(VICT) Thane and I: Our Progress as a Team
- From: "Karyn" <bcpaws4me@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Vi-clicker" <vi-clicker-trainers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:27:29 -0800
Thane and I have had some ups and downs this year, but overall I feel like
we continue to progress as a team- bonding even more as I entered the stage
in my blindness that I had known was on the horizon at some point.
I have a trust in Thane however that I never quite felt in my partnership
with Met. Don't get me wrong. I knew that Met would keep me safe, but my
skill as a guide trainer was really in its infancy with Met. Even with
Thane, if I were to be training him today, there are things I would approach
much differently.
As my eyesight has substantially deteriorated, I've felt like I needed a
better harness for working with Thane. As an incomplete quad and deafblind,
my needs were so precise. Here I was though really feeling the need for an
American style harness that Thane and I could effectively work with. Over
the past couple years, I tried to imagine just how that could be done but
every concept led to a brick wall. Recently however, I succeeded in adapting
his current harness with an add on loop system. Julie provided some great
feedback on underatnading of loop position that made it go much smoother
from the start. Thane and I have practiced walking in town with it, working
in the stores in town, and finally today we took our first trip using
transit.
Though I do have to switch it to British style for bus boarding and
de-boarding, the extra stability and guidance it is providing me with is
just awesome.
Thane will be 4 years old on the 28th. This seems unbelievable. At times it
feels like I just picked him up from the airport yesterday and other times
its hard to remember when he was not a part of my life.
As we work into a better blended team, I feel the images of the partnership
with Met fading into the background. Perhaps that is the way it ought to be-
allowing my mind to focus on what is, rather than on what was.
I love that in times of need, I can just tell Thane I need his full support,
close my eyes to prevent seizures from flashing lights, and follow the lead
of my little man. I can feel everything he sees by the turns of his head and
its just magic. There's no other way to describe this kind of
transformation.
We have our rough spells here and there still, but the thing I most love
about all of that is that when we come up for air so to speak, our
partnership really is stronger for having gone through them.
Karyn and Thane
Other related posts:
- » (VICT) Thane and I: Our Progress as a Team - Karyn
