Day 14

More travel in downtown Lufkin today. Had to solicit assistance as part of the lesson today. That was awkward. I was told to go into a business and ask for directions. You have to just say "hello?" "Is there someone here?" and wait while they figure out how to give directions to a blind person! Telling me "that way" is not helpful. Other than that, it was a great day!

I am off to Lake Charles Louisiana for the weekend. Sean is on the bike and meeting me there. Can't wait!

Day 13

I heard a lot of "upper hand" being called out to me. This is in reference to upper hand and forearm technique, which is a protective measure where you place your hand palm out in front of your shoulder or modified upper hand and forearm which is where you place your hand palm out in front of your face. When someone says "upper hand" we generally assume the modified position to protect the face from obstacles. Here's why I heard it all morning.

I had a lot of obstacles in my way today. Lets talk a minute about crosswalks. Please don't park in them. Let me show you why.

My cane picking up the drop off.

Properly lined up and listening for traffic as my instructor watches, ready to stop me if I make a mistake and try to walk out in front of a car. See how his hand is at the ready?

This is my view of the crossing. Note the ladder sticking out from the back of the truck directly in my path ON the crosswalk?

Here I am making a perfect textbook crossing. I am completely unaware of the ladder.

Right before I would have run into the ladder I hear "let's see that upper hand" and it totally saved my nose from smacking into the ladder. I slowly worked my way around it mumbling about negligent people the whole time.

If I hadn't had any warning, I would have ran right into those things. When you travel under blindfold, you actually walk at a regular pace in order to travel in more of a straight line. Going slow you have more opportunity to veer and potentially get into trouble. Learning to cross streets I heard "hustle, hustle hustle!" behind me. Not only do you want to avoid veering by traveling at a good pace, you want to get the heck out of the road!

On the sidewalk there is a very large sign with another large sign underneath it. It is huge, and in the way. If you cannot see it, you will run your face right into it.

My instructor told me "upper hand" so I could avoid hitting this sign with my face. Notice how it is surrounded by sidewalk. How would you ever know it was there?

Well, I lived to see another day. The campers went to Lake Nacogdoches and went swimming, boating and tubing. We went out to the middle of the lake and the kids just jumped out of the boat with their life jackets on. I don't even do that! Talk about not letting a disability hold you back!

Day 12

WELCOME TO DOWNTOWN LUFKIN!

So I had my first lesson on downtown streets. Crossed streets using my traffic pattern skills, and lived to tell the tale. We will be doing this for a few days and then I will have my 'drop off' lesson. My instructor will blindfold me, take me to an area that I should be able to recognize using my landmarks, and I have to make it to a predetermined location. In this case it is a little business called Maricela's Day Spa. I have to do this unassisted. I will be followed by my instructor, but he will not be able to help me. He will be there just to make sure I do not do any mortal harm to myself or others.

I am dead tired. Spent the evening with the campers at the bowling alley. Everyone had a good time, and are now all going to bed. Luckily all of us in the O&M program got to go to OUR dorm, while the campers and their counselors and caseworkers went to THEIR dorm. Being a volunteer has its perks!

Day 11

It is 11:00 pm and today is finally over. My lesson was at 8:00 am, and I have been running on fake energy ever since. It was a crazy O&M day. I had to cross with traffic lights today.

Before we got to the light on Raguet Street, I had to cross a few smaller intersections with 2 way stops.  I had to listen for the right time to cross, which was when no traffic is there.

Listening for traffic.

Then I had to go hither...

and yon...

Until finally arriving to my destination.

I had to cross 5 lanes of traffic on each side, using only the sound of my parallel traffic as my clue to cross. You have to hustle across the street or "Swing It and Bring It" as we say so you don't turn into a road cookie (as I say). You make your move as soon as the car going your direction (parallel traffic) gets to the middle of the intersection. At this point that car is referred to as a "blocker car" as in, it blocks all other traffic from rendering your body into a road cookie.  If you miss this short window, you have to wait until the light cycles through again as it is unsafe to cross at any other time. The car 4 cars back did not see you waiting on the corner, and may make a right turn squishing you into oblivion, so you wait, listening for the traffic pattern again.

Swingin' and Bringin'

Another group was in the middle of their lessons today and this car out of nowhere slows down, rolls down their windows and yells "Y'all stop makin' fun of blind people!" Uh, really? Come back tomorrow, we are doing Down Syndrome.  Are we out here trying to pick fun at someones disability?  Really? Do you not see that we are trying to learn so we can TEACH these skills to the very people who need them?

I spent all evening with our campers. They had dinner, went rock and rope  climbing in the gym on the schools many rock wall courses and rope nets. You would never think a bunch of kids with visual impairments would be all over that, but they sure were! One girl has had no vision since birth, yet was climbing up those challenges like a pro. Awesome sight to behold. After the rock walls the kiddos had a scavenger hunt where they were blindfolded (all but 1 of them have low vision, where they have some usable vision) and given a cane to do a scavenger hunt. We each took 1 kid at a time through the course where they had to discover things, fill up their backpacks with their treasures, and make it to the end. We were giving them directions and some basic lessons with using the cane and their senses. It was really neat to have them explore.

Great day, but I am exhausted. Only 3 more to go and the campers go home. Only for more to come next Tuesday!

Weekend 2

Yesterday the 3 of us staying here over the weekend took a day trip to Tyler Texas. It was nice to be in a bigger city for awhile. We had a full day of shopping. Of course had to have a mani-pedi. We found a crazy coffee shop on our way and had to use it as a shameless photo op.

Beth and I in front of Kickers Coffee

They had painted a bunch of horses on their fence, so I had to feed them.

Air Roasted with a kick!

  Camp Independence is staring today here at SFA. It is a group of visually impaired kiddos who come for a week to do fun camp activities that are modified for them if necessary. For example they are going to have a meet and greet after dinner tonight as well as ice cream. Tomorrow they are doing driving, archery, swimming, rock wall climbing, cooking, etc. I am excited for Tuesday when we go play beep baseball!

I know you are still wondering how in the world these kids are going to drive and shoot a bow and arrow safely. The college hosts this camp every year and they have special areas set aside. The driving will be in golf carts on trails, not on the road and with a guide for verbal directions. The archery is set up where there is no danger of them hitting anything living. The driving is a big deal for them because if you think about it, That is one thing they cannot do that their friends will get to do when they are 16. Imagine all of your friends being excited about their drivers license and you never get one. Depressing huh? This camp allows them the opportunity to experience driving safely so they will at least be able to relate the experience.

The kids start to arrive tonight at 5. Fun and exciting week ahead. The little kids are this week, and the bigger kids are next week. Woo hoo!

Day 10

Today was the 2nd day in beautiful Lufkin Texas. Practiced using residential sidewalks and crossed streets today. In order to cross a street without a traffic light, you have to listen for traffic. I was not pulled back by the collar of my shirt by my instructor so I picked the right time to cross. I do not have any tire marks on my back so it was a successful day. Hot as Hades, but a good day.

Note the wonderfully manicured sidewalk and curb. Nice.

So what is with the crazy head gear you ask? I know it's super stylish, but try to contain your urge to go out and buy this look. I prefer to be original. Let me explain.

Pink Visor-Keeps the sun off my face yet allows massive amounts of heat to escape out of the top of my head. It is pink because pink is just plain awesome.

Bandanna-I had to buy them to contain the tremendous amounts of sweat from rolling down my face and making the foam of my blindfold incredibly uncomfortable in the 100 degree heat and blazing sun. I have 2-wash one, wear one for obvious reasons.

Blindfold-It is a specially designed blindfold to block out all light that has a plastic cover on the outside, and a foam glued to the inside. If I don't wear the bandanna under it, condensation (sweat?) actually forms in the eye holes. Yuck.

I wear a little back pack so I can keep my water with me and have a place to stash my head gear when my lessons are over. These are not things I would normally wear, but doing this blindfold bootcamp, the group of us have pretty much decided that we are under blindfold, and could care less what we look like because we can't see ourselves, so evidently no one else can see us either. Fuzzy logic. Works for me!

Day 9

Went to Lufkin today. We need to drive there from Nacagdoches because it has a better area to learn residential and downtown street crossings and traffic patterns. Yikes! I crossed some streets today blindfolded. Learned how to recover a sidewalk if you do not meet it on the other side. Next time you are out check out some sidewalk corners and see how they are so different. There is no consistency. Also imagine being visually impaired and having to deal with broken curbs, people parking over the sidewalk because they can't fit in their driveway, mud, tree limbs, etc. One sidewalk just plain ended! FYI, if you park your car over the sidewalk, a visually impaired person WILL tap it with their cane. That is what the cane is for...TO CLEAR THE WALKING PATH  AND INDICATE OBSTACLES! Don't park over a sidewalk. Besides, it is just a light tap. You don't go around whacking your cane everywhere. If you make too much noise with it, you may miss important auditory clues.

After my wonderful lesson, I observed another students lesson. On our travels I met the cutest kitten in someones backyard! I of course miss my own cat, so had to play with this one for awhile. My cane has an elastic loop on the end (that I have tied in knots to keep it out of the way as I think it is darn annoying) and I teased the kitty with it for a few minutes. We had a great time.

Day 8

It rained again today. I had my blindfold lesson this morning and I learned the art of holding an umbrella in one hand, and using my cane in the other. Unlike yesterday, I stayed pretty much dry. A little weird walking in puddles and hearing the splash from my cane tip as I hit them on my trek.

I made a few mistakes this morning. I was supposed to do the route we have been practicing together strictly on my own today. I took the wrong sidewalk and didn't even know it. I veered onto it and thought I knew exactly where I was. My instructor was following me, and he asked me what my plan was. I told him "At the end of the sidewalk I should run directly into a bike rack!" "I can't find the bike rack, it should be right here!" I naturally assumed that someone in the middle of the night had moved the bike rack on me, because how could I be wrong?! He of course tells me that I took another direction on the sidewalk (it is set up in an 'X' pattern) and I got onto the sidewalk on my right instead of staying straight which was where I THOUGHT I was- bringing me directly to a bike rack where I would know to make my left turn and stay on the sidewalk and not go into the street. Well, My instructor had me start over since I got so turned around. Did OK my second try.

Walking to the campus cafeteria to meet everyone for dinner I caught two junior high girls talking about a service dog a student has here on campus. They were going through all sorts of names for it like 'walking eye dog' 'walking see dog' etc. So I thought I'd clear up the confusion. ALL service dogs for the blind are called Dog Guides, not Guide Dogs. Referring to a Guide Dog may be incorrect, since the term Guide Dog is a trademarked name. The dog could have been trained at any number of Dog Guide training centers in the United States, and each of these centers are very proud of their dogs, hence the trademarks. Here is a brief listing of a few Dog Guide centers: The Seeing Eye , Leader Dogs for the Blind , Guide Dogs of America which is different from Guide Dogs for the Blind. There are a few more, but you get the point. If faced in a situation where you are talking about a service dog for the blind, you would ask where their dog was trained and they will tell you one of those places. Such as "He is a Leader Dog." I may have the opportunity this year to visit one of these training centers. Since O&M professionals are their #1 referrals they invite us out to see their operations and learn about their programs. One day it would be nice to be a puppy raiser as well. You keep the puppy for 6-12 months then give it back to the center so it can begin formal Dog Guide training. If you are at all interested in raising a puppy please contact one of the centers. Now consider yourself formally instructed on the etiquette of inquiring about Dog Guides.

As Tigger would say "Ta ta for now!"

Day 7

Well, so much for the drought in "deep east Texas" (as they say around here). We walked out of our dorm this morning on our way to our lessons and looked at the cloudy sky. I paused, looked back at the door thinking to myself "maybe I should go back to my room for my umbrella) then shrugged it off figuring that it hasn't rained here in a year, it won't rain today! My lesson was dry. Observing the lesson from 9:30 to 11 was a completely different affair. It started sprinkling, then pouring, then quit, then poured again. There was no lightning, so our group kept on with our cane skills outside. Another student was observing with me. When it really started to rain we turned to look at each other, and just shrugged our shoulders and kept on doing our thing. I figured it was at least better than 100 degree heat. It's not like we were out in nice clothes or anything, a little water wouldn't hurt us. Now I know how a wet rag feels.

My lesson today was frustrating. I felt like I just couldn't get anywhere. I took wrong sidewalks, wasn't using my auditory clues, not trusting my instincts. Just not a great time. Tomorrow I do the same route without assistance. Wish me luck. All this is preparation for the "Drop Off" in Lufkin. We learn a route over a few days and then are literally dropped off and told to find a location. Our instructors are there, but cannot assist us. They are just around in case we have safety issues. After my experience today I am freaked out about that drop off.

As Scarlett O'Hara said "I won't think about that today, I'll think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day."  (place wrist on head and look passionately into the camera)

Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in the famous Curtain Dress.

Day 6

So we went outside today. I complained about the heat last week, but evidently I was just kidding because this week we are out in the sun for an hour and a half under blindfold, then for another two to three hours observing lessons of other students. (We need a ton of hours of observation and teaching in order to get our certification.) For our lessons we tend to have a trail of people following us around, which means when you do something stupid EVERYBODY knows about it, but we are all good sports here and can laugh at ourselves too. So far I have not hit any poles, but I did step off a curb today. That was shocking. It was so abrupt I think I just stood there in shock. (In retrospect not the safest course of action.) We were in a safe area and my instructor was right in front of me in case I did stumble. Sometimes making simple mistakes is the best way to learn.

I kept getting scolded today for trying to 'see' with my cane. You are not supposed to use it to try to visualize objects or surfaces. It is supposed to be for gaining information to travel safely. For instance, detecting drop-offs like stairs, indicating walls, and detecting a new sidewalk in the direction you want to travel, you just find it and go. I was tapping around with my cane to try to get more info about the width of the sidewalk, where the grass is, etc. then I would hear "Stop trying to see with your cane!" "Find it and go." I hate being wrong, so I was making extra sure I was at the right place. This is evidently not what you do. It takes too long, and has the potential of getting you turned around which can be disastrous. Patience young grasshopper...

Once we finish our classes and internships (3 of them) we take a board exam and gain national certification. The certification of an O&M has nothing to do with a teaching certificate like educators receive. Even though many O&M specialists work for public schools or contract out services to schools, there are as many or more that work strictly with adult populations. A lot of them even work for both. They have a school contract, and on their off time they work for the local rehab agency. (This is my plan actually.)

We stuck to sidewalks today. It was a little weird to be walking under blindfold with 4 lanes of traffic next to you. Hearing the cars pass by makes you want to cringe. Soon we will learn to cross streets at intersections. The walk signals here in Nagogdoches are audible. They actually count down while it is safe to cross. The college here has several students with blindness and some of them have requested the lights be put in. I had no idea you could do that. Now I know that my future students can petition the city for safer traffic control on their routes. Learn something new every day!

Did I mention the cafeteria here is pretty awesome? We are still finding new things in there. Today at dinner most of our class (of only 13 people) was sitting around our table trying to avoid the hundreds of Junior High band-campers along with the regular SFA students. All of a sudden I see a guy in front of me get up to go get something and come back. Normally no big thing, right? My eyes popped right outta my head when I saw what he brought back. My friend across the table saw my reaction and whipped her head around risking temporary whiplash to see what had grabbed my attention. She turned back around and our eyes connected. We both had only 1 thing on our minds. THERE IS CHOCOLATE MILK IN HERE SOMEWHERE! We simultaneously rose from our chairs like zombies on a mission. Those sly devils hid the chocolate milk from us tucked away by the breakfast cereal. Well it is a secret no more. We came back to the table like we had won the lottery. To put it in perspective, I am more excited about this new discovery than I am about the loaded dessert bar and the Texas-shaped Belgian waffles- (Sorry my Minnesota people, you would have to live here to understand). I think on the 8th day the Lord created chocolate milk...and it was good.

But on the 9th day he sent everyone to the gym for an hour after dinner to work it off. 3 cheers for the fitness center at SFA!

Weekend 1

There is absolutely nothing to do here in the weekend. My weekend buddy had her mom and step-father visit on Saturday. Lucky for me her step-dad was able to fix my bed! It went from this:

 

To this:

 

Now I am not worried about the chair falling out from under me and breaking my face on the dresser. Yay!

Now I am worried about my hallway. Going out after dark is a little unnerving. It reminds me of The Shining. You know the scene with the twin girls at the end of the hallway? Check this out:

My room is at the far right end of this hallway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REDRUM...REDRUM!

 I am not worried anymore though. My friend found Army men watching over our building. They are stationed on the walls of the emergency stairwells outside.

Look closely at the corner of the building.

Evidently some SFA kids played a little joke and put a bunch of toy army men on these ledges. I can't figure out how they are staying there other than maybe they were glued up there. You have to set off an alarm to get out those doors, so maybe they climbed out their windows. Either way I feel better  protected knowing the army is here watching over us.

We have lessons outside this week and for the rest of the class. I am prepared with my sunscreen and my hat. You might want to steer clear of all of us until we have had a shower. The good news is that we all suffer together. The other news is that we all signed up for this! Weather report says 100 degrees all this week as well. What were we thinking?!

Day 5

Week 1 is over. I made it through all 10 lessons. We have two 45 minute lessons per day. Remember the building where I got lost yesterday? We went back there this morning and I was given 4 room numbers to find on different floors.  This time I oriented myself just fine, and had minimal trouble finding the rooms (I did get to the building a few minutes ahead for some reconnaissance).


My suite-mate went home yesterday, and the rest of my group went home before noon for the weekend.  It is just me and one other student from our group here this weekend. Thank goodness there is someone else! I have a 7 hour drive to get home, so it is just not worth driving 7 hours Friday, having 1 day home then heading right back on Sunday. With gas prices forget it!

Lunch.

I went to the cafeteria for lunch, and picked up an extremely healthy meal. 1 slice pepperoni pizza, 1 crab cake burger, some cold noodle salad, a brownie and a cherry coke. I bypassed the salad bar, the sandwich station, stir-fry counter and the pasta station, and skipped the smoothie today. The cafeteria buffet will prove to be our nemesis here. The silver lining is there is an equally cool fitness center to work off all the extra calories, hence my 45 minutes on the elliptical machine last night. It does help we spend hours each day walking around for our lessons and observing other students lessons.

This entrance is about it.

My weekend buddy and I decided to drive to Lufkin today. Put it this way, Nacogdoches does not have a Target store, or a mall. Lufkin does. It was about 30 minutes away. We were looking for specific things. She needed a swim suit to take advantage of the awesome pool here, and I needed a visor (so I can shield my face from the sun, I brought my favorite pink MN Twins hat, but it is just too hot to wear for hours in the sun), bandannas (to put under the blindfold so it does not get all nasty from the sweat dripping down my face. Sorry for the visual on that, but remember it is 100 degrees here and we are out in the direct sunlight for hours everyday), and a car sunshade (so I do not burn my backside on my leather seats in my car...again). We needed to hit a Pac Sun for a swimsuit for my friend, and Target for my stuff. Well, the Lufkin mall was, shall I say, small. It was 1 level, and did not have a Pac Sun. I think the only department store was a JCPenney. We did the whole mall in about 20 minutes, and that included wasting some time in a Claire's looking for a hat. We found all the other stuff on my list and managed to make it to Sonic for their Happy Hour. Cherry Limeade. Good stuff.

Day 4

Traveling in a hallway staying in-step like a pro.

I've got this staying 'in-step' thing down pat.  It becomes second nature after using it, especially when it saves your face from contacting most objects. The cane should tap on the opposite side of your step to ensure that side of your body is protected from obstacles.

I was instructed to find the north east stairwell in the science building where we were working.  This building has 3 sets of stairways. In order to get to the correct one I had to 1) Remember where the heck I was in the first place. 2) Begin traveling in the correct direction. 3) Recognize the landmarks and clues that would tell me I arrived at the place I needed to be. 
Landmark: Something on a route that will be always present (like a drinking fountain)
Clue: Something that may or may not be there, like the smell of food in a cafeteria or the sound of an air conditioner that may cycle on and off.

This particular route I was looking (that would be looking with my cane if that makes any sense) for the landmark of a small wheelchair ramp that led to some round dark room entry contraption thing. After the darkroom ramp, I knew the stairs were right around the corner. If I came to the elevator (yet another landmark) I had gone too far. On the doors to the stairway there is a plastic half-moon shaped decoration on the door. Once I thought my cane had contacted the door, I felt the front of the door for the decoration to make sure I was not entering into some random class lecture.

Searching for my half-moon landmark.

  From the door, I had to practice stairs again. This time I did better. Not as freaked out about breaking a leg. Going down a flight of stairs is still a little more daunting than going up, but I just had to commit and go for it.

Success. Finally.

Having a visual memory of a place helps so much when under blindfold. We all take for granted how much information our vision gives us. Children who have been blind their whole lives have difficulty with concept development that sighted children pick up naturally.That being said, My instructor took me to a different building I had never been to. I had to learn the layout just by walking around it trying to remember where I encountered my landmarks and clues. I knew the hallways were in a basic rectangle shape, but I got turned around so many times. I had no idea what direction I was traveling or anything. So disappointing. After taking the blindfold off at the end of the lesson and being able to see the layout of the building I couldn't believe how small the rectangle hallways I had traveled really were. The hallways felt huge when I was fumbling around! Oh man. I got myself lost in front of an elevator. Don't ask me how, but I got completely turned around in a 3 sided little study area right NEXT to the stairs I was told to find. Insert joke <can't find her way out of a paper bag here> My point is that if you can't visualize it, travel is more difficult.

This is me actually getting lost in this little area. Take note of the stairway indicator sign directly to the left. Yeah. Not my best moment.

 

I did eventually find the stairway, however, I do believe my instructor had to intervene and give me a hint. We are in the same building tomorrow for a bit so I should have an easier time now that I've seen it.

Day 3

This is what 100 degrees does to a person. Note the red cheeks as well as the overall look of exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

 

So, this is one of the hottest summers on record for the country.  I sure picked a great year to spend my mornings in the heat walking the pavement.  100 degrees again today.

We were given specific places to find in the building today as well as ascending and descending stairs. Did I mention I cannot see? Going UP the stairs is ok, going DOWN the stairs? Uh, no.  I was like a grandma trying not to breaka hip! I am glad to report I did not bust my head on anything or break a leg, and I was
able to maneuver my way with my cane with only hitting 1 person.

In my defense, she was sitting on the floor in the hallway I was walking through, and didn't make her presence known even after I tapped her.  I thought I had touched a backpack, and my instructor says to me "when we hit people with our cane we say 'excuse me'." So I of course say "oh my God I am so sorry!" and still not a peep!  For future reference when an individual with blindness (or one with a huge ugly black blindfold on their head who you can presume cannot see) is traveling with a white cane get out of the way or respectfully let them know you are there! Had she just said "good morning" or "careful, I am sitting to your right and my feet in are in your path" I would have had the common sense to at least attempt to avoid her.
Why did my instructor remain quiet about it you might ask.  Well, it was a teachable moment and he knew I wasn't going to really whack her or anything.  I still maintain I tapped her backpack.  I felt it was squishy and it sure sounded like nylon to me.  For all I know there was no one there at all...Hmm, is my instructor a jokester???

Meet Jack.

So at the store the other day I picked up a Christmas Cactus.  I have named him Jack after the SFA Lumberjacks. Gives me something to nurture while I'm up here.

At the cafeteria for dinner this evening I discovered the smoothie bar.  Perfect ending to a 100 degree day. It was a healthy addition to my fried chicken and au gratin potatoes. I brought it back to the table and all I heard was "WHERE did you get that!" and had to duck from the mad dash to the corner where I pointed as heat exhausted O&M trainees dodged junior high band camp kids who got in their way as they ran to the fresh fruit smoothie guru.

Oh yeah.  Fresh strawberries, pineapple, and cranberry juice.

Hoping I do not fall down the stairs tomorrow.

Day 2

Well, we made our canes yesterday. the thing about canes is that they need to be custom to the individual. Too long or too short causes problems.  Too short and you don't have any reaction time when encountering obstacles, and too long you may not detect a drop off properly and take a tumble over a curb or down a flight of stairs. I got the chance to use mine this morning for my lesson. Once you get the hang of it it is not that difficult. There are procedures for staying 'in step' meaning you tap the cane on the side opposite your leading foot in an arc pattern on 10 and 2. You know, kind of reminds me of old school drivers ed where you kept your hands on the wheel at 10 and 2. All I heard this morning was "tap...tap...tap...tap..." as we were doing our lessons in the hallway of the science building.

I was taken into a random classroom and told to explore the perimeter, then in a grid pattern explore the center. After I explored (or rather bumped into stuff) I came to the front of the room where the chalkboard was. My instructor says "Here's a piece of chalk.  Draw me a picture of the room."  Uhh, blindfolded? Nice. I wish I had my camera because I drew a pretty good diagram of the room! I think my drawing under blindfold is better than when I can see!

So, overall day 2 was good until about 5:30 when I got a call that the friends pet sitting for me had lost my cat.  Evidently their son had left the front door open YESTERDAY and my kitty got out. Autobahn has never been out a day in her life and is front declawed. I am struggling to remain positive as there is NOTHING I can do from here but pray Autobahn is found. I am pretty depressed now and have no tears left to cry being so afraid for my cat that I bottle fed from the palm of my hand 12 years ago. On that terrible note, I cannot remember anything else that happened today as this news has trumped all other events.Update: 9:00pm Autobahn is safe and sound.  She was hiding in the house the whole time! Thank God!  Is it appropriate now to be angry at my cat for causing everyone such grief? Now I can sleep.

Ugh! First day.

This would be me on day 1 of "Blindfold Bootcamp"

Join me for a snapshot of what it is like to become a COMS (Certified Orientation and Mobility Instructor) for individuals with blindness.

Drove 7 hours yesterday from Corpus to Nacogdoches. (Nac for short). Arrived at my residence hall, a fancy word for DORM and lugged all my stuff up to the second floor.  Thank goodness our rooms have a bathroom suite.  Our program understands that we are all working professionals and not 18 year old freshmen. Got our room keys, meal cards (3 squares a day) and our parking passes. 

I have my own sink at least. The door in the back is the shared bathroom suite.
I'm not complaining, it could be a lot worse!

Never been in a dorm before, I guess this one is good? Yes, the beds are up to my chest.
How I will get in to it, no idea.

It is dreadfully hot and sunny here, (not that Corpus is any better) but here I have to be out in the hot sun for a few hours a day. Just for the record, the high temp all this week is 100 degrees. Yes, that is a triple digit. I burn in about 10 minutes, so I am slathering on the spf 50. Why would someone do this on purpose? Let me fill you in on what the heck I'm doing up here in the first place.

For the past year I have been taking classes here at Stephen F. Austin (SFA) over video conference distance learning from Corpus.  Last summer I learned braille, and throughout the rest of the year I took classes and state exams to gain my certification to become a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI for short) to continue this adventure, I decided to add Orientation and Mobility or O&M to my graduate degree.

What on earth is O&M you ask?  Knowing where you are, where you want to go, and how you are going to get there safely. O&M training provides individuals with blindness the skills they need to become independent travelers.
For more information TSBVI has a good article here: http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/fall98/waytogo.htm

I am excited to be on this journey and have met so many great people so far including all my fellow classmates, instructors, and future consumers.