International Guide Dog Day

Wednesday the 28th of April is International Guide Dog Day. I thought I'd touch on the Children side of the organisation. Did you know that Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, not only provide guide dogs for vision impaired people, but also provide orientation and mobility services for children as young as toddlers. Giving them the confidence to safely get around independently so these children can purposefully explore their environment.

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT develop a training program tailored to each child's individual needs, age and skill level. The program then grows with the child, starting with pre-cane skills, moving through to cane training, bus travel, and use of residual vision and other senses.

Their Orientation and Mobility Instructors work with everyone involved in the child's life to reinforce this training - at home, pre-school, school and in the community.

They also provide information and support for families, child-care centres, schools and other agencies. As advocates for people who have impaired vision, they can provide recommendations for environmental changes to school grounds and playgrounds.

By working together, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT can help children who have impaired vision to achieve their potential in every aspect of life.

Toddlers and preschoolers

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT works with very young children who have a variety of individual needs, motivating them to do things independently. By teaching these children to move and explore their environment, and to use their senses to gather information about their surroundings.

School-aged children

As children begin to travel further afield, they require a more specialised program. They provide Orientation and Mobility training so that school-aged kids can travel safely, and have choices about when and where they go.

Orientation training teaches children to use their senses to gather clues about their surrounding environment. For example, on a trip from home to the corner shop, they may orient themselves by the sound of music from a café or traffic noises at a busy intersection.

Mobility training familiarises children with essential concepts of the world around them, and may include the use of a mobility cane. They may learn to cross a road safely and to identify kerbs, footpaths and zebra crossings.

Children may also learn to travel independently around school grounds and, if necessary, between school and home.

Children who attend special schools receive training in class and on community excursions, learning to travel confidently with a carer on public transport and in shopping centres.

There are many ways in which you can help Guide Dogs raised the needed funds to assist vision impaired people around the country. You can join Puppy Pals, make direct donations or purchase Guide Dog merchandise from their online shop.