Bus Travel

I enjoyed our bus ride yesterday. There were a lot of things I did not think about though, like how to find the door to the bus when it pulled up. If Mickey had not told us where to go I would have ended up groping the side of the entire bus until I found it. On the first bus the man that helped us was very nice, but just kind of grabbed me and did not tell me who he was. I think we talked a little about this yesterday, how it is hard to tell if the people helping you are nice or if they might have other intensions. If the man had told me from the beginning that he was a city bus employee it would have made me feel better. I kept thinking what a nice man he was, but when we got to the plaza and he did everything for us I started to get a little annoyed. I wanted us to have the experience asking for help, but how can you ask when someone doesn't let you have the chance? I know he had good intensions and he could have been much worse. When we were being taken to the gate for our second bus I was the last person in the sighted guide chain, so I was sticking way out to one side and scraped the side of my arm across a concrete pillar...it still hurts!

I thought it was strange when the second bus driver asked is we were really blind, and our bus helper guys said 'of course they are, they were this way when we picked them up from FSU'. Someone else at the mall asked me and David if we were 'playing blind'. Honestly who does that? Either some people no manners or we must have been doing a really bad job looking like we were blind. At one point on the bus I was talking to Katie and I realized I was using hand gestures...so maybe that tipped someone off.

The mall was a new experience. I've been so used to being outside with traffic, the sun, and sidewalks to guide me, the wide open space of the mall was confusing. And trailing is almost impossible because the store fronts are all different, sicking out and going back in at different angles. I kept losing the side of the wall, only to smack into it a few feet later. Once we got to the area with different textured tile it was much easier to follow. Walking through the bookstore was a little difficult because everything felt so close together, it was like a maze.

The bus ride home was easy, expect Katie and I realized we never told the driver to tell us when we were at the plaza, so every time we stopped from longer than 5 seconds we thought we were there.

Overall the bus experience was great. I have planned bus routes for students, I wrote my unit plan for this class about bus travel, and I have ridden the bus with my sight many times. Riding it with no sight, and dealing with others attitudes towards me as a 'blind' person was wonderful. Just like our O&M travel, it taught me what it would really be like to go through it, what my students will go through when I teach them bus travel.

Drop Off

So today was the drop off. I feel very silly for hyping it up in my head as much as I did. All last week I kept coming up with these scenarios, like what if I cross a street and go our of our 16 block area, what if I walk into a place we've never been, or what if I give up. The practice drop off yesterday helped build my confidence. I got completely, 100% lost. I had to try so hard to take what I thought I knew and throw it away. This was one of the first times I did this in such a complete way. Normally if I get lost I know I am somewhere on a particular street. Like the day I got lost on Park because I was sick and couldn't hear anything. Even though I was very disoriented I still knew what part of which street I was on. In our practice drop off I had nothing. I kept finding things, then I'd find a second thing and they didn't agree with each other. As hard as it was I had to force myself to erase them and start over, otherwise I would have driven myself crazy trying to make sense of things that were incorrect.
After yesterday, today was really easy. I got lucky that is for sure. I remembered what we had been taught, find the sidewalk, get to an intersection, and keep moving. I was unsure of my direction because when I got onto the sidewalk I was in the shade. I knew at that point I had to just pick a direction and go. After a few steps I found the sun, which confirmed that I was headed West, several steps later I noticed there were no intersecting driveways or sidewalk, then I reached out and felt the gate to the cemetery and that's when I felt about 99% sure of where I was. I still wanted to be cautious, yesterday I found hand rails and stairs and assumed they were one location when I was very wrong. I didn't want to assume anything completely until I got to Macomb and felt the wall I liked the hit with my cane when going back to Potbelly's. After that I kinda went into auto pilot, I had walked this part of Macomb to Potbelly's several times.
I am really glad I had the crazy lost experience yesterday, and in someways that experience is what I thought my drop off would be like. Now I know I was able to get out of a stressful situation like that. I am proud of all of us, this whole experience has been very rewarding.
Bus travel next week should be fun!

Transition Summer Program Day 1 Grocery Shopping

Today was the first day of the summer transition program that I will be getting some hours from. There are about 10 kids, all upper middle school to high school aged. The kids arrived and the teachers reviewed the rules, a point system to earn rewards, and then everyone introduced themselves. After that we talked about making lunches and how this first week we will be making sandwiches. The kids made a grocery list of all the foods they needed to make sandwiches. Then we were off to Wal-Mart. We stayed in one large group, which turned out to be very difficult to do. Everyone wanted something different, some people were voicing their opinions while others stood way in the back of the group not paying attention. Some kids really tried to make sure everyone was in agreement with what we were buying, but because our group was so large things were chaotic. I was trying to observe mobility skills, and most of the kids did very well. Only one student out of the 10 was using a cane, but she walked sighted guide through most of Wal-Mart. The other kids were all low vision and they were able to get around without any problems. A few times they bumped into other shoppers carts, but I think this was really because they just were not paying attention. The only real issue I noticed from the group as a whole was the way they walked around in the parking lot. They were all over the place, both sides of the parking lot lane and cars were waiting for them to move. The kids either couldn't see the car or just didn't care.

I think there is a lot of group mentality going on. Some kids are acting out because they want to show off in front of others. It makes me wonder if that's why they just walked right out into the parking lot without looking. I also think their mobility was so good because many of them are familiar with the general lay out of all Wal-Mart stores. I think when we spend more time outside, or when we are in new unique locations their mobility needs will start to show.

Practicum week 2 - Part 2

The second half of week two Ms. W and I went to a very small town about an hour away to see Q. Q is a 30 year old woman who has very little vision, uses a cane, and lives with her family. Ms. W stated that she has the impression that Q wants to do things on her own but her family does not allow her to. Q has been through all of the courses at the agency, but her family still assists her in many daily living activities. We started with Q in a near by parking lot and worked on walking down a sidewalk along a busy street, crossing some driveways as we walked. Q uses a long cane with a roller tip, which she slides back and forth across the sidewalk. Q was doing her best to hold her cane in the center of her body at first, but seemed to slowly let her arm drop to her right side, which caused her cover on the left to get smaller. Ms. W would remind Q every once in a while to make sure her arc was consistent and wide enough on each side. When it came time for Q to cross a drive way she easily identified the area where the sidewalk ended and the road began. She waited for there to be silence, and Ms. W reminded her that she could also cross with the cars if she felt comfortable. When Q cross she veered toward the street, and Ms. W stopped her to have her feel the dip down of the gutter next to the road. Q said she could feel the difference. Ms. W also reminded her that because the road was very busy next to her, that when she gets to the curb she needs to immediately step up and get out of the road. With every correction Q seemed more focused and determined to fix her problems. On our way back she veered into a parking lot and began walking into it. Ms. W pointed out the sounds of the cars, and the grass line. This was interesting to me, because in our O&M II class I have done this, and watched Katie and David make this mistake several times. The way Q got out of it and the way I've seen my classmates get out of it was very similar. It was neat seeing the connection from our simulated blindness and outdoor travel, and someone who really is blind. Every day I realize more and more how much we have learned in our mobility class, and how much I am going to rely on it when I teach.

Along the way a friend of Q's stopped her and asked how she was. Q did not know who this woman was at first, and it threw her off. The woman kept saying "Look at you out here, I knew you could do it girl!" and repeating it over and over. Q did her best to smile and say thank you, but I could tell she was a little annoyed by it. We talked about it later and she told us how people will come talk to her and she has no idea who they are. She then went onto explain how her family has started to get better at letting her know when they are coming into a room near her, or when they are leaving. I really liked Q's attitude, she seems to take everything in stride, and even while telling us about things that have gone wrong she was smiling and laughing like she was telling us a funny story.

Then we went to Wal-Mart so she could practice using customer service help her find items. We talked about the entrance of the store, and where customer service was in relation to the doors. We had her practice getting to customer service a few times, pointing out landmarks and cues along the way. We then role played what Q would say to the customer service workers, and talked about the items she wanted. I was impressed with the amount of detail Q knew about the products she had to get. I'm assuming she has done this before. I took some students from my internship to a grocery store and many of them had things on their list like 'potato chips'. Once we got there we realized just how many options there are, flavors, brands, sizes... But Q was ready, and when she went off with the man from customer service it only took about 5 minutes to go get her items and get back to the front. Ms. W and I followed Q from a distance, it was funny, I felt like we where spying on her. Ms. W told Q that the next time she goes to Wal-Mart with her family that she should use customer service to locate her items and then meet up with her family when she's done. Ms. W also suggested having someone drop her off at Wal-Mart so she can shop and have them pick her up at a certain time. Q seemed very excited about these ideas. On the way home she was beaming with pride. We asked her how she felt about the shopping experience and she said that it was wonderful, it made her feel like blind people can do anything everyone else can do, just in a different way. Maybe she's heard someone else say that, but I'm new at this, and hearing that reminded me of why I love doing this.

The next day I met Ms. W at the agency to work with T. T is an older woman who needed orientation to the new building. Ms. W told me that T's mobility was pretty good, but then she fell and broke some bones and was in a rehab center on on bed rest for a while. Because of her time of being immobile, and her new fear of falling, her mobility skills have dropped. First we went to the kitchen so T could put away some of her drinks. On the way to the kitchen Ms. W pointed out landmarks as we passed them. T reached out to feel the braille sign for the women's restroom and said "oh I guess I'm cheating". Ms. W laughed and told her that it was fine to check out her environment. Once in the kitchen she wanted to know the lay out. Ms. W described the area, the table in the middle, counters and large appliances. T then went around the kitchen feeling everything, and she kept asking what color everything was, which I thought was interesting. She repeatedly said things like "oh I bet thats really pretty I wish I could see it". It made me wonder if she has some remaining acceptance issues, or if this is just a way she deals with her vision loss. We took a break for her to drink some water and talked a little bit about her mobility. At one point she admitted that she doesn't always use her cane the way she should and has hit her head on a few things at home. T said she needed a new talking watch, so we used this need to teach her a route to the supply closet. T was very talkative, and every person we passed she said hello and had many conversations. The time for our lesson was up, and Ms. W had to leave. I tried to tell T the way to some couches so we could sit down. I tried standing behind T and telling her where to go, but she kept turning toward my voice and following me as I backed up to get out of her way. Later I helped her program her new watch and then it was time for me to go.

I had a lot of good experiences this week in a variety of settings. Next week the transition camp will start and I will be helping with mobility when the kids go out into the community. It should be fun! I really liked working with the adult clients, but I have to admit I did miss the silliness that comes with working with young people.

17 hours logged!

Week 2 - part 1

For my second week of the O&M practicum I was with Ms.W. We started our first day together by her giving me a breif description of the client we were going to see, and then I went to read his eye report. I had to look up a few things in the little green eye definitions book. I took a few notes about things I noticed in the clients file to ask Ms. W about. Right before the client arrived Ms. W and I reviewed and discussed the client, what his needs were, and what we would be working on today. E is an older man with severe glaucoma. Because of the disease he has lost a lot of his peripheral vision and he now stated that the vision in his right eye is almost completely gone. In E's libe of work he travels a lot, sometimes out of the country. He wants a cane more to identify himself to others that for actual mobility. He stated that at night his vision is worse so he may use a cane to detect curbs or stairs in dark areas. Ms. W showed him a variety of canes, and then taught him the proper grip. With each cane she asked "What do you notice about this cane? What is it made of? What is the handle made of? How does it feel?" etc. I liked this approach because it made E look closely at each cane and then helped him compare canes to choose the one he felt most comfortable with. Once E had selected the folding cane with a pencil tip Ms. W suggested she measure him so that she could order the appropriate length cane. The example E had been feeling and holding was about 44" long, when measured he needed about a 52". E stated that he preferred the size of the demo cane. Ms. W did her best to explain to him that the 44" length would not give him enough warning time to react, and that he may fall, trip or run into things because his coverage would be so short. E firmly but politely again stated that he preferred the shorter cane. When asked why he liked the smaller one he said that it was because it looked more like a walking cane at that size. He openly said he did not want to look 'too blind'. A very respectful, polite disagreement ensued. Finally Ms. W let E make his own decision and gave him the 44" to keep, on the condition that when he comes to do mobility he can try the longer cane to compare it to the 44". I believe that E still has some social issues with being identified as a blind or visually impaired person. This experience was strange and I'm really glad I got to watch it unfold. I have a hard enough time telling a child no, to tell someone much older would feel weird. I have little experience working with adults, and learning the boundaries of how much the teacher can respectfully push their opinion is interesting. As a last resort if what is happening is just not safe or appropriate I guess the teacher would tell the client that they do not feel comfortable providing services the way the client wants them.

The next day I met Ms. W at the mall with 3 of her clients. They had already looked up information about the lay out of the mall and found stores they wanted to go to. Our objectives were to get to an ATM and then to the dollar store. Two of the clients were completely blind and were using canes. Ms. W and I each took one of them sighted guide. The other client was low vision and he walk close enough to us so that he could see us and follow. Before we walked into the mall we talked about the bus stops and in coming and out going buses. Along our route we stopped several times to point out things in the environment. For example before going inside the mall we stopped to talk about the doors, were they were, how many there were, what the handles were shaped like etc. Once inside we walked in and made a turn, telling the clients what store we were passing along the way. We got them into the middle of the upper floor of the mall and had them trail a railing and shore line along one part of the route. We gave more information, but we also stopped to ask them what they were noticing about the environment. The clients knew we needed to get to the main floor of the mall, and they decided the best way to get there was by elevator. For those of you who know me, I am kind of weird about going in elevators, they make me feel closed in and trapped. But I was in a professional role with clients, and I knew this situation was going to happen sooner or later. I focused on instructing the clients and observing Ms. W to help ignore my anxiety. I did not feel as nervous as I normally do, it was like I knew I was there for someone else, so I did not think about what I wanted. It made me feel confidant in myself that I can handle it if I need to.

We then went to the ATM and while Ms. W helped one client take out cash I took the other two to the center of the mall and talked about what was near by. I was not sure how much to tell them, so I gave an over view. Ms. W then joined us with the other client and because they seemed to want to know more she told them every food place in the food court in order from left to right. I felt silly for not telling them what was their, I mean if I don't tell them then how would they have known? I found out later that these clients are new to town and had never really been to the mall before. Because I didn't get to meet with Ms. W before I did not know that. Next we went sighted guide to the dollar store, again describing what was around us. We walked the clients around the outer walls of the to give them an idea of the size of the store, and telling them what was for sale. When we were ready to leave Ms. W stopped to point out a dangerous area just outside of the store. A staircase rose up diagonally in front of us, but there were not supports underneath it. If a person who is blind walked straight out of the dollar store their cane might not catch the bottom of the stair case, but if the kept going the could easily slam their face into the upper part of the stairs. I was really glad she pointed that out, it was something I have seen in other buildings, but not at the mall.

After that we had some time, and Ms. W had $10 for a snack for the 3 clients. They decided they wanted coffee from Starbucks. Ms. W suggested that the low vision client try to take us back to Starbucks. He got right to the store, but then veer a little toward the food court. After only a few seconds of examination he turned around and found Starbucks. I liked that Ms. W found something for him to be responsible for, it pulled him back into the mall lesson and probably gave him a feeling of accomplishment when he found it. I assisted the client I had been working with into Starbucks and he found his way to the counter. I had the feeling that he wanted me to help him with his purchase, but I did my best to hang back and let him handle it. Once he had his coffee I held it for him and we walked back to a near by table. I have no idea how a person who does not know where they are could hold an very full very hot coffee and use a cane to find a table. I'm sure it would be even harder if he had a tray from the food court because then both hands would be full. Once at the table my client tasted his coffee and was mad that they did not add sugar for him. I explained that not everyone wants sugar, that next time he should tell them when he's ordering how much cream and sugar he would like. He asked me to go get him some sugar packets, and I said that I wanted him to do it so he could find it next time he came to Starbucks. His response was "don't worry about that I'll never be coming back here again". He also said he was tired and by the time he found the sugar it would be time to leave and then he wouldn't be able to drink his coffee. I told him I'd help him get there and it would be quick. This whole time we're talking I started to realize an older man at the table next to us was watching us very intently. Out of no where this stranger interrupts us and says "oh come on miss you could go get it for him it wouldn't be that hard for you". I tried to laugh it off but I was a little irritated, did that man think I was being mean to the client because I wouldn't do something for him? I know some people do not understand that for a blind person to learn they have to have the experience doing it themselves. I explained to our on looker that I wanted my client to know where the cream and sugar table was located so that if next time he is here without me he will be able to find it. After that the man said nothing else and the client agreed to go with me. Once he got his coffee just right he gulped it down and it was time to leave.

The situation with a the stranger was weird, but something that I am sure happens all the time. I see people staring in our mobility class, sometimes people stop to ask Mickey what we are doing, but no one ever says things to Mickey like "hey why don't you help her find the sidewalk, it wouldn't be hard you for to help". I know they man meant no harm by his comment and I have to admit our situation did look a little out of the ordinary, if I was him I'd probably be watching too. I'm glad I had this experience and I think my response was informative yet polite.

Thanks David!

I was glad that David took the time to examine our area and point out the streets we have not traveled on. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was worried about this, with drop offs only 1 week away!!! When it was my turn to teach him I had this complex plan ready to go. Aparently I was too excited about the weird part of College, on the south side between MLK and Brounough. I advocated for it too much and ended up with a blindfold on. I should have known this would happen. Not only was this a part of the street I have never walked on under blindfold, I don't think I've ever really looked at it before. It was like going into an area with very little visual memory. When Mickey pointed out the long line of truncated bumps along one edge of the walkway I was very surprised. I wondered how I had never noticed this before. It was so easy to follow I wished every sidewalk had a nice defined line of plastic truncated bumps, but of course I know that is silly. I am guessing the truncated bumps are there to warn a blind person that the street is coming up, and not meant to be walked down the entire length, because when I did this I got way to close to a pole and smacked my hand very hard.
It was also strange walking with someone else who was under blindfold. I was hesitant to cross MLK at first, but when I heard David go I decided that it must be safe (or we are less likely to be hit by a car if there are 2 of us in the road). Once on the walkway my pace was a little different than David's so I kept hearing off beat taps which was a bit confusing. I wondered about some of the kids at FSDB who I had seen walking together, both with canes. They are so use to cane travel that another cane tapping probably didn't effect them at all. It's like every new sound or experience I come across my mind has to adsorb it and try to push through it and keep my focus on orientation. The best part about walking with David was that he found the intersection and lined up with it before me, and then said "hey Jasmine it's over here!". Thanks David!

Practicum - Week 1

This summer I will be doing my O&M practicum and the first 50 hours for ACVREP at a local agency in Florida. Out of respect for the agency's clients I will not say which agency and I will only use client initials.
I will be splitting my time with Ms. B and Ms. W, two certified orientation and mobility specialists. I will also get to work with Ms.B's transition program later in the summer.
For the first week I was with Ms. B. We met and discussed some of her clients, when we would see them and some ideas about how we can meet their O&M needs. After planning the rest of our week we went to visit V. V is a student who needed help with the summer bus schedule. We printed copies of the school buses that go by his apartment and used a sharpie to bold the route making it easier for V to see. We did not enlarge the map because he prefers to use regular print with a magnifier. We ran into a problem that some of his classes end after 5pm and the school buses stop at 5pm. V said he would ask his teacher if he could leave a few minutes early, or he look into taking the city bus home. Ms. B scheduled another appointment in 90 days, the maximum amount of time that can go between visits for a client's case to remain open. It was clear V. did not need a lot of help. Ms. B was very understanding of his needs and I really enjoyed the way she pointed out all of V.'s strengths and praised him for his independence.
There were no other mobility clients for me to observe that week due to conflicts in my schedule.

The next week I met Ms. B at the agency to plan. We looked at more bus routes for students. We looked online and called the city transportation department for more information. Because the online system and the phone service gave us little information about the location of an actual stop, we decided to go drive the route. One student, L., wants to get from her home to a Starbucks. We found a Starbucks along a bus route, but after driving it we realized it would drop her off in a place that was not safe. This made me realize the value of planning ahead and actually seeing it for yourself. If we had planned the lesson based on that stop, spent all that time working on it with the student, only to realize later that it was bad, we would have wasted so much time.

After planning and driving the route we went to see A. A. lives alone in an apartment complex. She has had difficulty getting to her dumpster to take out her trash, and because she has left it outside her front door her complex fined her. When Ms.B was last with A. her assignment was to call the complex and self advocate, explaining her situation. A. is totally blind, due to TBI. She also has short term memory problems which makes remembering a route difficult. A. reported that she called her complex and they agreed to have a maintenance man come pick up her garbage as long as she called to let them know she had put it out. Ms. B was proud of A. for calling and standing up for herself. Before we started Ms.B verbally reviewed the route we were going to work on with A. A. went outside and walked the parts of the route she could remember, a long distance, and stopped to think when she became confused. She identified many landmarks along thew way and seemed fairly confidant as she traveled. Ms. B stopper her at key points to get A. to identify where she was. The rest of the route was broken up into sections and worked backward and forward. When she reached the end, A. would have to walk back to the previous landmark and then get back to the end. Once A. went too far and Ms.B let her go until she figured it out on her own. Once back at her apartment the route was discussed in detail. Ms. B went through it step by step with A., and A. recorded the directions verbally into a tape recorder. Because of her memory loss she uses a tape recorder to recall information and uses it when practicing the route alone. Before we left we planned A.'s next meeting.

Ms. B and I could not meet the next day, however I planned from home. R. might get a job at one of the malls in town. I had to look up information about where the closest bus stop was to her house, if it was safe to get to, and what the easiest and safest way there was for her top get to the mall. Bus routes can be complicated! Even after calling the city bus customer service line I still wasn't sure where the closest stop was to her house. The man on the phone told me the area I asked him to look up was a government building...weird. I wrote out several aproximate times the bus would arive, when and how it would change at the station, and when it would arrive at the mall. I also did the return route, and made notes about a night bus. This took me an hour!

The next day Ms. B and I met at L.'s apartment. L. is the student mentioned above who wanted to get to a Starbucks using the city bus. Ms. B planned out the bus route fot L. Like with A., before we started Ms. B. went over the route verbally. We began with L. getting out of her complex. She did this with ease. The next step was walking a couple blocks to the bus stop on a major intersecting road. L. was hesitant whenever a car drove down the street next to her. Ms. B shower L. how wide the grass was so she would know there was no way she would fall into the road. As L. went on she veered when crossing a driveway, but recovered. Once we reached the corner where she would have to cross to get to the bus stop we were running out of time. Ms. B decided to reverse the route and see if L. could get back home. This time the traffic did not seem to bother her. She was home quickly and we planned our next meeting. During the lesson I noticed how Ms. B was careful not to answer all of L.'s questions with 'yes' or 'no' answers. Instead she would ask 'what makes for think that?' and 'how can we be sure?'. By doing this she is avoiding teaching learned helplessness to L.

The next day we went to see R., the student who I had planned a bus route for. Ms. B had driven by and determined the location of the closest stop. She went over directions verbally with R. before we left the house. As we walked down the sidewalk Ms. B encouraged R. to use 2 point touch instead of shore lining and constant contact. When R. was not covering enough on her left and too much on the right Ms. B would make a joke saying 'that's so sweet of you to cover me on your right, but I'm okay you need to cover yourself more'. Once at the bus stop R. realized she had no money. Ms. B and I quietly discussed if we should loan her the money so we could still do the lesson. Ms.B decided to make it a point about responsibility and being prepared. I thought this was a good idea because if R. was alone and the bus had come, they would not have let her on without money. Looking at my notes about the bus times I realized we might have just enough time to hurry back to R.'s home to pick up money and get back before the bus came. Ms. B went over the reverse route step by step. Motivated, R. moved quickly back down the route to her home. She got some change and then we were off again. As we walked I began to hear the bus in the distance, and when we were only 2 blocks away from the stop the bus drove past us, not stopping at our stop because no one was there waiting. I was kind of dissapointed after all that time I put into planning our trip. However I aggree with Ms. B's decision to make R. responsible for her bus money.

The last day of that week Ms. B and I went to visit M. M. is applying to dog guide schools to get a dog. The last time someone from his preferred school came to visit he noted things about M.'s apartment that would have to change before he could receive a dog. Ms. B came to take pictures of the improvements that M. made. She also reviewed paperwork and discussed the last few steps M. needs to do to get his dog.

Ms. B informed me she would be out of town the following week, and then busy transferring her case load the next. My following week was too busy to do anything, so the following week she said I should try to meet with the other mobility specialist, Ms. W.

This first week was very interesting. I feel like I got to observe a variety of clients with very different needs. I am not used to working with adults, so things were slightly different. When a client's 2-point touch was not wide enough the correction for an adult is different than for a child. I really like the way Ms. B corrects client's in a way that motivates them. Because I am in the mobility class and dealing with confusion and correction while under the blindfold I feel compassion for the client's during their lesson. I do not enjoy being corrected in a way that comes off harsh or when the teacher does not understand what I am doing.
I look forward to the rest of this summer, and seeing other things I have only read about in action.

half-way disoriented

Starting off this week I felt like I got a little confused because I only went to one class the week before. Missing consistent practice under the blindfold and exploring the area made me feel under-prepared. This made me think about how my future clients will need a lot of practice in an area, and that their skills could also become rusty if they are not using them regularly.
On Tuesday when I got confused on Park, it took everything I have learned to get me to re-orient myself. I had to listen to traffic, try not to move around too much, listen to people around me, try to head toward the street, as well as the use of cardinal directions. Sometimes it is really hard for me to take what I think I know and throw it away. I was standing there hearing one way traffic, thinking I was facing Duval. It made sense traffic was moving from my right to my left. So I based my world around that. When I realized that when facing the moving cars that Bronough's traffic would also move from my right to my left...it was like an epiphany. My mind was blown completely. Because of this realization I was able to force everything in my head to shift and fit with what was really there. I'm very grateful to have had that experience and that Katie gave me enough time to figure it out. I know sometimes I need help, sometimes I get too frustrated and I can't get out of it, but because I had this chance to do it, it's like I proved myself to...myself. I know I did it once so I can do it again. Katie was a really great teacher. I know for sure any struggles she has under the blindfold have only made her a more understanding and helpful teacher.

Teaching each other can be difficult. When to give information, how much to give, how to deliver comments. I have noticed this a lot when out with Amanda because she does O&M with adults. These people are, for the most part, competent independent adults. It's so much harder when giving directions and critiquing their skills because the teacher-student relationship is totally different. For example when I teach Katie or David I feel awkward when telling them what to do or that they messed up. I try to do things the way I have observed Mickey and Amanda doing with us and their clients. I feel bad about what happened when I was trying to cross Bronough. I think I got really distracted by people talking to me, and after veering, it was too much and I stated doubting myself. It was like I was half-way disoriented. I knew the general area I was in, but really wanted to line up with the curb cut, which is not very defined at that particular corner. I shouldn't have started doubting myself so much, I kept feeling like I needed to check it just one more time. I wanted more time, and I needed to hurry. I guess I felt a little irritated when I was told the reason I needed to hurry up was because other people were hot and sick of waiting on me, when I feel like I wait 3+ traffic cycles for others to decide to cross with out saying a word. I take my time under the blindfold seriously, and to suggest that I was just playing around wasting time kind of hurt my feelings. That on top of being very tired and stressed made me kind of snap momentarily. I needed to be pushed and told to go, a good teacher would do that. I got over it in about 5 minutes and knew it wasn't a big deal. It was no ones fault, and I'm glad I experienced it. Now I know what my students may be going through if I don't understand why they are doing something and accidentally hurt their feelings. I now understand the fine line of giving enough time to orient, while also pushing the student to make a decision and go with it. This class is definatly teaching me a lot more than just mobility skills.