
> These initial lessons, known as structured discovery, were meant to 
> prepare me for
>
> independent mobility anywhere.  It is like riding a bike—once you learn, 
> you never
>
> forget, and you can hop on any bike and ride it.
>
> It is confusing and even doubtful for some that the long white cane is an 
> effective
>
> tool for independent travel, but if you learn the technique and actually 
> use it,
>
> the cane is a powerful and capable tool.
>
> Eight years later, my travel skills have strengthened, and time and time 
> again, the
>
> cane assists me in traveling with independence and efficiency.
>
> To learn more about structured discovery and the long white cane, visit
>
> www.nfb.org
>
> ,
>
> www.blind.state.ia.us
>
> or
>
> www.ncbvi.ne.gov
>
> .
>
> Like
>
> Like
>
> 3
>
> AddThis tweet button
>
> tweet
>
> 0
>
> 1
>
> Share
>
> 2 Responses to Using the long white cane
>
> Lisa  says:
>
> April 14, 2011 at 4:13 pm
>
> Great sensual details make this piece clear and enlightening for a sighted 
> person.
>
> Reply
>
> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>
> says:
>
> April 14, 2011 at 4:23 pm
>
> For those who use a long white cane, we forget that not everyone 
> understands the
>
> technique. It becomes second nature when you use a tool like the cane 
> consistently,
>
> but obviously it is not always clear as to how the cane works to an 
> observer.
>
> I try to place readers behind my eyes, if you will, to not only explain 
> the cane,
>
> but to hopefully give you a sense of what it is like.
>
> Hey, it is that “show” versus the “tell” you guys always knock into our 
> heads! It
>
> really is effective!
>
> Reply
>
> Leave a Reply
>
> Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
>
> Name *
>
> Email *
>
> Website
>
> Comment
>
> You may use these
>
> HyperText Markup Language
>
> HTML tags and attributes:
>
> <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote 
> cite="">
>
> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
>
> Post Comment
>
> Search
>
> ▪  What a relief!
>
> ▪  Using the long white cane
>
> ▪  Top foods for fiber
>
> ▪  Progress?
>
> ▪  Is your kid ready for summer camp?
>
> ▪  Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter on
>
> Disease plus kids can equal cruelty
>
> ▪  Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter on
>
> Disease plus kids can equal cruelty
>
> ▪  Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter on
>
> Disease plus kids can equal cruelty
>
> ▪  Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter on
>
> Disease plus kids can equal cruelty
>
> ▪  Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter on
>
> Disease plus kids can equal cruelty
>
> ▪  Log in
>
> ▪  Entries
>
> Really Simple Syndication
>
> RSS
>
> ▪  Comments
>
> Really Simple Syndication
>
> RSS
>
> ▪  WordPress.org
>
> SPONSORED BY
>
> HOME
>
> |
>
> HEALTH & MEDICINE
>
> |
>
> FITNESS & NUTRITION
>
> |
>
> HEALTH CARE POLICY
>
> |
>
> HEALTH INSURANCE
>
> |
>
> COMMUNITY FORUMS
>
> |
>
> HEALTH TRACKER
>
> |
>
> ABOUT US
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbmi-talk mailing list
> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nfbmi-talk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/wadecher%40msu.edu
> 

_______________________________________________
nfbmi-talk mailing list
nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nfbmi-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/f.wurtzel%40comcast.net