This morning I received a call from my advisor from the California Department of Rehabilitation.
She had received a request from the Guide Dogs for the Blind charoty requesting details of my participation in training in the use of a white cane. The purpose of the call was to confirm that I knew of the application for a guide dog.
If you are applying for a guide dog or are considering such an application, remember that in the United States, Guide Dogs for the Blind require that you have had training in thew use of a white cane.
This is because if you have been trained in the use of a white cane you are more likely to be mobile. Therefore more likely to use a guide dog properly.
It may seem harsh to say that first of all a guide dog is a tool for the blind to use. It is not a pet, the dog will have undertaken two full years of training and selective testing before you even meet the dog.
You will be first and foremost a working team.
As it stands I am now about four months into the application.
I have been through the telephone interview, my eye doctor has been contacted as of today I know the California Department of Rehabilitattion have been contacted.
Procedures still left are a home visit appointment, the Guide Dog home visitor makes an assessment of my abilities to use a dog effectively and if both of us would benefit from the service. That home visit should take place within the next eight weeks or so.
Following that, if my home visit goes well, I should be placed on the list for training and being given a dog.
I guessed that if my home visit does go well and the waiting list is still about six months in length it could be October before a class and dog come available.
For the First of my Guide Dog posts Click HERE.
She had received a request from the Guide Dogs for the Blind charoty requesting details of my participation in training in the use of a white cane. The purpose of the call was to confirm that I knew of the application for a guide dog.
If you are applying for a guide dog or are considering such an application, remember that in the United States, Guide Dogs for the Blind require that you have had training in thew use of a white cane.
This is because if you have been trained in the use of a white cane you are more likely to be mobile. Therefore more likely to use a guide dog properly.
It may seem harsh to say that first of all a guide dog is a tool for the blind to use. It is not a pet, the dog will have undertaken two full years of training and selective testing before you even meet the dog.
You will be first and foremost a working team.
As it stands I am now about four months into the application.
I have been through the telephone interview, my eye doctor has been contacted as of today I know the California Department of Rehabilitattion have been contacted.
Procedures still left are a home visit appointment, the Guide Dog home visitor makes an assessment of my abilities to use a dog effectively and if both of us would benefit from the service. That home visit should take place within the next eight weeks or so.
Following that, if my home visit goes well, I should be placed on the list for training and being given a dog.
I guessed that if my home visit does go well and the waiting list is still about six months in length it could be October before a class and dog come available.
For the First of my Guide Dog posts Click HERE.
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