What Blind People Dream About
What do blind people dream about? Do they dream at all? Do their dreams have color? Is their vision the same as when they’re awake? I’m so excited to be doing a post on a direct question from a follower. Emma contacted me a few days ago and asked to know more about what it’s … Continue reading What Blind People Dream About
The $100,000 Dog
It costs approximately $100,000 to train one guide dog puppy. It takes an average of 251 volunteers to help a single puppy become a guide dog (guidedogs.com). A guide dog puppy is in training for eighteen to twenty-four months before they are able to graduate. This is the human equivalent of an associate’s degree. So … Continue reading The $100,000 Dog
Transitioning to a Successor Guide Dog
“No matter how perfect the next dog is, transitioning to a successor guide still breaks your heart.” I met my first guide dog, Susie, when I was sixteen years old. She bounded into the room and immediately decided to love me. The feeling was mutual. She was light, joy, and loyalty without question. Walking with … Continue reading Transitioning to a Successor Guide Dog
Cooking Without Looking
Some people assume that since I can’t see, I don’t cook. One gentlemen even asserted that I must use Meals on Wheels. Others assume that my remaining senses are heightened and that I am some sort of cooking superhero. The truth is, a blind person’s cooking skills have nothing to do with the presence or … Continue reading Cooking Without Looking
Blind Girl Snapshots
When someone says my outfit is too revealing, is it really? Or are they just more conservative than I am? When I hold out my hand to shake someone else’s, and all I encounter is empty air. Are they ignoring my hand, or did they simply not see it? When randoms give me compliments. Are … Continue reading Blind Girl Snapshots
Six-Legged Teamwork: What Guide Dogs Are and Are Not Responsible For
Many people labor under the assumption that guide dogs do all the work, make all the decisions, and generally act as a GPS that takes their person wherever they need to go. Friends, guide dogs are brilliant, but they are not omniscient. A guide dog is one half of a team. They are the half … Continue reading Six-Legged Teamwork: What Guide Dogs Are and Are Not Responsible For
Puppy Petting
“I know I shouldn’t pet her, but she looked so cute I couldn’t resist.” “He looks just like my dog who passed away last year. I’m sorry I probably shouldn’t be petting him, right?” No friend, you definitely should not. Guide dogs have important jobs to do. When anyone, friend, family, or stranger, interacts with … Continue reading Puppy Petting
Social Inclusion
As a #blind woman, I am used to being overlooked or ignored by sighties. It’s an annoying truth that comes hand in hand with having a #disability. Some people don’t know how to talk to me. Others are uncomfortable that I can’t make eye contact. Some immature twenty-something’s probably still feel being different makes me … Continue reading Social Inclusion
Top Ten Ways to Help Differently-Abled Children Succeed.
Raising a differently-abled child is undoubtedly one of the hardest things a parent will ever do. There are so many unknowns, so many questions. The stakes are higher, the barriers more real. There are trillions of ways to fail them, after all, no parent will be perfect. But there are also trillions of ways to … Continue reading Top Ten Ways to Help Differently-Abled Children Succeed.
The Right to Refuse Help
At least once per outing, I am offered help I do not need. People ask if I’m okay while I’m sitting on a bench listening to music waiting for a friend. Bus driver’s ask me if I know which bus I’m on. Total strangers will verbally tell me when it’s safe to cross the street. … Continue reading The Right to Refuse Help
