Day one
I started this trip a week early. I’m traveling back-to-back weeks this time because I’m scheduling around my son’s water polo games. I’ll miss some games, which I hate, but I’ll miss fewer if I do it this way. So I was in Michigan last week, at the Mother Ship. I only go to campus 4 times a year now, so we can keep the waiting list for Home Delivery Orientation and Mobility (O&M) – that’s what the Mother Ship calls it – at a manageable level.
Anyway, I was on campus for Teen O&M, a really groovy program that’s fairly new to us. Teens who are 16-17 years old get to go to the Mother Ship and take a parent/caregiver with them. The teens get a full week of O&M guidance, and the caregivers get a lot of education and simulation exercises like walking in blindfold with a cane and with a dog. But the really great thing they get to do is observe their child traveling independently. It’s really important for parents to see this so they can understand how important O&M is, along with how important it is to allow their kids to do these things on their own.
I told a story to the mother of the teen I was working with about the very first person with a visual impairment I ever worked with. That person told me to “back up and shut up”. It was great for me to hear all those years ago, and it’s great for parents to hear. If you want people to be independent, you gotta turn ‘em loose and let them do it.
It is a really great program, so if you know a teen who would benefit from it, all of the information for it is on our website. We’re all done for this summer, but we’ll have at least three more weeks next summer.
So, after that great week, I flew to East Moline, Iowa via Atlanta. I got upgraded, due to pure luck I’m sure, to the very first seat on the plane. A smaller plane, I wouldn’t call it First Class, but it was a nicer seat, a little wider than normal. They also served me a beverage before takeoff and later in a real glass!
I got to East Moline with my in much better shape than I would have normally, but just too late to visit another Mother Ship. East Moline is the home of John Deere, and I was looking forward to a quick trip through the museum there, but even the Griswalds couldn’t tour a museum of this renown in 15 minutes. I set my sights on Des Moines, a little over 2 hours away, and headed west.
Day two
I’m in Des Moines to see Terry, who I’ve seen before in Robbinsville, North Carolina, the boyhood home of Ronnie Milsap. For those few of you who read this – Mom, I’m talking to you – you may remember Ronnie Milsap is a country music artist. Terry moved from Ronnie’s hometown back to Des Moines for lots of reasons, but she’s been having a little trouble orienting to her new environment.
Terry is deaf-blind, totally blind, but not totally deaf. She cannot cross a street safely by herself because she doesn’t have enough sight or hearing to do so. She holds up a large, laminated card when she gets to the corner that has on it that tells other pedestrians that she needs help to cross the street. The card instructs people to please tap her on the shoulder if they are willing to assist her. Terry used this card at eight crossings this morning on her route to a local grocery store, and eight different pedestrians offered her assistance. I take that back, seven pedestrians and one driver, who left his vehicle at the stop light and helped Terry across. My faith in humanity is restored, at least for a little while.
We took a break for lunch and then ran the route again. I stepped in a couple of times on the route as fewer random pedestrians did, but on her last crossing of the day, she met a person who lives in her building, Miss Shawn.
Shawn helped her by having Terry put her hand on the handle of Shawn’s rollator (a walker with four wheels and a fold-down seat) as they walked across the street and about half a block to the front door of their apartment. It was great to see Terry make a connection with someone who promised to look out for her if she ever needed help again.
Day three
A new day, a new route for Terry, but VERY different pedestrians. We didn’t get one citizen to help us with crossing so I stepped in. I know Terry knows how to get this part done, so I’m not worried about that. I just want to make sure she can get to the corner while facing the correct direction and maintaining her orientation. She may have to wait for a while for a pedestrian who will volunteer, but that’s just the way it is.
Another issue that is pretty much a national problem is the placement of truncated domes at the corners. Truncated domes are a fancy term for the tactile warning strips you see at (hopefully) most street corners these days. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all new construction must be made accessible to ALL pedestrians. This means ramps, truncated domes and hopefully high-contrast markings on the crosswalks. It could also mean accessible pedestrian signals, the ones you’ve seen around that announce that the walk sign is on.
But back to truncated domes. There’s no standard in how they’re placed which means that they could be anywhere on the corner. Sometimes, there’s one plate for each crossing, sometimes they cover the whole corner. If someone is unaware of this they could easily mistake one plate for another and line up incorrectly. Now, a person’s pace and line of direction, while they’re on their way to the corner, should be the primary determining factor for their crossing, but it’s easy to get confused, especially with all the inconsistencies with placement. Sorry, I geeked out on mobility there for a minute.
Terry and I got rained out on our last route of the day, so we didn’t get as much repetition on this one as we did yesterday. Again, Terry understands the concepts, but she would very much benefit from extra reps. We’ll get more done tomorrow.
Day four
Terry and I practiced the same two routes from the past two days today. She’s still struggling with her direction at corners and I push her hard to pick up her pace. I don’t wait too long to intervene at the corners with crossing assistance: again, she knows how to do this. I want her to feel comfortable with these routes, so she needs more repetition. Her knowledge of the area is her best resource, and if she can keep on the route, continuously headed in the correct direction, she’ll be in good shape.
Her first route looked about like the others with a little improvement. We went into HyVee, the local grocery store, to find some sunflower seeds for my trip tomorrow, then headed back to her apartment. After a short rest, we head right back out to the bus station and it’s de ja vu all over again.
But on the way back, something magical happened. The exact kind of magic that keeps me in this business. On the way back, for a stretch of six beautiful blocks, it all came together for Terry. She picked up her pace, she quit sweeping too wide with her cane (which slows her down because she finds objects that aren’t in her path) and she located the truncated domes at the corners of the block. Every time. Six blocks in a row. It was pure magic!
By the time we arrived at her apartment, I had already decided to call it a day. It was time, anyway, but I wanted her (and me) to finish on a high.
Day five
A travel day. I go through Iowa City and find the Deluxe Bakery, as per Kate Robert’s instructions. I had quiche Lorraine for brunch and bought cookies and a baguette for the road. I left many wonderful selections on the shelves, just like Kate said I would. I truly hope life brings me back to Iowa City, so I can select different items at the Deluxe. I sat outside in the sun and ate like I had nothing else to do.
My father, God rest him, would have remarked “I wonder what the common folk are doing right now?” and grinned like only Bill Stafford could. Miss you, Dad.
With memories of my dad fresh on my mind, I head from Iowa City to a little town northeast of me called Dyersville. Just outside Dyersville is a corn farm (I know what you’re thinking: “Barry, everything in Ioway is a corn farm”) but not your normal corn field. Field of Dreams was filmed on a farm just outside Dyersville, Iowa and the site has been a bucket list for me. I strolled around the grounds, sat in the bleachers, and watched kids play baseball on THE field. I wish my son, Jack, could be here to catch up with me. And I wish my dad could too.
It was a special day for me, but I’ve got to get on to Dubuque.
Day six
Rain. Lots of it. The forecast is for more. I called the client, Kay, to delay our start and headed over after lunch, in the rain, to at least discuss a plan for tomorrow. Which is forecasted for more rain. We’ll see.
I do some route-scouting, in the rain and end up in Wisconsin. I do a little more scouting, in the rain, and end up in Illinois. Dubuque is on the Mississippi River, bordered by the two previously mentioned states. One bridge takes you to Wisconsin, and another takes you to Illinois. Dubuque is also the oldest town in Iowa. Did you know that?
Day seven
There are three main rules of cane use:
- If you’re moving forward, the cane moves from side to side, every step you take. No exceptions. Pushing it doesn’t help you.
- Hold your head up. You’ve heard me preach about this before, but holding your head up, even if you’re totally blind, helps you walk a straighter line, helps you keep your balance better, improves your posture, etc., etc., etc. So many benefits to holding your head up.
- Don’t be in a hurry.
Kay has two of these three things in the bag: moving her cane and not being in a hurry. The holding the head up thing will need some work. We finish the first route, break for lunch and head out again. After working a route to the church where Kay attends Bible study, we debated about whether we should go home or stay out on another route. The sky is threatening, for one thing, and I don’t want to wear out Kay. Doing this much walking for consecutive days can have an accumulative effect.
I’m blaming Kay for what happened next, which was rain. A lot of rain. She said she felt great for another route and I was eager to do more because we missed yesterday. Just as we get to the apex of our next route, the skies open up and we take shelter in a pavilion built by an Eagle Scout. The Boy Scouts come through again. We share the shelter with a biker who got caught out in it as well.
The skies cleared up enough for me to hustle back and get the car while Kay waited because, as Kay says, “these legs don’t hurry” and we call it a day.
I’m packing tonight as I’m headed back to the Quad Cities airport after training. I’ve got an early flight home so I’m staying at the airport. Maybe it won’t rain tomorrow. Maybe…
Day eight
I’m packed and checked out of the hotel before heading over to Kay’s this morning. Kay and I head back to the walking trail where we left off yesterday. I drive us there so we don’t get caught in the rain again. It’s not forecast, but the skies are threatening. The intersection in question here is a “T” intersection. This intersection is a curved street dead-ending into an S-curved street with no traffic controls on the dead-end street. The truncated domes, while present, are at least five feet from the actual curb, AND there’s a four-lane highway passing over the S-curve that is constantly busy.
Can Kay cross this street? Yes. She has the ability to cross this street independently. Will she ever be able to distinguish between the traffic on the smaller street from the traffic on the highway? That’s the big question.
We do it a couple of times, but it takes a while to get a lull in traffic long enough for her to make a crossing safely. Kay doesn’t make quick decisions, and it will keep her out of trouble here and on other crossings.
This would be a great place for the city of Dubuque to put in an audible pedestrian signal, a caution light and a marked crosswalk. Lots of folks exercising on this trail would benefit from those things, not just Kay. Kay promises to not cross this one alone until she’s had a LOT MORE practice, and we move on.
Kay’s next request is to go to the mall. Apparently, it gets cold in the winter in Iowa and Kay can take the bus to the mall to walk for exercise. So, sports fans, I’m headed to the mall. Mall travel is tricky for a cane user because there aren’t too many straight lines. The building line inside, if you follow it too closely, has a lot of seemingly insignificant in/outcroppings that can really throw off your line of travel and get you really frustrated.
Sometimes, there are textures on the floor of each individual store to help the cane user determine where the main hall of the mall ends and where the store starts, and sometimes there aren’t. This mall in particular, has alternating surfaces of tile and carpet that help determine which section you’re in, and with some practice, someone could probably get used to that and figure things out. That and other idiosyncrasies are the kind of things I try to point out to Kay.
We do as much damage in the mall as possible and work on a trail that intersects the sidewalk going through Kay’s apartment complex. It leads up the hill to an elementary school campus and eventually into a residential neighborhood.
We map out a pretty good route that Kay could travel for exercise when the weather doesn’t force her to the dadblamed mall.
Having created all the chaos I could, I say goodbye to Kay and head to Moline, IL and the Quad Cities airport for an early flight tomorrow. It’s been a long trip and I’m beyond ready to be home. I drove around the John Deere headquarters but was unsuccessful in locating the museum. Disappointing, but I am tired.
I eat a sandwich from a chain store (not my norm) and go to bed early. I’ve got a connection in Atlanta with very little cushion between flights, so I’ll need all the energy I can get.
I’m doing another two-week trip next time, too. New Richmond, Wisconsin and Elgin, Illinois are my destinations, so if anyone has any restaurant suggestions, I’m open. The competition is pretty steep with my friend Kate’s suggestion of the Deluxe Bakery in Iowa City, so you’ll need to step things up. I look forward to the competition.
