Last week was a lot of fun. I got to observe the way Micky gets things done, like how to get people to let us into restricted areas. Although that part wasn't exactly an O&M lesson, I think it is a useful strategy to know for my future of working with classroom teachers and families.
The elevator fear is slowly going away... I think. After class last Thursday I went on some in the stadium, and was surprised how easy it was. So far I have not avoided any that really would have been useful. I am almost excited about the idea of going to the capital building, all the way to the 22nd floor. I'll even try not to ramble on with pointless conversation and stop squeezing my hands. I'll get there there eventually.
On Thursday apparently I summoned the rain, sorry guys.
Today was interesting. I never realized how badly the doors are numbered in our building. That would be very confusing for a person with a visual impairment who has recently come to our building. I remember being confused when I came back from a summer and they had changed all the numbers, so I can imagine what that would have been like for a visually impaired person. I am looking forward to Thursday, and exploring our new environments. I picked Diffinbaugh, a place I had almost every class in my first 2 years at FSU. I haven't been back there in 3 years, so I am not sure how familiar it will be. Anyway, I do look forward to us in blindfolds around large groups of people, and when they stare at us hearing Micky's comments about how their major couldn't possibly be better than ours.
On another note, as I have been reading the history chapters in the red book I have learned a lot more about the VA. Maybe it is because I am also taking the Aging and Blindness course, but I am suddenly very interested in how teaching there would differ from working in a school. I thought I would do my O&M internship at a school, but I feel like I have experienced that, and now I might want to see what it is like at a VA.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
back under blindfold
Our first day under blind fold was interesting. I had not put on a blindfold in over 1 year so it took a few minutes to get use to it again. Also this was the second time I had been back in the Stone building since May, so the areas we were in, down stairs and in the new part of the building, I had little to no visual memory to rely on.
I did enjoy feeling and hearing the differences when going in and out of hallways and into the atrium area on the ground floor. I think because it was so cold that day I could really feel a change in temperature when we walked into more open areas.
And then there was the elevator...
I think if I did not have the blindfold on I could have faked my way through it like I do when I am around people and do not want to show them how scared I really am of an everyday common thing that most people don't think twice about using. I have done this with other before, like when I was at FSDB with teachers or my students. I would tense up, and try to keep conversation going so I could distract myself. I'm sure some of my students noticed this. I know that especially with younger children if I act like something is dangerous and scary they will think that I must have some valid reason for feeling that way so they should be scared of it too. I do not want to, and cannot pass this fear onto my students, or be so scared of elevators that my students miss out on an important mobility skill.
It's just an irrational fear. I know these thing, I know I will not die, or be stuck very long, if I ever get stuck again; but it's that fear of it happening again that stops me. I think the longer I have put it off, the more I have avoided it, the worse it has gotten. It is also really embarrassing because I am afraid to do something everyone else does so easily. Before I got stuck 5 years ago I use to go in them all the time. I remember being little and playing in them, pressing every button so we would stop on every floor. I know I can get back to that point, it is just going to take some time. I appreciate everyone's understanding of this quirk of mine, and for (hopefully) not thinking I am a total weirdo.
I am looking forward to this class. At FSDB I saw what good mobility teachers can do for their students, and I am excited that I will one day be able to do the same.
I did enjoy feeling and hearing the differences when going in and out of hallways and into the atrium area on the ground floor. I think because it was so cold that day I could really feel a change in temperature when we walked into more open areas.
And then there was the elevator...
I think if I did not have the blindfold on I could have faked my way through it like I do when I am around people and do not want to show them how scared I really am of an everyday common thing that most people don't think twice about using. I have done this with other before, like when I was at FSDB with teachers or my students. I would tense up, and try to keep conversation going so I could distract myself. I'm sure some of my students noticed this. I know that especially with younger children if I act like something is dangerous and scary they will think that I must have some valid reason for feeling that way so they should be scared of it too. I do not want to, and cannot pass this fear onto my students, or be so scared of elevators that my students miss out on an important mobility skill.
It's just an irrational fear. I know these thing, I know I will not die, or be stuck very long, if I ever get stuck again; but it's that fear of it happening again that stops me. I think the longer I have put it off, the more I have avoided it, the worse it has gotten. It is also really embarrassing because I am afraid to do something everyone else does so easily. Before I got stuck 5 years ago I use to go in them all the time. I remember being little and playing in them, pressing every button so we would stop on every floor. I know I can get back to that point, it is just going to take some time. I appreciate everyone's understanding of this quirk of mine, and for (hopefully) not thinking I am a total weirdo.
I am looking forward to this class. At FSDB I saw what good mobility teachers can do for their students, and I am excited that I will one day be able to do the same.
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