While I’m waiting for the final part of the assessment to be added to the waiting list for a guide dog (fingers crossed), I am making the most of the mobility services offered by Guide Dogs. In order to walk from my new flat to my nearest shops and leisure centre for swimming I need to cross a busy junction with multiple lanes and traffic lights. For some reason this junction has tactile, an island but no pedestrian lights with the traffic lights, So I asked if the Mobility and Orientation Specialist could help me work out the light sequence to see if it’s safe to cross. Annoyingly there doesn’t appear to be a safe time to cross and indenting up the side road might be possible during quiet times but I don’t feel happy to judge speeds in heavy traffic. So looks like it’s the bus which is so frustrating as when I have a guide dog I’d be more than capable of doing this walk.
Then I completed a questionnaire looking at how I use my vision in different situations and it’s really interesting when I think about it just how many other non visual strategies I use both at home and out and about. When the environment is stable and familiar I clearly use memory a lot but when it changes I really struggle (even someone moving the remote control or putting the butter in a different place in the fridge can cause me a lot of frustration and take ages to find, living alone has its advantages).
Finally, one of the questions was about whether I like exploring away from home. This really made me realise just what a difference Fable made to me. Now my answer was I’m not keen, am probably avoiding sola travel outside of the familiar and if I had to do it I’d be very anxious, but with fable I used to actively look for adventures and new places to go.
I know lots of people are struggling with long waiting times for a guide dog, I feel the same; having my independence taken so suddenly and loosing my girl is incredibly hard but I’m trying to stay positive amd use this time as learning and a time to develop new skills which will ultimately make my next guide dog partnership more effective .
Guide Dog Fabulous Fable; A Life-Changing Legacy 