*cough*

All weekend I have been fighting a cold. Whom ever gave it to me, can absolutely have it back now! So here I am all weekend sick, not feeling well. But packing and getting last minute preparations ready. Studying my butt off to an Economics test on Monday morning. And… And… And… Although busy it was a nice weekend, and I enjoyed spending it with my wonderful husband.

Remember that pop quiz I asked you all about? Well by now you’ll have looked back for the answer. My question to you was, what were my dual disabilities? I will tell you. I am totally blind and hearing impaired, with major balance issues. to start I have not been blind my entire life. I was born visually impaired but could see. See enough to read print, colors, shapes and objects. I say I am totally blind now because I have no usable vision. I say visually impaired because I could see some. I had glasses and contacts growing up. I say blind, because that is what I am. Its okay to use the word blind. At one point I could even drive a car, and I do remember what that was like. Now about the hearing impairment. Not sure where or how it came about. I can still hear, but fake very well. I am not comfortable with my hearing loss. And hate to ask people to repeat themselves. In one or two person interactions, I am good. If its more, with lots of noise, I can’t hear myself much less the person next to me. I can’t hear traffic, I can’t hear people walking by or come up to me. If I am out on the street of say Temple, I can’t hear what the person is saying. Its ackward but I deal with it the best I can. the balance is because of the hearing loss. My Ear Nose Throat doc says I have Meniere’s. There is your vocabulary word for the night.

So the breeds of dogs that are used as guides are: German Shepards, goldens, Labs, Crosses ie. golden and lab, Collies, Poodles, and a few other breeds I can’t think of.

Why would someone want to get a guide dog? So I have been using a long white cane since I was 5. In order to know or find a object you must touch it or hit it with your cane. So imagine a sidewalk, with a trash can, a bench, a tree, a sign and a bike rack. So in order for me to know that all of those things are there and go around them, I have to touch every single thing. This takes time and can be frustrating. There are advantages and disadvantages to using a cane and the same goes for a guide dog. With a guide dog, the dog would guide you around all of those objects. and the handler, like me would never know, or might not ever know that those thing exist. This becomes a problem when a guide dog handler is trying to locate an object with a guide dog. So when I am walking, and a well intended sighted person says, watch out for such in such. I know its there because I have, One, already found it with my cane. Or two, am about to. Perhaps its a object I want to find. Maybe I am looking for a bench to sit down on. Or a trash can to deposit of trash in. the better thing for a sighted person to ask is, Can I help you locate something?

Ok so that is enough educating for one night. Your brain probably hurts, and my fingers are tired. I hope you all have found what I have written interesting.

If your wondering, my cold is better. I am still congested, but feeling 75% back to myself.

Until next time!