Great things about being blind. Giving speeches.

I know I know.   I said yesterday I would tell you a story about a pit bull in disguise.  But, that will have to wait.  A friend attended a guide dog graduation this past weekend.  She e-mailed me to say that a great thing about being blind is being able to give a speech, read your notes in braille, and still have your head up and facing the audience.
Morgan the CEO of guide dogs did this this past weekend and it impressed her.
Way to go blind people making speeches!
This way notes aren't covering our faces and the braille is just under our fingers!
Yay yay blind speech makers!  We are the best!

Happy birthday to my first guide dog.

In some ways, I've come full circle with my guide dogs.  I've had guide dogs since the spring of 1992.  All from the same school.
Wonderful guide dogs for the blind in California and Oregon.
http://www.guidedogs.com/
My first guide dog was born on this day in 1990.
She was a wonderful black labrador named Gwenny.
Gwenny was calm, smart, happy, and had a real mind of her own.
She would let you know if something you did didn't please her.
One of the first times I found this out,  happened on her birthday.
Gwenny's brother was also in our guide dog class.
There were about 16 people in class I believe.
Gwenny was black and her brother was yellow.  so, the student who had her brother and I bought cake and ice cream for the class.
Chocolate cake in honour of black Gwenny and vanilla ice cream in honour of yellow brother whose name I forget.
Then, I bought biscuits for all of the dogs from Gwenny.
Anyone who has a retreiver knows that food is very important to them.
Gwenny loved her food very much.
She was excited when she saw and smelled the bag of biscuits.
She had guided me to the pet store to get them.
We walked down the hall and at each door, I knocked and presented a biscuit to the owner of each new guide.
Gwenny started walking more and more slowly.
She kept banging my leg with her head. 
She would tilt her head to look at the bag of biscuits each time one came out and wasn't offered to her.
There were very few biscuits left when Gwenny sat down and stayed there wagging her tail.
"Hey woman!  What about me?  It is my second birthday after all.  And I guided you safely to that store and guided you up and down these halls.  Now just where is my biscuit?"
Point well taken.  Gwenny did get her biscuit.
Gwenny died suddenly of cancer at age 7.5 while still working.
Her loss was so devastating to me and all who knew her.
She is now on high and I hope eating well on her birthday.
This past winter, when I took that last journey with my retired guide who also had cancer, I thought of Gwenny waiting for my wonderful Gia.
And, as I sat on the floor stroking my golden Gia for the last time, talking to her, my second small black lab lay at my feet.
Another calm, compassionate, fun dog with a mind of her own.
Not like the others and yet like them.
For her wonderful raisers who I still keep in touch with, for all my raiser families who are now friends, for all of the trainers at gdb who had a hand in training my wonderful guides, for all the raisers and trainers out there, you are awesome.
Have a piece of cake or dog biscuit in honour of the best first guide dog any person could ever have.

Great things about being blind. Dogs that show initiative and care.

I'm trying this out from my ipod. Hope it works. Today is not a good day for travel. It started off snowing hard and now is raining hard. Tulia and I went to yoga this morning. she traveled the snow covered sidewalks with ease. When we reached a familiar corner, she slowed down and looked to her left. "Do you want to turn left or go straight?" "Good girl left," I said and must have been slightly turning my body left as she started fluidly turning left. I love it when I reach the psychic period with my guides. Where they seem to know what you want before you say it and you start to know their movements and how they read things so well. We crossed the street. When we reached our grocery store, she glanced right. "good girl no thank you." We had crossed the next street. The snow was falling with a tick tick tick and the sounds were muffled. I was just thinking how much I love guides with initiative when she must have read my mind again. "Initiative you say? I'll show you some amazing initiative. The sidewalks are covered. the street is more clear. shall we walk on the quiet street?" "No we shall not." "Oh damn! Where is your sense of adventure Kim?" After yoga, on the way home, the rain was falling hard. When I first brought Tulia home, she would not move in rain. Today she did although she wasn't spritely in her movements. The snow and then rain gave us some very very bad icy patches. Close to home, I slipped and fell. The first fall with a guide also tells you a lot. Will they take off? Stand there? Check in? I fell on my bum and there in my lap was a soaking wet black lab licking my face. "Are you okay? Did I do that?" Up we got and the next icy patch, I could feel Tulia slow way down and her head turned towards me. This new much lighter harness that guide dogs has, makes you really feel the movements of the dog much better. Tulia has retired to her bed. She also had a play session with another guide before yoga class. Everyone stay warm and safe.

Sent from my iPod

Great things about being blind. adapting and thinking outside the box

I've been blind since birth and have lived in a world dominated by the sense of vision. For those who are sighted, think about it as you go about your day. Street signs, restaurant menus, traffic, print materials, etc. etc. Being blind is normal and natural to me. Moving around my world is natural. Experiencing it the way I do is natural and normal. And so, from an early age, I've had to learn to adapt to activities because there was no way I was letting my blindness stop me from participating fully in life. Adapting games. Putting rice in a beach ball so I could hear it to play an adapted game of volley ball. Finding ways to label jars, cans, print materials. Using all of my senses when out and about. If I get turned around in a big open space for example, what can I hear? Oh yes the traffic in a certain direction, the hum of a building air conditioner in the distance. What can I feel under my feet? What can I smill touch etc? If there is something I really want to do, I'll think of a way to do it. So, a few years ago, this adaptability was the thing that got me through a rough time with a secondary disability.
About five years ago now, I fell on an icy patch and hurt my knee quite badly. I could hardly walk and I had always walked far and fast.
I learned to use a support cane in my right hand and walk with my guide dog at my left side.
She adapted beautifully too. Slowing down her pace. Stopping at uneven terrain. Not minding the cane I held in my other hand. She would stand in front of me and let me lean my hands on her back to steady myself. She would find ramps instead of stairs. I marveled at her. People asked how I had taught her to do those things. I hadn't. She just adapted. Things did not get better with me. They got worse. I began to have pain in my ankles and feet. Pain in my hands and wrists. It turned out, I had and have rheumatoid arthritis. Once I knew what it was, I was very sad and outraged. What, I already have a disability? Well, yes but that doesn't mean we can't get and adapt to others. Once I got medical help and some tips and tricks, I started using my mind to adapt to this too. I haven't had a bad flare up since the initial one. Still, when I am very tired, stressed, or in certain weather conditions, my joints can bother me and I can't hike on very uneven terrain anymore. But, as I started to work my way back to more activity, I had to think about how to adapt things. One hand and wrist were sore. It was the hand I held my guide dog's harness in and it was hard to grip. I asked the occupational therapist if she could bulk up the handle for me. We put some thick foam around it so it was easier for me to hold. Gia still stopped at uneven surfaces and Tulia has picked this up too. I need to go down stairs slowly one step at a time. Both dogs adapted to this. I don't usually use a support cane anymore but know I could if I need to again. When I first started using it, one of my friends said, "Oh you don't want to use one of those canes do you? People will stare at you." And I said, "And you don't think they stare at me now?" Smile. When I went back to get Gia's successor (Tulia) I said I needed a calm dog that was easy to handle, adaptable, able to walk for ages or stay inside, not a hard puller. I got it all. I ride my stationary bike about an hour per day, walk a lot, am back to swimming (I was a competitive swimmer once) and do much of what I did before the arthritis. I do need to pace myself though. I'm grateful to my blindness for teaching me how to adapt when needed and not to give up.
I am currently the secretary of an alumni chapter at my guide dog school (guide dogs for the blind)
www.guidedogs.com
The chapter is called guide dog handlers all ways and is for graduates who have additional disabilities besides blindness.
If anyone wants to find out more about this, e-mail me at
kimjkilpatrick@gmail.com