tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post7950687776687103323..comments2023-09-28T05:21:46.206-07:00Comments on Serotek Blog: Mike and Jacksan?Serotek Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14408069483106950726noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-27883872637103031942010-05-21T00:39:50.088-07:002010-05-21T00:39:50.088-07:00Mike,
I've often debated getting a dog guide ...Mike,<br /><br />I've often debated getting a dog guide and have come to an interesting revelation: it's not the tool (for lack of better words) you use to travel, but the attitude you take into the travel situation. <br /><br />Some people really do find that using the services of a guide dog helps them feel more independent. Others find the same independence in using a cane. I do. As a cane user, I have found that I'm able to go where I want, at the speed I want, and with as much or as little assistance as a I want. This wasn't always the case. The change happened for me after I attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind. My cane travel instructor was blind, and he once told me that cane travel (and dog travel for that matter) is ten percent skill and ninety percent attitude. Sure, my instructor taught me cane skills. But more than that, he taught me through example and encouragement that a blind person can really travel and be as competent and confident as a sighted person. That's what they teach you at guide dog school: they teach you that the world is yours if you (the blind person in question) believe it is. Their spin of course, is that the guide dog is a part of that. In my case, the cane became a part of that system of belief. But the bottom line, cane or dog, is that belief. I submit then, that it's not just the fact of having a dog that makes you free, it's the attitude you picked up at the guide dog school and the people you've met as a result that freed you. As for your dog himself, he's a marvelous actor in your journey to freedom. And of course, you found a way to travel and do what you like that meets your specific needs.<br /><br />Best of luck to the both of you and safe travels.<br /><br />Respectfully,<br />JediAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com