Sighted Guide

My daughter has to be guided around any time we’re out of the house.   It turns out there are ways to do this that are better for the person doing the guiding and the person being guided.   Sighted guiding refers to way in which a visually impaired person and a sighted person can walk together safely, comfortably and efficiently.  I had a lesson with my daughter’s Orientation and Mobility teacher this past week and learned a lot.

The person being guided (my child) should hold your arm just above the wrist and you, the guider, should keep your arm down by your side.   The advantage to this is the child has to choose to be guided, they are making a choice to follow you instead of you forcing the guiding on them by holding their hand and pulling them along.  It effectively puts them in more control.

The other advantage with this method is the child (my child specifically) can’t take advantage of things they can do with a held hand such as jump up and down and pull on the hand, drag you forward or backwards or basically fool around while you’re trying to guide them.   Of all the things I learned, this wrist/arm holding is the one I’m the most pleased about because frankly, I was tired of feeling my arm was going to be jerked off by the ebullience of my energetic daughter.

When you’re guiding the visually impaired person you should be slightly ahead of them.   When you come to an elevation change such as a curb or steps you stop and announce what’s ahead and wait for the person to discover what’s ahead with their feet or cane before you move forward.   When you reach the top or bottom step you announce it and then continue to move forward.

If the pathway becomes narrowed or there’s an obstacle you take your arm and pull it behind you slightly so the child is moved out of the way of the oncoming obstacle.   This works well with my daughter because before when we were holding hands, she liked to move out in front and sometimes even drag me along which made avoiding obstacles sometimes a more jarring experience for the both of us.

We have a cane for her, which is another post entirely because cane work for a young child has to be introduced in a specific manner in order for the child to accept it, trust that it works and use it safely and efficiently.  

So for now, we’re working on sighted guide techniques.  My daughter does this well and without complaint with her Orientation and Mobility teacher but was annoyed at me when I insisted today, hitting me and telling me I was a mean mother.    When she realized it was her only choice she gave in and we navigated through the airport more easily than we’ve ever done before.

The Big Boy Update:  My son has an issue “pausing” whatever he’s doing on his iPad to do things like talk to someone, go to the bathroom, eat, etc.    We’ve had a conversation with him today and he now understand if he’s not able to successfully take a break when requested during those times he’s allowed on his iPad, it will be taken away with an unknown point of return.   He was mad, but he adapted pretty quickly today.   I think it’s going to take a while to break the habit though.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter told me when we found our seats at the airport gate today, “you’re the best mommy in the world.”  Then she qualified it with, “I mean you’re the best mommy in the world I have.   Some people have other mommies.”