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| Good Morning! First Day of Class |
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| My Schedule! |
On Monday, January 6th, I moved to the dorm rooms at the Idaho Commission for the Blind and Vision Impaired to start my training. I will be taking five class every day, plus a job readiness class on Thursday instead of one of the classes.
People ask, are you excited? I am, but also I am very nervous because I'm going to have to face daily what I try to ignore everyday-that this is reality and I am going blind. It is going to be emotionally and physically draining at first, but hopefully over the next couple weeks it gets easier. When you first come in your don't know what to expect besides that you are going to be learning. What you don't expect is how it will be taught, how will you get along with the others, is it going to be easier this time or tougher, am I going to be able to retain it all...so many questions go through your mind. I know that I need this training because it will be helpful and useful even if its not something I need right now. My biggest question is, will this make me gain my confidence back and did I choose the right time in my life to do this? I won't know until I'm done. The training goes in terms, three months, and to me that is not a lot of time to learn and be comfortable with it especially Braille and mobility. So, who knows, I might stay longer or I might surprise myself.
The instructors are very nice and helpful. They know what we are going through since some of them are going through it themselves. They have all been through the training, it is a requirement to be an instructor. All the teachers have some sort of vision loss or are blind except the mobility instructors and wood shop teacher. They mean business, but also want it to be a fun and not a horrible experience. Their motto is "We can do it any where, any time, any condition." Every morning we meet for updates and jokes so the day is started off with a laugh. It seems like they are all easy going so far and not intimidating at all, which makes it easier to ask questions and not be embarrassed to share your fears or concerns you have personally.
In all our classes we wear sleep shades. We are to use our cane and sleep shades all day in every class unless we are told to take them off. The reason for this is so we can retrain our brains to create a mental image of what we are doing or feeling. They want us to be able to paint a picture in our minds, so we can "see" it in our own way and be successful. Everyone is shocked and they don't understand when I tell them that I am taking wood shop blind folded. The teacher says they have found that it is a confidence builder when you realize that if you can use power tools that you can do anything you put your mind to.
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| My Sleep Shades, No Judging! :) |
I live in the same building as the training center. The men live on third floor and women on the fourth. We each have our own room then share kitchen and living room area. There are more than one kitchen and living room so you don't really end up having to share much since there is only three of us on each floor. The classes are on the second floor.
Wish me luck!! I will update you on my experiences and try and get evidence of wood shop! :)
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| My Small Bed |
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| Tried to Make it Feel Like Home |
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| View From Room |