Shows
Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GSusan born 1953 a "high partial" whose parents actively rejected her using a white caneMy friend Susan who was born with retinopathy of prematurity and had 20/400 and 20/800 she is effectively mobility visually impaired – perhaps that cutoff is 20/500, so by 100 ? that’s a lot of stress. Susan and I met because she was the interim director of a program that I was hired to take over, she was the boss, and then I became her boss- e.Susan’s life experiences are as a “high partial” someone considered having a lot of vision at the school for the blind, and not so much at home. It’s a tough place to reside. – I really think...2025-03-1655 minGrowing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GMike Jones born 1963 - grew up using echolocation until his first dog guide in his second year of college.For New Years Eve 2024 I’m bringing you one of my all-time favorite interviews- conducted November 1999, just shy of Y2K- blind travel was not for the faint of heart. Born in 1963 –he didn’t get a full-time mobility tool until his first guide dog in his second year of college. Sit back and relax – this is a good oneMike’s honesty about the importance of mobility tools in his life is also filled with the push and pull of the lifetime of growing up with the philosophy that it shouldn’t be that hard to walk if you ca...2024-12-311h 51Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GBarbara born blind in 1953 her first long cane in 1980 when she was 27 years oldFrom 1999 – 2001, as a young professor I conducted over 100 interviews with employed adults with blindness. I was seeking insight into my profession from the everyday consumer – and I continue to learn and improve my practice by listening absent bias and judgement. This week we have Barbara Hadnott Her interview was conducted November 21, 1999 – She was born blind in 1953 – Her life is a vivid picture of someone who is at home with the reality of growing up blind, being active, smart, accomplished and yet for the first 27 years never knowing what was in her next step before she landed on it –....2024-12-241h 13Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GAudrey Born 1953 working mother who embraced wayfinding technology before it was cool!Born in 1953, she got the full crazy treatment growing up blind. Yet, somehow she came through it all very well adjusted-a working wife and mother she has the same desires as anyone..Her life is one lived just before the technology boom hit – before ride-share apps and other helpful smart phone tricks. Take a trip back with a very smart tour guide – growing up blind and living your best life in the latter half of the 20th century. She was pushed to be a free-range child until she changed schools, and the rules changed. She wasn’...2024-10-031h 22Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GMike born 1952, blind due to RLF/ROP a MUST LISTEN for all O&M Graduate Students!: Part 2This was one of the very early interviews I had done. Twenty-five years ago, late one evening I sat down across the table in my Hunter College office with good friend, Mike Levy. He had come prepared with written statements of memories and family lore surrounding his travel. I would recommend this interview to every graduate student studying O&M. Mike was taught O&M in the eighth grade – using a very rote method of instruction. His answers and memories are incredibly insightful about growing up a star of the “no pain, no gain” early intervention for blind babies. On...2024-08-281h 48Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GMike born 1952, blind due to RLF/ROP a MUST LISTEN for all O&M Graduate Students!: Part 1This was one of the very early interviews I had done. Twenty-five years ago, late one evening I sat down across a table in my Hunter College office with good friend, Mike Levy. He had come prepared with written statements of memories and family lore surrounding his travel. I would recommend this interview to every graduate student studying O&M. Mike was taught O&M in the eighth grade – using a very rote method of instruction. His answers and memories are incredibly insightful about growing up a star of the “no pain, no gain” early intervention for blind babies. V...2024-08-2259 minGrowing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GJudy Born 1952 - proof positive you can grow up without safe mobility and enjoy life to the fullest!Judy is a poster child of success absent safe mobility. As a child, she had light and color vision – and that means she was mobility visually impaired. In the 1950s, she learned to use the long cane, but she wasn’t allowed to take it home until she was older. She didn’t really start using a long cane until grad school. She and her husband go on grand adventures around the world. He is a dog guide user and she a long cane user. Her fall into an open manhole is tough to hear – Judy is a delight. Yes, Jud...2024-08-041h 40Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GDon McBride born 1936 became blind at age 11, O&M instructor before it was a grad degree. Part IIIn every accomplishment – the O&M instructor in me wishes more value had been placed on his safety. His life is filled with accomplishments and yet- all I can hear is just how freakin’ hard it has been for him to get around safely and he blames himself – not the inferior tools he’s been provided… He taught orientation and mobility (O&M) too – learn more about that in Part II.Don McBride Recorded 8/28/99 Visit our website: Email: info@Safetoddles.org TikTok Facebook YouTube Thanks for listening! Please, leave us a review, ask questions and share wit...2024-07-101h 35Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GDon McBride born 1936 became blind at age 11, O&M instructor before it was a grad degree.This week is a real treat- I found Don McBride’s interview, he was born in 1936. He is a great storyteller and gives amazing insight into what it was like to be blind child in the 1940s and 50s- he became blind at age 11, he attend residential school and so had certain advantages – but, there wasn’t white cane safety at the time and his older brothers were determined to toughen him up which included knocking his head into trees and poles with a warning he better play outside and well… This is part one of his interview In ever...2024-03-311h 37Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GFrances born 1952, RLF, prefers her Dog Guide over Long CanesWe are entering the 1950s with Frances who was born 1952 seven years after the first white cane was taught to a blinded veteran of WWII. She remembered knowing that she had to wait to learn to use a long cane once she became 15. This is a terrific discussion of her dog guide use and paratransit. If you’re curious about the reality of getting around while blind – Frances is fabulous-After Interview ThoughtsIn every way I asked, it was clear that Frances got around on the arm of someone else until she got her dog...2024-03-271h 06Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GTaletha born 1951 with no light perceptionIf you want some assurances that growing up blind, waiting until school age to get the first long cane can result in a well adjusted, fully employed and outgoing adult- then listen to Taletha. She compares working with O&M specialists who were sighted and blind. Overall, she felt she should have had much more time with either one of them – she had a 3 bus a day bus route to school every morning – in Detroit. She described herself as someone who these days preferred para transit, “Because this is a dangerous, cruel, unsafe world we live in.” Her story of being...2024-03-201h 03Growing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GPatricia, born 1951 - To Use or Not To Use the White Cane The conflict is realPatricia Montgomery is a terrific example of the seeds the world has sown. People with visual impairments are expected to be visually capable and blind people are expected to be treated as if they are sighted. Blindness and visual impairment are the most blatant form of stereotyping and marginalizing of a disability group out in the open. Consider the slur, ‘what are you blind?’Being Blind is a reality for people, and it means they can’t see. It doesn't mean anything else.But when you ask Patricia to describe her vision and then ask her ab...2024-03-0244 minGrowing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GFor far too long adults have held an unrealistic expectation that blind babies will walk independently without the protection of a white cane.This is the soundtrack of the video posted on YouTube. It shows footage from 1960s and audio tape interviews of children born blind in the 1950s. Marcia new she was blind when she entered kindergarten. She noticed her peers ran around and she didn’t. Running without a two-step safety buffer is not recommended. A 1966 blind high schooler is shown being shadowed for safety by a sighted peer. This sends the same message- sighted kids are more capable. But that is only true because he uses his vision for safety. Give the blind child a white cane for safety an...2024-01-2912 minGrowing up Blind Conversations with Dr. GBREAKING NEWS! Real Tape of Interview with Maureen born 1950 - Dives Deep into Real Life of Living Blind in NYC and BeyondMaureen Moscato – a really good friend of mine – she is so funny. I found the original tape – It is worth a relisten!! She is much funnier than I am playing her!! Yay!!Maureen is a real treasure – her stories reveal a woman who grew up in the school of hard knocks and her resiliency go her through – but if you’re interested in the pros and cons of dog guides, long canes, waiting for O&M to get out of the house and be independent and blind politics and ADA- this is a really great listen all the way to t...2024-01-191h 44