[nabs] Guide Dogs in High School?

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi,
I don't think a high school would be a good place to work a dog.  Its 
croweded with disrespectful students and yes I'd reccon they'd try to feed 
and play with him/her.  If you had a dog in high school you'd have to be 
able to advocate more and be firm with everyone while being able to take 
care of the dog.

The person who started this thread said that the student had an aid in 
school and was not sure if the dog would be able to work with the blind 
student independently.  I think this girl needs to work on getting rid of 
the aid and traveling by herself before getting a dog.  Its my understanding 
you need good cane/orientation skills before getting a dog. It doesn't sound 
like she's ready for one.  If she can' say No to an aid which she doesn't 
need then how will she say no to other students who inappropriately treat 
the new guide dog?  I'm always going to be a cane user but I do see the pros 
to having guide dogs.  However you need to be ready to handle the guide dog 
on a social and maturity level before getting one.

Ashley
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Laura Glowacki" <orangebutterfly87 at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion list for NABS,National Alliance of Blind Students." 
<nabs at acb.org>
Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 7:46 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs] Guide Dogs in High School?


> Someone trying to feed Mattie girl?  How dare they!  I'll send
> MOllie after them.  For anyone who doesn't know, Brooke and my
> dog's are sisters.  :)
>
> I am so so glad Mollie and I had two years at my undergrad
> university before we moved to Chicago.  Living in the city has
> been stressful enough.  And especially since she was my first
> dog, I'm glad I knew the campus really well and was able to teach
> her routes instead of us trying to learn them together at first.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "NABS Treasurer" <treasurer.acbstudents at gmail.com>
> To: "Discussion list for NABS,National Alliance of Blind
> Students." <nabs at acb.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11:04 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs] Guide Dogs in High School?
>
>
> I got my guide dog the summer before my senior year of high
> school. I
> was initially skeptical of doing it this way because I wasn't
> sure how
> high school students would be able to handle it, etc. However, I
> talked to someone and decided to get her the summer before my
> senior
> year because the person I talked to pointed out to me that I
> wanted to
> make sure that my dog and I worked really well as a team in a
> familiar
> environment before we went to college and learned a new
> environment.
> I'm really glad I got her before my senior year, because while
> there
> were definitely experiences of high school students trying to
> feed her
> and distract her, I had a whole year to learn how to effectively
> communicate with her, and  was able to learn her mannorisms,
> before I
> went to orient with the new college environment the next year.
> Also,
> even though there were some students who didn't pay attention to
> the
> "ignore me" sign on my dog, I have found that I have had more
> trouble
> enforcing that with adults than with students, so high school
> wasn't
> as challenging in that respec as one might think. By the time I
> got to
> college, I felt really confident in my communication with my dog,
> and
> our team-work abilities. Also, once we got to college, she was
> trying
> to adjust to the weather change and we had some problems with
> that,
> and I'm really glad that we weren't trying to deal with getting
> to
> know each other at the same time as working through the
> challenges
> that she was having with the environment.
> I hope this helps. :)
>
> On 11/22/10, NABS Student Advocate Editor
> <editor.acbstudents at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Everyone,
>>    Three summers ago, I worked at a local daycamp for blind
>> children/teens. One of my girls was 12 at the time, and she was
>> always
>> curious about how I worked with my guide dog, Laser. Yesterday,
>> she
>> emailed me to say that she just put in her application to the
>> Guide
>> Dog Foundation (the closest school to my house, and where my
>> hairy
>> beast is from).
>>
>>    She's a sophomore this year in high school, and is hoping to
>> get
>> the dog this summer, if there is one available for her to work
>> with,
>> obviously. She asked me a ton of questions about living and
>> working
>> with a guide dog, which I was glad to answer. However, she
>> asked for
>> specific stories about having a dog in high school. I got Laser
>> the
>> month after my senior year graduation, so obviously I couldn't
>> provide
>> such help to her. I told her my reasons for holding off getting
>> a dog
>> during high school, but I hoped maybe some of you may be able
>> to
>> relate experiences/stories of working with a guide dog in high
>> school?
>>
>>    Or, equally as helpful, I'm sure, why you may not have
>> chosen to
>> get a dog in high school? Any help you could provide would be
>> appreciated. I'll be glad to pass along any stories or
>> anecdotes to
>> her.
>>
>> Thanks all,
>> Caitlin
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs mailing list
>> nabs at acb.org
>> http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Brooke Jostad
> NABS Treasurer
> _______________________________________________
> nabs mailing list
> nabs at acb.org
> http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs mailing list
> nabs at acb.org
> http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs
>