My guide dog and I

I’ve had my guide dog for a couple of months now and getting him was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Jet is a wonderful black labrador, two years old at the end of next month. Not only is he good at his job, enjoying his work, he also has a lovely temperament, is very social and is absolutely no trouble whatsoever. He fits into my life perfectly. This is testament to the brilliant work by the guide dogs Association, their trainers and their puppy walkers.

Guide dogs is a wonderful organisation. The dedication, training, advice and help that the charity gives is superb and can't be faulted.

The process started with a visit from a member of the team who came to my home to discuss whether getting a dog would be right for me. We talked about my condition, my lifestyle and how the guide dog might benefit my life. Once the decision was taken that a dog would be good for me, it was arranged that I would have some test walks to see what kind of dog would suit.

The first walk was around my local area within member of the team holding a harness, no dog involved. This was test my mobility, how I got around with my white cane, speed etc. This was followed a few weeks later with another walk, this time with the kind of dog they thought would suit me. All the time I was being assessed so they can actually with a suitable dog.

Then I was put on the waiting list. As I had not specified the type, breed or sex of dog the process of finding the right dog from me would probably be quicker. Some people are quite particular about the kind of dog they want. The charity has a set of criteria so people are matched to the right dog. People have different needs, such as how much exercise the dog will need, it's size overspeed it walks for example.

Once they found an animal that they thought was right for me it was time for my training. Training can take place residentially at a number of hotels around the country or within the home. As I am quite active and used to dogs, my training was from home. So for three weeks Jet moved in and everyday we went out with a trainer learning all the commands, techniques and everything I needed to know about working with a guide dog. A health visitor also came to see me to talk about the care and welfare for jet.

Once been given a lot of information and qualifying, I was handed over the reins and for a nominal fee of 50p, Jet became mine. The backup support by the organisation is brilliant, any problems I have with jet, they are only at the end of the phone. Regular visits to see how he is getting along mean he will always be in good condition. As well as his training, vets bills and after-care, they even offered to pay for his food, which I declined as they had done so much already.

Guide dog ownership is wonderful. It has made so much difference getting around. It has helped my confidence moving around in a visual world with sight loss. As well as a working dog he's also become a great buddy. He's got a great temperament, he so well-behaved (most of the time!) And makes me laugh every day. Guide dogs answer everybody but personally it's been fantastic.

If you would like more information on guide dogs like to donate please visit this link:

http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/?gclid=COH_gtvN_68CFWwntAodJzWIEA

Living with the blind

Strangely, one of the things I was most worried about when coming to the Royal National Collge for the Blind was being around blind and disabled people.  None of my friends or aquaintances have problems and I'm just as guilty as the rest of us of having reservations about being around people with disabilities. How would I react?  What would they think of me, still with useful vision (and what vision I had being pretty good at the time I started)?

When I initially visited the college on an open day and came for my pre-entry assessment, there were people walking around with white canes and guidedogs, obviously totally blind.  Would I be thought of as a fraud, being (as yet) not totally blind?

When I arrived at the college I was shown to my accomodation.  Rather than being in halls, as I had independent living skills, I would be living in a lodge, a prefab building with four bedrooms and lounge/kitchen/diner and two bathrooms.  Something like a holiday chalet.  I share it with two other guys, both totally blind.

One guy from Scotland, is about my age and has been blind from birth.  He has a guide dog and has lived and worked as a muscian for years.  We're both on the Music Technology course.  The other is 21, from Sunderland, who lost his sight at an early age.  He's doing sports therapy, plays blind football for Hereford and the national team and is a fitness freak.

I needn't have worried about living with blind people.  The college itself has students with all ranges of vision problems, highlighing just how many conditions and problems there are associated with the eyes.  It was so easy slipping into the routine of saying hello and announcing who you are when, walking to the right, holding doors, giving people a hand if they need it, making others aware you're there, whatever.  You realise that most people just get on with things and everybody helps each other out.  People laugh and joke about their disabilty, the stupid things that have happened because of it.  It's all quite easy.  The staff are very helpful and trained to deal with disabilty though half the time everyone just wants to get on with things their own way, as normally as possible.

I couldnt have asked for better lodgemates.  The lads I'm with are pro-active, get on with life and are fully independent.  I could have ended up in the halls of residence with no way of getting away from the partying youngsters and locking myself away in my room.  You can chose a bit of company or spend time in my room without being disturbed.  We have a great laugh. 

It's actually very inspiring seeing how they live life to the full, just get on with things and don't let their lack of vision get in the way.  Having been fully sighted I can understand how easy it could be just to give up and sit around depressed thinking that the days of enjoying things has gone.  These guys have shown me that if my sight does go completely then there are ways round the problem, different ways of enjoying things I've done as a sighted person.

We do the things together "normal" people do: argue about football, watch tv, go for a pint.  We have music wars, (trying to play music as loud as possible and tracks you love yourself but know the others will hate (just for fun - kids these days don't know a good tune when they hear one!).    It's great seeing how they do everyday things in life like preparing food, doing their washing or the dishes.  They go shopping and they travel to and from home independently by train. 

Sometimes they might ask me that I can see, such as how good looking someone off the TV looks or where they've put something.  Not because they have to but just to make things easier or quicker, or confirm some assumption they've made. At the same time, they check my Braille writing for mistakes or answer questions about how they do certain things without vision.  It's imteresting, as someone who has experienced the world cisually, how they experience and understand things, how they talk of things and express things in visual ways: watching TV, describing things as a certain colour and such like. 

The only difference with my new friends is that they have some degree of sight loss or no vision at all.  They still have opinions, different tastes, enjoy sport, entertainement, books.  Why shouldn't they?  (Shoud I say, why shouldn't WE?).  They've shown that they're not people with disability but with plenty of abilty.

First three weeks at the RNCB

Well I've been at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNCB) for three weeks now and I'm settling in nicely.  After a year in limbo after being officially diagnosed as visually impaired and finding myself unable to work, I am finally studying at the UK's premier establishment for education and training for the blind and visually impaired.

Getting here:

I found out about the college at the beginning of the year via my local Action for Blind People branch.  After visiting the college on an open day in April and seeing it's excellent facilities,  I decided the RNCB would be a great way to train for work in an area I was interested in and not disimilar to what I had done before (broadcasting graphic design).  I would apply for a course in Music Technology and Media Production.

After many chats with my local DEA (Disabity Employment Advisor) to arrange funding, I had an assessment at the college in August to see if my disabilty was appropriate for the college, that the place would be suitable for my needs, and it would be useful for me to gaining future employment (the whole point in the college).  I spent two days here, being put up in the college's lovely accododation block, with a comprehensive day of interviews by staff from different section of the college.  Though quite intense, the staff made me and the other assessees feel very welcome and that everything was being done to make sure coming to the college would be the right thing for both parties.

So after a few months of finaising funding so that I was able to stay at the residential college whilst keeping my flat back home and benefits for everyday living  (ESA Employment Support Allowance etc) and a CRB (Criminal Records Background) check to see if I was suitable to attend a college with 16 year old plus students, I was given a start date of November 1st.

The first week:

Having been dropped off by my parents on Monday afternoon with all my stuff, I was shown to my "lodge", the accomodation I'd be staying in.  The lodge is like a holiday chalet, with four small bedrooms, a living room, dining area, fully fitted kitchen and two bathrooms.  Not big but plenty of room.  I was alone for a few hours to sort my stuff out before one of my lodgemates turned up, back from half term.  I'd met Jamie (also studying Music Tech) before, when I'd first visited the college for the first time.  Nice to see a friendly face and we spent the everning chatting about the ins and outs of college life.  Because of the roll on/roll off nature of the college people can start at different times.  Jamie had started the beginning of term in September.

I also visited the refectory, where three meals a day are available for students (up to a certain value before you have to pay extra but you get plenty).  Being in a lodge we have breakfast things (cereals, bread, milk, juice) provided at the lodge.  The food is standard canteern style, perfectly edible and with a choice of a few hot meals and sandwiches and some wonderful puddings!  I certainly won't starve here.

All of Tuesday was spent being told all about the college, health and safety, diversity, rules etc.  We were also given an introduction to the college gym.  A long day in all and we were given a provisional timetable.  As well as Music Tech, I had been expecting Braille training, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Mobility (white cane training), these would be timetabled in at a later date.  It all seemed a bit chaotic but I expected it to settle down.

For the rest of the week the lectures started properly (as well as having an iduction at the gym and seeing the nurse for a brief chat about any medical needs and a quick health check).  Having started half way through term, I got a bit worried being thrown in and being told to mic up a drum kit "like you were shown before half term"!  There'd be a lot of catching up to do.  Luckily as the weeks have gone on the lecturers have gone over everything again, reinforcing that had been learned before.  Everything is explained well and I found that a lot in music/sound recording are similar to principles in the visual world (ie compression in sound is like adjusting the levels in a photo in Photoshop) so I'm able to correlate the two and understand it easier.

Settling in:

After a few days, Mobility and ICT were added to the gaps in my timetable and after a lot of hassle (with the college netword not liking Windows Vista and having to upgrade to Windows 7) I could finally get back in contact with the real world from my lodge on the WiFi network (and being connected to the college intranet, email and notice boards).  I'm still waiting to get onto the Braille course, which is frustrating as I think it's going to be the thing I struggle with the most, being a completely new way of thinking.  I see a personal tutor every week and he's on the case.

My other two lodgemates appeared too.  Both totally blind, Kevin is on the same couse as me, a similar age to me and with a guide dog.  I met Owen before at the assessment, a young guy on the Sports Therapy course who is also a keen blind footballer, on the Hereford team and fringes of the England squad.  A nice bunch of guys (as are most of the people around campus and on the course) we have a good laugh.  More to follow on living amongst other blind and VI people.

There aren't quite as many activities available as advertised (or I still haven't found out where they are announced: communication of such things are quite difficult to find (especially difficult before I was online).  Still, I've visited the student bar (The Dog and Cane) a few times and there's always something going on in the other lodges or with other students.  I've walked into Hereford city centre a few times (checking out one of the pubs yesterday!) and there was even a fundraising event for Children in Need this weekend, with a live band. 

I'm certainly settled in now and understand things more in Music Tech.  On my first long white cane training in Mobility I was told I was picking it up very quickly and I think I'm picking up Jaws screen reading software well in ICT (though they are skills I hope I'll never need, if my vision stablises).  Life is very different after living alone for a while, not working, student life again so many years on and being around blind people, but I'll be exploring that in future blog posts.