Tag Archives: visual impairment

“Mobility Matters: Stepping Out In Faith” – Book Review

A review of “Mobility Matters: Stepping Out In Faith ” (http://doublevisionblog.com/2016/02/24/book-review-mobility-matters-stepping-out-in-faith/).
As a visually impaired guide dog owner, I was interested to read this review of a book regarding one lady’s experience of mobility training, using a long white cane. Prior to getting my first guide dog, Drew I used a long white cane and have happy memories of it getting stuck in cracks between the pavement or bent into the shape of a banana following a close encounter with a lamp post or tree (oh happy days)!
Yesterday I fell into conversation with a colleague who asked how visually impaired people, who are not guide dog users cope as regards mobility. I was surprised by the question as the majority of those who are partially sighted or blind do not, in fact use guide dogs but utilise (as in the case of the above) a long white cane. In my view its vital that guide dog owners should possess the capacity to use a cane as the dog may become ill or, on rare occasions it may not be possible (or advisable) to use their four legged friend. For example several months ago my present guide dog, Trigger had several benign lumps removed which meant he was not able to work for 10 days. During this period I worked from home and utilised my white cane when out and about.

Kevin

Kevin In The Lion’s Den

8 Replies

Yesterday, I entered the lion’s den and survived to tell the tale! There where 20 lions in total. They sat in silence for most of the time, the quietness of the room being occasionally punctuated by an approving roar (sorry laugh) when I (or my fellow poet and colleague, Toby Wheeler) regailed the audience with a humorous poem. At the end of both performances these mighty beasts of the jungle put their paws together and clapped, leaving both Toby and I to emerge to fight another day!
To be wholly serious for a moment. As a visually impaired person (I can discern outlines but not facial features nor can I read print), it was impossible for me to see the faces of the audience. Where they nodding in approval, listening with undivided attention or glancing at their watches praying for the event to end! The sound of laughter during my humorous poems gave me an indication that my performance was not sinking like a lead balloon. However, as mentioned above, the audience was, for much of the reading silent making it impossible for me to ascertain their mood.
Following the reading, I chatted to a colleague and asked his opinion as to how my reading had gone down with the lions. As a sighted person he, also found it difficult to ascertain the mood of the audience. However his impression was that they enjoyed the performance which strengthens me in my desire to give further readings.
So hear I stand neither blooded nor bowed. I hope to give further readings in the near future and will post details on this site once dates are confirmed.

Kevin

Touching Words

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To hold one’s own book is a wonderful feeling. The tangible representation of one’s endeavours writ large. For most authors the pleasure is enhanced by the ability to read the print editions of their works. However, for me as a blind author (who is unable to read print) the situation is rather more complex. I can read ebooks using the text to speech facility on my Kindle. I can not, however read the print edition of my book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” which sits on the bookcase in my living room. While I still derive pleasure from taking the print edition of “Dalliance” in to my hands, it is not the same as being able to sit in an armchair, flick through the pages and pause at random to read a poem.
I got round the above issue by getting the Royal National Institute Of Blind People (RNIB) to transcribe “Dalliance” from the electronic file held on my computer in to braille allowing me to possess an accessible (physical) copy of my work. Yesterday I sent the electronic file of my latest collection of poetry, “Lost In The Labyrinth Of My Mind” through to the RNIB. I await the braille edition’s arrival with eager anticipation! While I am a huge fan of ebooks there is, in my opinion no substitute for their physical counterparts.

Kevin

To The Young Lady Who Assisted Me Across The Road

Working With Guide Dogs

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On Wednesday 2 December I gave a talk about my experience of working with guide dogs. Below are extracts from that presentation.

—

I remember being struck on reading Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” by the reference to guide dogs. Speaking of Scrooge Dickens writes,
“Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then
would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!” (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm).
Researching the history of guide dogs, I have been unable to discover any record of guide dogs being trained in the United Kingdom until the 1930s, when the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association was established (the same charity that trains guide dogs today). However the reference to blind men’s dogs in “A Christmas Carol” indicates that dogs where being used by blind people in Victorian England. I can only surmise that visually impaired people trained the dogs themselves or training took place with the aid of family and friends.
The history of guide dogs does, however go back far beyond the 19th century. A roman sculpture exists of a blind man being lead by a dog, while a plaque from the middle ages shows a blind man being lead on a leash.
In the late 18th century the Paris hospital for the blind trained guide dogs.
It appears that the first (modern) and systematic attempt to train guide dogs took place in Germany. A German Doctor left his dog with a patient while he was called away to business elsewhere. On his return he was so impressed by the way in which the dog had been looking after his patient that he determined to train dogs as guides for the blind. The doctor’s work lead to the establishment of several guide dog schools in Germany and there is evidence of dogs being sent to the UK amongst other countries.
The work of Doctor Stalling inspired the founding of The Seeing Eye in the United States which trained dogs for the blind and (later) the establishment of The Guide Dogs For The Blind Association in the UK. (http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/aboutus/guide-dogs-organisation/history#.VmMIbL-yKSo).

—

I am now working with my fourth guide dog, a lovely brindle lab/retriever called Trigger. All of my companions have been male with the exception of my third dog, Drew, a lovely yellow lab/retriever who sadly died in March 2011 as a result of a heart attack.
Guide dogs are trained to walk in a straight line and to avoid obstacles. On reaching an obstacle they can not navigate the dog stops and it is then incumbent on the owner to assess the situation and (if in any doubt as to how to proceed) to ask for sighted assistance.
Guide dogs are taught to stop at kerbs and to only go into the road at the command of their owner. Guide dogs lack the capacity to know that vehicles pose a danger (there sitting at kerbs is, therefore purely down to their training). However guide dogs are taught not to go into the road when a vehicle is approaching. However owners are told not to rely on the dog taking evasive action as they have no understanding of road safety (I.E. it is a useful aspect of training but the responsibility for safety remains fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the owner). Having said that, Trigger has, on several occasions pulled me back when I have misjudged the situation and attempted to cross as vehicles approach.
In the UK guide and other assistance dogs are allowed by law to enter food and other premises which pet dogs are prohibited from entering. It is, in fact an offense for a provider of goods or services to refuse entry to a working guide dog. Despite the legislation discrimination does, unfortunately persist and I have myself experienced it on a number of occasions.
In conclusion, guide dogs enhance the independence of visually impaired people and on a much deeper level provide companionship. I and other guide dog owners have built up strong bonds with our dogs who are, to us much more than mere working animals.

Poor Customer Service From Future Aids (The Braille Superstore)

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This post is about the poor customer service provided by Future Aids (http://www.braillebookstore.com/). In early November I placed an order for a book which arrived in a matter of weeks (not bad considering the company is based in Canada and the package was shipped using standard surface mail). While the quality of the Braille was excellent, I was surprised that the 2 volumes where unlabelled making it difficult to distinguish them from the many other books on my shelves). I sent an email asking why the books arrived unlabelled and received a response saying that this needed to be requested at the time of ordering. Fair enough I thought, next time I will do that and pay the additional $1 per volume for the service.
On 20 November I ordered a further 2 books from The Braille Superstore/Future Aids and explicitly requested in the comments section of the form they be labelled in Braille. On receiving the receipt I noticed that no charge had been made for labelling and emailed asking whether this had been done. To cut a long story short, I was informed that it had not and the cost for providing the service is $50 per volume (hugely different from the $1 I was quoted originally)! I was also told that I aught to have specified in the comments section that I was willing to pay the additional fee!
What truly irks me about this whole incident is the lack of an apology for what is (quite clearly) an error on the part of Future Aids. I did as requested by explicitly stating my need for the books to have titles shown on the covers. Mistakes happen, but the sign of a well run company is that it’s representatives acknowledge their errors and apologise for them. To put the responsibility for an error (as was done in this case) on the customer is wholly wrong. More worrying is the huge discrepancy in the price quoted for adding the title to the book cover ($1 and $50)! If the facility is indeed available there should be a standard charge known to Future Aid’s representatives, not a make it up as we go along charging structure.
Below I have copied my exchange with The Braille Superstore (also known as Future Aids). Anyone thinking of purchasing Braille or IT equipment from Future Aids should, in my view think carefully prior to doing so.

Kevin

Email from Kevin Morris To The Braille Superstore (21 November 2015)

“Thank you for your email attaching a receipt in respect of the above
order. In the comments section of the order form I requested that each
book have it’s title brailled on the cover. Can you please let me know
whether this was done?

Many thanks,

Kevin”.

Email From The Braille Superstore To K Morris (21 November 2015)

“No, it was not. It is not our policy to label each cover. If you wish this done in future, you would need to pay an additional $.50 per Braille volume.
Thanks for checking.

All the Best,
Customer Service”.

Email From K Morris To The Braille Superstore (21 November 2015)

“Thank you for your reply. I wrote to you on 18 November asking about
this service and received the below (cut and pasted) response on the
same date
“Kevin,

Thanks for your Email.

If you wish, we can Braille the title of each book on the cover during
assembly. This process is done by hand and there is thus a $1 charge
per volume
for this service. You may request it by placing a note in the Comments
box on the Checkout page with future orders.

All the Best,
Customer Service”.
I complied with the instructions and specified that braille on each
cover was required when placing my order, however this was not
actioned by yourselves. Also there is a discrepancy in the price
quoted by yourselves in your latest email and that provided in the
message dated 18 November. Please clarify the position”.

Email From The Braille Superstore To K Morris (22 November 2015)

“You needed to indicate in the Comments box that you were willing to pay the $1.00 charge per volume. As I am sure you can appreciate, there are many of
us processing orders at this time of the year and we cannot all know the arrangement you made with one staff member. It’s a case of getting orders out
to the customers promptly and on time.

All the Best,
Customer Service”.

Guide Dogs Not Allowed IN

6 Replies

The following email (reproduced below) about the discrimination faced by guide dog owners is self explanatory. As a guide dog owner I am saddened and angered by the fact that 75 percent of guide dog owners report having been refused access to a taxi when accompanied by their guide dog. I am saddened but not surprised because the same thing has happened to me on several occasions (I.E. taxi drivers flouting the law by refusing to carry me when accompanied by my guide dog Trigger). If you live in the UK please do take the time to write to your Member of Parliament regarding this issue. The original email can be found by following this link http://emails-guidedogs.org.uk/LDK-3KHFD-E85B5CNX2A/cr.aspx. Please note, the links in the email reproduced below don’t work (for the working links please visit the original document linked to above).

Many thanks,

Kevin

Email From Guide Dogs For The Blind Association

Dear Kevin

“My biggest problem with refusals comes from taxi drivers. I used to have a very tough two hour commute to work. The taxi part of the journey was the shortest

bit travel wise, but it always ended up being the bit that held me up the most because I was having to spend time facing drivers who wouldn’t take me with

my dog. It made an already stressful situation really stressful and upsetting…it’s good that my contract was flexi hours otherwise I’m sure I would have

been sacked for being late all the time – it happened so often.” Guide dog owner, Northamptonshire

Earlier this year we carried out a survey of over one thousand assistance dog owners. The results were shocking.

75% of guide dog owners

who responded had been refused access to a business or service at some stage because they were accompanied by their dog, and nearly half had within the

last year.

Take action to help us stop this from happening.

This is why we’ve launched an important new campaign called ‘Access All Areas’ which aims to ensure guide dog and other assistance dog owners are able to

gain access to businesses and services with their dog, as is their legal right.

A guide dog owner and guide dog about to get into a taxi

Amongst guide dog owners the most frequently encountered place to be refused access was taxis and private hire vehicles. You can help us tackle this problem

by taking our new online action.

Thank you for supporting this vital new campaign.

Best wishes,

Rachael

White Cane In Hand (Humour)

Please Do Not Distract

5 Replies

While out for a walk with my guide dog, Trigger earlier today a lady began to stroke him while he was guiding me past a car which was, rather inconveniently parked on the pavement. I smiled and said,

“I don’t mind you stroking my dog, but please don’t do so while he is working as it could put both me and my dog in danger”.

The lady apologised and I continued on my way.

Unfortunately the above incident is far from being an isolated occurance. I have experienced people attempting to pet Trigger while in the midst of crossing a busy London road, which could have had disastrous consequences for both him and I.

As I said to the lady this morning, I have no objection to people stroking my guide dog. However the bottom line is to use common sense. By distracting a working guide dog the person responsible runs the risk of causing the animal to lose concentration. This could result in the owner becoming intimately acquainted with a lamp post or the bumper of a large lorry, not something which anyone wants to have on their conscience.

There is a good short piece on GDBA’s website on tips for approaching a guide dog owner. The golden rule, as set out in that piece is to always ask and not assume that speaking to or petting the dog is OK. As a guide dog owner I will, in most instances readily agree to a request to fuss Trigger. He works hard and deserves to be stroked, cuddled and generally loved. However, when working attention given to a guide dog can be highly dangerous so, please ask before approaching any assistance dogs.

For the article on GDBA’s website please visit, (https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/microsites/sponsor-a-puppy/blogs/2015/april/ever-wondered-how-to-approach-a-guide-dog-and-their-owner#.VWHdu0YrggQ).

Kevin

A Snippet Of Conversation

6 Replies

Have you ever overheard a conversation about yourself, failed to speak up and, later wished that you had done so?

Some time ago I was strolling along with my guide dog when I overheard an elderly lady remark to her companion,

“He’s blind”.

In retrospect I should have come back with the quick fire response,

“But he’s not deaf”.

I did, however hold my tongue. There is, as is said in the north of England, “nowt so queer as folk” and the above snippet of conversation acts as living proof of this fact.

Kevin