Category: Jobs and Employment
I enjoy watching debates on here, and I'm sure this topic will get a lot of attention. My career choice has been to be a cane travel instructor. I have some sight, but I have been taught by a blind cane travel teacher. Thus I know it is possible to be taught by one, and I myself could teach under blindfold.
Would you feel comfortable being taught how to travel and orient yourself by someone who is blind? What are your thoughts?
Only if the instructor has extremely good mobility skills.
I agree. The instructor would have to be incredibly good.
Mind you, I do not always follow good cane technique, but I do what works for me and that should be enough. Isn't the point to get from pointA to point B safely?
I don't see how eyesight matters, provided the instructor has passed all their qualifications.
My only experience with a mobility instructor who was blind was when I was at that summer work camp in high school.
She was extremely efficient - I was only one of many, and they rather had a ritual of making everyone go through being 'oriented' to the campus, which I can see makes a lot of sense when you've a crowd of blind bats. But she did the deed in an hour, signed me off and moved on to project Next. This was a sprawly funny campus with relatively few sidewalks, I rather appreciated her straightforward descriptions of how the place was laid out, relationships between various lots and buildings, and the like. No having to do the crawly 'left here, right there,' like a virtual earthworm. She ddid it as well as the sighted mobility instructors I had been with in other places.
Whatever challenges surrounded lack of sight she must have managed, so it's obviously possible. The only difference I can remember, come to think of it, was she stayed nearer than they usually do, you know how the general idea is to follow at a distance and intervene only when you get stuck and stop. Probably that was to be able to hear where I was at when on the busy street. I just happen to have a relatively light footstep, enough people comment on it, so I don't know if she always had to or just for us who, in the words of Gilbert and Sullivan, "Cat-like Tread."
I think there's no problem, I only see one.
It mite be differant in Canada, then the U.S. but here lets say We're going to work at a new place, or we're moving to a new nayberhood, we will call the instructer, and tell them to oriant us.
The instructer will then check out the area, once, or looke at a map, then oriant us.
If your blind, it will be harder to just skim the area and no it.
That's the only ishue I see...
As far as being qualified to teach, unfortunately, it all depends on where the teacher has received their training. I have done my research and compared several schools with the programs for O&M, and Louisiana Tech sticks out to me personally. The future teachers are required to do training blindfolded if they have any sight, period. In my opinion that is the best possible training you can get.
As far as my philosophy on orienting yourself to new areas, anyone, blind or partially sighted, should be able to do that on their own after training. It sounds scarey, but it is impossible.
as someone who's a proud graduate of the LCB, I wholeheartedly agree with sight not being a factor of what makes a mobility instructor great.
although, I'm pretty sure this topic has been discussed repeatedly on the boards. just saying.
Billy, I call you up and tell u that I'm going to a new school, and I need help to get to no it, where my classes are and all.
How would you do it?
When you have another duzzin of clients calling you up with the same problem?
I would make appointments with them and make a schedule. Simple as that.
I personally have no interest in being a travel instructor as a career. But one of the best O&M instructors I had was totally blind, so I know it can be done, and very well, too. I've known many O&M instructors over my life, some sighted, some blind. Vision was never the deciding factor in what made them good teachers or not. As I said, one of the best I knew was blind, but I can think of another blind instructor I know who is terrible, and it's not for his lack of vision. Same with the sighted ones I've known. It all comes down to personality and teaching ability,
Look Billy.
Maybe its differant here.
I dont no, but how would u learn 12 new schools at once, to trane your duzzin clients to there 12schools?
Maybe its differant in the U.S., if it is, tell me how.
I just find it hard to understand how someone would do it, you have to oriant your cliant, but you have to first oriant yourself to your clients place.
Again, I mite be rong, is it done differantly in the us.?
I'm not sure how you mean by it being different here. Sure, it will take extra time and acclimating on my part, but that's just part of the job. Just think, if you can learn how to get around a campus, that's basically how I do it, except I'm just exploring it myself without direction from someone else. That's what you may have to do one day, if you don't have an instructor with you forever.
I think a good instructor should assist you in learning how to get around without an instructor.
Whether they meant to or not, the people who taught me in the schools growing up taught me that very thing. I would get a lesson a week, and run around in the wild for the rest of it. What we call mobility instructions is really important for all people. I understand we have a few extra concerns, like how to learn to use a cane, cross streets using traffic, etc. However, you may be quite surprised at the number of people who can see who lack some of the same skill that some of you talk about, or that the mobility instructors give us.
JD let me put this to you: Ryan wants to become an instructor. I admit: instructor I am not. But I have in many ways had to solve the same problem: Going on a business trip, going to need to get my own ass through airports, to and from the hotel, to the job site. Now I am not an instructor and also I eschew idealism of any sort, so for me it's a matter of do what is going to get the job done. So ahead of time, I may look online - now it would amazingly be easy with GPS apps which I never used to have.
I presume, Ryan could do a lot of this, would probably get to know the schools in the general area for his mobility business, and get the job done.
It's all about the individual doing whatever it takes to pass muster. I think shedding oneself of all vestiges of ideals really helps, but I don't know what that would do for instructors.
But all sorts of people have to do what you describe, get to know a new area on short notice. When you become an adult, you will move to a new city, a new area, and there are no instructors for you. After all, you're not in school. You could sign up with the government I suppose and go through their programs, what they call 'rehab', (still sounds like droppin the dope to me). That by necessity takes time: the wheels turn slowly in any institutional setting, I'm not picking on the blindness people. Homeland Security and other government institutions are very slow at times.
But say you move to a new area. Now you have to get from Point A to Point B, you going to just wait on the government? What happens when the fundamentalists win, and you have lost all access to government services? Religion , gods and ideals aside, only you are capable of looking out for you. It really is all up to you. So, it follows, every blinded adult ends up doing this, and it would follow that those who are instructors also, could train to become an instructor for other blind people in the same situation if they so choose.
What you're asking about, - learning a new area and quickly, - befalls every free-moving blind person in the developed world, so Ryan would be already set up for that part. I will say, that as I've gotten older, I don't memorize all the details as fast as I used to, too much else is crowding my mind at all times. Again, GPS apps that tell you what street you're at are really useful. Not just for the blind: sighted people use them all the time also.
lol ok ok u convinced me, and that doesn't happen easely.
Seriously bro, Good luck man.
I would not feel comfortable at all. I was at a camp for the blind when I was 7 and he walked in frunt of me backwards and that scared me like he could of walked into the street, granted I know you wouldn't do that but it scared me to be out alone with just him in a ariea I never been to. There is to much of a risk I feel when it comes to street crossings and that sort of stuff. However I would feel comforetable if a blind mobilaty instructer was to orieant me with a college or work campus something like that. I know some people don't mind having a blind instructer and that's great I just wouldn't be comfortable personally. If you would be okay with a blind instructer more power to you.