Monday, March 4, Alex embarks on the journey that he has been waiting almost his whole life for----he will be going to get his Guide Dog. He will be flying down to Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) in Yorktown Heights, New York.
Ever since he was little he has wanted a Guide Dog; he would pester me and pester me about getting one when he was just 8 years old: Why do I have to use this stupid cane? Why can't I have a Dog? Nobody else in school/Bangor my age has a cane---I want a Dog. Etc, etc, etc.... The only way his braille/cane teacher, Lori, (Orientation and Mobility instructor)and I could get him to be patient was to explain that in order to have a Dog, you had to be proficient with the cane traveling skills. Eventually that got through to him and came to accept the fact that he would have to wait, but it took a while to get to that point. We also had to drill it into his head that Guide Dog schools wouldn't allow anyone younger than 16 to have one anyway.
Of course, when he turned 16 he was ready to roll with the tangent of wanting one again, so it took some maneuvering to get him to hold off until he graduated high school. By that time he was mature enough to re-think if he wanted one in college or wait until it was more feasible to have one.
Of course, we know enough blind people that he was able to see the ups and downs of having a Dog; the care of one versus the ease of the cane; the mobility of The Dog versus the ease of the cane; the companionship of The Dog versus the ease of the cane..... The cane just gets folded up when not needed, hung on a hook when not in use, and doesn't require feeding, vet visits, or bathroom breaks. But The Dog affords greater mobility, a companion, more independence, and love. It definitely wasn't a decision entered into lightly (the mature Alex versus the 8 year old Alex)....but I really feel it's the correct decision for him now.
His second year of college (University of Maine at Farmington) he attempted to get a Dog. He went through the whole, drawn-out process of applying to The Seeing Eye in New Jersey, where a few of our friends had gotten their Dogs. The person/evaluator who came up to conduct the "home" visit (in his dorm and on campus instead of evaluating at the actual home)deemed him not "conducive to having a dog" based on the answers Alex gave him. Alex is not a talker or conversationalist (to put it mildly) so when the guy asked him if he went for walks, Alex said no. Because Alex didn't venture out a lot by himself because he needed the Dog to help him find places. The guy took it to mean that Alex wasn't physical enough, thus meaning that the Dog would never have exercise. I think a good evaluator could/should have fleshed the real answers out; I also think Alex needed to be a lot more forthcoming with good answers. So, that experience kind of put a damper on his desire for a Dog for a while. Once he graduated college, the yearning reared its head again, so he applied to Guiding Eyes for the Blind.....and here we are!!!
This time, though, when the evaluator/home visit guy came out, Alex was ready to answer in full sentences AND let him know that the Dog would be exercised regularly, taken for walks, etc. I also think it helped that Alex was home as opposed to living in the small-ish dorm room so the sweet four-legged baby can be in a real home.
We also know a few people who have gotten their Dogs from GEB. The school pays for his round-trip plane tickets, supplies all meals, and--best of all--gives the Dogs to deserving people.
Alex will be keeping a blog while he is there. I just love when he keeps a blog on things. He's always so much fun to read....in addition to being a fantastic writer. The address for it is http://cane9.wordpress.com Ha ha ha.....get his play on words...? ha He's going from a "cane" to a "canine"....well, I thought it was cute anyway.
Such an exciting time....!!! God bless those puppy-raisers who do so much to get these sweet four-legged angels to this point so people like my precious Alex can have a set of good eyes, which comes bundled with four paws, unconditional love, and companionship.
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