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.