Day 13 – Odds and Ends
It’s been incredible getting feedback from everyone on my blog. I never really set out to have a bunch of people read it, the blog was primarily an outlet for my thoughts and emotions. So there’s no goal or agenda. Well, maybe there’s a goal. If there’s something good or helpful that someone can get out of what I am able to share, then that would be a good goal.
Yesterday was pretty quiet. We went to a grocery store. I wanted to get some practice with having Angie sit in the floor board of the backseat since that’s how she’ll ride on most occasions. We took one of the sedans and off we trekked to the store. Since I shop at my own local grocery where I know where most things are by memory and using my remaining vision, I just usually pull a basket behind me. We practiced doing that so that Angie could get an idea that there’s something much wider that we have to clear as well in addition to my own body. I think she is beginning to learn the differences in how we travel indoors versus outdoors. Outside we can go full speed ahead, but indoors, there needs to be a little extra level of decorum. Our second trip was a night trip. Since my instructor was on-duty we use that as an opportunity to see how we work together as a team when my vision is the poorest which is at night. Again, her work was great and impressed Nichole. There was one point on the route where we were ready to cross a street with multiple lanes that converged on an island, kind of like a triangle. It wasn’t a straight perpendicular crossing and alignment. Since it was angled, I think my shoulders were off and if Angie had followed me, we could have ended up in the middle of traffic. Initially from the forward command, she followed in the direction of my shoulders, but after a few steps I could feel her correct my crossing alignment and bring us to the correct up-curb. Not sure how she did it. The dogs take in cues from multiple places including the body alignment of the person they are guiding. A lot of what the instructors are teaching is an awareness of our shoulders, feet, hands, etc. Kind of like a dance. But it is awesome! Some of the best experiences from class are the unplanned ones and just getting to know people as individuals. You’re basically living with 20+ people, sharing all of your meals, maybe a glass of wine, and hopefully good company.
On to the odds and ends part. Some people have asked me what is the best way to help someone who is blind? My response to that would be, everyone is an individual, so just ask. There are two questions that are really helpful. “Would you like any assistance?” and “How can I be of assistance to you?” The first gives a blind person a choice as to whether they want assistance or not. Depending on the situation, assistance may or may not be needed. For instance, I may stand a little off from a street corner to listen to the traffic patterns. At that point, I don’t need assistance, I just need to gather information from what I can hear. But at other times, I may want assistance in knowing the names of my cross streets or what landmarks are nearby. GPS technology has helped a great deal with accessing information. But technology doesn’t replace appropriate assistance from another when it is requested. Now that we’ve talked about what’s helpful, let’s talk about what is NOT helpful.
One of the most startling things to me, in my experience, is when someone grabs my arm or touches me and assumes I want to go to a place. Most of the time people come from behind and do this. If I can describe what it’s like… I have no information on who this person is, never met them before, they have just crossed my personal space, assumed where I want to go, and have now just caused me to be a bit unbalanced because most of the time, people assume I have trouble walking and will grab harder. Sighted people…. DO NOT DO THIS! I know it seems helpful, but it is incredibly unsettling. This also comes up when I am descending stairs. Having someone grab me from behind causes me to feel more unbalanced and in some cases unable to use my cane properly. Finally, some people, will want to offer assistance by grabbing my hands. For whatever reason, that’s incredibly personal to me and at times makes me feel like I’m a child holding the hands of my parents. The best way for me to follow someone is by gently holding their elbow so that the sighted person is in front and I’m maybe a half a step behind.
I have become a lot better with accepting assistance from others. So I am more likely to accept that help if it’s offered. But what’s even better is when the person offering assistance gives me an opportunity to share what is helpful whether it’s simple as having them describe what they see, or helping me across a difficult street crossing, or something else.
Now this is just my experience as one blind person. My experience may be different, but my guess is that there are some similarities to the life experiences of other blind and low vision people.
Yesterday was pretty quiet. We went to a grocery store. I wanted to get some practice with having Angie sit in the floor board of the backseat since that’s how she’ll ride on most occasions. We took one of the sedans and off we trekked to the store. Since I shop at my own local grocery where I know where most things are by memory and using my remaining vision, I just usually pull a basket behind me. We practiced doing that so that Angie could get an idea that there’s something much wider that we have to clear as well in addition to my own body. I think she is beginning to learn the differences in how we travel indoors versus outdoors. Outside we can go full speed ahead, but indoors, there needs to be a little extra level of decorum. Our second trip was a night trip. Since my instructor was on-duty we use that as an opportunity to see how we work together as a team when my vision is the poorest which is at night. Again, her work was great and impressed Nichole. There was one point on the route where we were ready to cross a street with multiple lanes that converged on an island, kind of like a triangle. It wasn’t a straight perpendicular crossing and alignment. Since it was angled, I think my shoulders were off and if Angie had followed me, we could have ended up in the middle of traffic. Initially from the forward command, she followed in the direction of my shoulders, but after a few steps I could feel her correct my crossing alignment and bring us to the correct up-curb. Not sure how she did it. The dogs take in cues from multiple places including the body alignment of the person they are guiding. A lot of what the instructors are teaching is an awareness of our shoulders, feet, hands, etc. Kind of like a dance. But it is awesome! Some of the best experiences from class are the unplanned ones and just getting to know people as individuals. You’re basically living with 20+ people, sharing all of your meals, maybe a glass of wine, and hopefully good company.
On to the odds and ends part. Some people have asked me what is the best way to help someone who is blind? My response to that would be, everyone is an individual, so just ask. There are two questions that are really helpful. “Would you like any assistance?” and “How can I be of assistance to you?” The first gives a blind person a choice as to whether they want assistance or not. Depending on the situation, assistance may or may not be needed. For instance, I may stand a little off from a street corner to listen to the traffic patterns. At that point, I don’t need assistance, I just need to gather information from what I can hear. But at other times, I may want assistance in knowing the names of my cross streets or what landmarks are nearby. GPS technology has helped a great deal with accessing information. But technology doesn’t replace appropriate assistance from another when it is requested. Now that we’ve talked about what’s helpful, let’s talk about what is NOT helpful.
One of the most startling things to me, in my experience, is when someone grabs my arm or touches me and assumes I want to go to a place. Most of the time people come from behind and do this. If I can describe what it’s like… I have no information on who this person is, never met them before, they have just crossed my personal space, assumed where I want to go, and have now just caused me to be a bit unbalanced because most of the time, people assume I have trouble walking and will grab harder. Sighted people…. DO NOT DO THIS! I know it seems helpful, but it is incredibly unsettling. This also comes up when I am descending stairs. Having someone grab me from behind causes me to feel more unbalanced and in some cases unable to use my cane properly. Finally, some people, will want to offer assistance by grabbing my hands. For whatever reason, that’s incredibly personal to me and at times makes me feel like I’m a child holding the hands of my parents. The best way for me to follow someone is by gently holding their elbow so that the sighted person is in front and I’m maybe a half a step behind.
I have become a lot better with accepting assistance from others. So I am more likely to accept that help if it’s offered. But what’s even better is when the person offering assistance gives me an opportunity to share what is helpful whether it’s simple as having them describe what they see, or helping me across a difficult street crossing, or something else.
Now this is just my experience as one blind person. My experience may be different, but my guess is that there are some similarities to the life experiences of other blind and low vision people.
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