February 22 - World Blind Union General Assembly

Last November marked the date of the General Assembly of the World Blind Union held in Bangkok, Thailand.  Louise Gillis, National President for CCB (Canadian council of the Blind) was one of the four Canadian delegates to attend the conference. Back in November I followed some of the proceedings on the Internet, but recently Louise sent me an abbreviated copy of the report she presented to the CCB National Board. It had obviously been a very busy week!

The World Blind Union has a membership of 188 countries. At the General Assembly delegates address concerns, which cross global boundaries and which affect people who are blind or with low vision.  One of these concerns was the disturbingly high incidence of unemployment for this sector of the general population. I read this part of the report with great interest. The concerns raised were the same as those I heard from working age people on the White Cane Connections walks. In part, I was also reminded of my meeting with the Employment Counselling Team at Vision Australia in Sydney this past December.  

From Day 1 of the Assembly, there was discussion regarding educational issues. I have often thought about these educational issues at a local level but it was a bit of an eye opener to broaden my thinking to the global perspective. How will technology assist in accessibility for the visually impaired? In a Digital Age, does this accessibility spread its wings to children in developing countries?  How can we ensure that everyone, children and adults alike, has the right to read, whether it be by sight, sound, or touch?  What strategies can be put in place for children with sight or other disabilities in emergency situations in classrooms? The list was long and provocative. Of course, there were other concerns, which were discussed, and strategic planning initiated. Other sub-committee meetings will be held before the next General Assembly.

In her email to me Louise wrote, “The experience of attending the WBU General Assembly was amazing. To see so many people from other countries with so many more issues than we have here in Canada made me so thankful for what we have here. We are so much more advanced than the developing countries. It makes one think twice about how fortunate we really are in North America.”

February 18 - Visually Impaired Curling

Last week in a post I mentioned the Visually Impaired Curling Championships held in Ottawa. I have since heard from Louise, Skip from the Sydney, Nova Scotia team.  I am including the following comments from her email.

Louise wrote: “We had a great experience again this year. We enjoyed ourselves and met some new people to add to our curling friends list. The caliber of curling is improving every year. Many of the spectators were amazed at some of the shots that were called and executed as planned. The fellowship of everyone involved was a wonderful experience.  We are all looking forward to next year.”

Louise also forwarded this link to an interview she did before the National Championship event. The interview gives a better idea of just how a visually impaired or blind curling team goes about the game. You will find answers to such questions as:

How does the blind curler read the ice?

What function does a guide have in the game?

How are the various positions allocated?

If the curler is visually impaired, who sweeps?

I encourage you to investigate this link:

http://www.ccbnational.net/documents/cbc%20curling.mp3

February 9 - White Cane Week in Canada

The first full week of February traditionally marks White Cane Week. CCB (The Canadian Council of the Blind) recognizes this annual salute to the white cane with numerous events across the country.  If you live in Canada you might have noticed some of these in your community. I want to tell you about two that have come to my attention.

The first note is from my friend, Bill Conway. Bill is a passionate advocate on behalf of people who are either blind or partially sighted. Bill himself is completely blind and depends on his trusted dog guide, Captain Midnight. During White Cane Week, Bill seems to more than double his regular activities. In a recent email, Bill told me about one of his many fund raising endeavours. Once a year during White Cane Week, Bill takes the Captain to his local shopping mall. Once there, he removes Captain Midnight’s harness and invites the passing public to give him a pat. He also jokingly suggests that they might like to contribute twenty-five cents per pat to the local White Cane Support Group.  Bill reported that it is quite surprising how much has been raised for the support group in this way. Some years ago, Bill and his guide dog walked the length of the Sunshine Coast Highway in BC raising both awareness and funds for guide dogs. It’s amazing what just one energetic person with imagination can accomplish.

The second event I want to tell you about was scheduled in Ontario and you might want to check this out on the CCB website. Once again, the Canadian vision Impaired Curling Championships were held at the Ottawa Curling Club. I was especially keen to follow this event because I had met the team from Nova Scotia in Sydney last summer. Louise Gillis, National President of CCB, and other members of the NS Curling Team walked with me on the Sydney segment of the White Cane Connections Walk in that city. This past week they have been competing with seven other visually impaired curling teams in the nation wide championship.

Well done all!

February 4 - Coincidence?

Do you believe in coincidence? I’m not sure that I do, but certainly the world is a small place. On the last leg of our flight home from Maui, I was seated across the aisle from Bryan and his guide dog, Rugby. This was an even stranger quirk of fate because quite a number of years ago I remember meeting Bryan and his first guide dog, Forest. Forest was probably the largest guide dog I had ever seen and because of his size, he definitely stood out in my memory. He was a one hundred and twenty pound German Shepherd. Rugby, Bryan’s dog of these past five years isn’t quite as large, weighing in at only one hundred pounds. He is also a German shepherd.

During the flight, I was very aware of Rugby. He was able to squeeze himself into a relatively small floor space at the bulkhead, and dozed contently for most of the flight. When I asked, Bryan said that Rugby was an excellent traveller. Bryan travels frequently and fairly extensively and Rugby has come to know his way around many of the airports. Bryan explained one instance of this. When Bryan and Rugby catch a cab to Vancouver Airport, Rugby can lead him unfailingly from the terminal doors through the crowds to the Customer Care counter where he needs to check in. All of this is in direct contrast to my white cane. My cane, although it might alert others to my visual challenges, does not lead or guide me anywhere.

A guide dog also seems to attract more attention than a cane. The Vancouver/Edmonton flight of yesterday began with a pre-flight briefing by the flight attendant. Bryan and I both explained that we were okay with the briefing but that we had flown before. The flight attendant said that nevertheless, the briefing was mandatory for visually impaired passengers and she was required by the airline to give it. I thought that it was interesting in that on the previous seven segments I had flown with the same airline, I hadn’t been offered this same briefing. I always tag myself as legally blind on the passenger information list and enter the aircraft using my white cane. Preflight briefings have been offered to me before but only on a sporadic basis. I do think that Bryan’s guide dog made the difference to yesterday’s explanation.

I was curious to know how Rugby reacted to the actual flying experience. I know that sometimes on descent, my ears will pop. Did this also happen with dogs? Lyle had noticed that Rugby did yawn a few times during the descent into Edmonton.  Bryan said that sometimes he might give Rugby a cookie to munch on if the pressure became difficult. With his previous dog, Forest, he would sometimes give him a few ice cubes to munch on and that also seemed to work well. From what I could discern on yesterday’s flight, Rugby didn’t have any difficulty at all and was just as Bryan had said, an excellent and experienced air traveller.

As we chatted, Bryan mentioned that he was in the process of looking for a new guide dog. I was curious about this because guide dogs usually have a longer working life than five years. However, apparently Rugby is going blind. He has an unusual condition, which has begun at the corner of his eyes and will cause his sight to deteriorate. I found it quite sad to think that this beautiful animal who has been Bryan’s eyes for this past half decade will soon lose his own sight. 

So, the world is a small place. I had already told my son-in-law that I wouldn’t be putting up any more posts on the blog for a few days, but I couldn’t let my meeting with Bryan and Rugby go unrecorded. I would like to dedicate this particular post to all of the guide dogs and their owners whom I have met on my travels.