[Blind-rollers] Hi

Wed Jul 25 16:33:13 CDT 2007

Hi,

  I had Sophie before I became a quad.  Someone else asked how I became a wheelchair user in an earlier post, but I didn't know how to reply without changing the settings to not get the digest so I'll answer it now.  I got an infection that caused my spinal cord to become swollen and it got damaged.  I'm now a c6 quad.  I can move my arms, but can't move my hands and I still have feeling from my shoulders up and a bit in the the fronts of my arms.

  Back to your question Petra.  I had Sophie before my injury and we had been together since 2000.  We had worked together for 4 yrs so she pretty much taught herself how to adjust to guiding me while using a wheelchair.  I don't use a power chair.  I use a manual chair.  It's made of titanium and the whole thing weighs 18lbs including wheels, backrest, cushion etc.  I bought her a new harness that is designed for pulling.  It fits her the same as a guide dog harness, but the handle is attached dirrectly to the back and is very small.  I use my right arm to push and hold her with my left.  She pulls just enough to keep me going in a straight line, and when turning I either push ahead or back with my right arm.  

  I tried a handle like you mentioned from our school, but even the very shortest handle was still too long.  Now that I have a different harness and my arm is so connected to her, I can feel her movements in my shoulder when she moves because my arm moves with her.  I couldn't do this with a longer handle because the movements weren't as strong.

  I think the word "curve" in this case is right.  You could also use "bend".  

  Hope this answers your question.

  Kim & Sophie

Petra van Driel <nieuws at challenge-media.com> wrote:
  Hi Kim,

May I ask how you use your guidedog? My handle is longer than avarage and
has a slight "curve?" in it. I don't think the word curve is right here, but
because I'm not a native english speaker I don't know a better word yet. 

Best regards, Petra

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Hi,

I had Sophie before I became a quad.  Someone else asked how I became a wheelchair user in an earlier post, but I didn't know how to reply without changing the settings to not get the digest so I'll answer it now.  I got an infection that caused my spinal cord to become swollen and it got damaged.  I'm now a c6 quad.  I can move my arms, but can't move my hands and I still have feeling from my shoulders up and a bit in the the fronts of my arms.

Back to your question Petra.  I had Sophie before my injury and we had been together since 2000.  We had worked together for 4 yrs so she pretty much taught herself how to adjust to guiding me while using a wheelchair.  I don't use a power chair.  I use a manual chair.  It's made of titanium and the whole thing weighs 18lbs including wheels, backrest, cushion etc.  I bought her a new harness that is designed for pulling.  It fits her the same as a guide dog harness, but the handle is attached dirrectly to the back and is very small.  I use my right arm to push and hold her with my left.  She pulls just enough to keep me going in a straight line, and when turning I either push ahead or back with my right arm. 

I tried a handle like you mentioned from our school, but even the very shortest handle was still too long.  Now that I have a different harness and my arm is so connected to her, I can feel her movements in my shoulder when she moves because my arm moves with her.  I couldn't do this with a longer handle because the movements weren't as strong.

I think the word "curve" in this case is right.  You could also use "bend". 

Hope this answers your question.

Kim & Sophie
Petra van Driel <nieuws at challenge-media.com>
wrote:
Hi Kim,
May I ask how you use your guidedog? My handle is longer than avarage and
has a slight "curve?" in it. I don't think the word curve is right here, but
because I'm not a native english speaker I don't know a better word yet.
Best regards, Petra
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http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-rollers
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