2 minute read
Dogs and Blindfolds
In the office next door to Tikkun is assistant clinical professor JENNIFER
THURMAN, an orientation and mobility specialist and trainer of guide dogs.
On weekends, Thurman can be found in Raleigh, where she follows around graduate students who wear blindfolds. “All our students have to spend a total of 160 hours under the blindfold,” Thurman said.
Students pair up and practice navigating a residential neighborhood, then later a part of downtown Raleigh.
The students can use a long cane, a guide dog in training, sound, smell and landmarks, but are not allowed to ask directions. “That’s cheating,” Thurman said.
For the final exam, students put on blindfolds before getting in Thurman’s car. She drives around until students are disoriented, then drops them off with directions to get to a specific destination.
The graduate degree program is designed for people who are already employed – also known as nontraditional students – with weekday classes done over video after 5 p.m. and in-person components on weekends.
“There is a huge shortfall of orientation and mobility specialists,” Thurman said. “I get calls from school districts who haven’t have a specialist in two to three years.”
There are currently 117 teachers in North Carolina who are trained to instruct blind people, but the need is for somewhere between 200 and 250, Tikkun says.
Thurman is also a guide dog mobility instructor. It is a position she has desired since age 13.
“My dad ran schools for the blind,” Thurman said. “I’ve known about orientation and mobility specialists and guide dog trainers my whole life.”
She has trained more than 200 guide dogs, a task that takes about four months for each dog. That includes time spent training the client and dog to work together.
Guide dogs are bred for such qualities as being able to handle stress and not being distracted or frightened by their noise in the environment, such as ambulance sirens or subway trains.
“It’s a unique dog we are looking for, a dog that has real inner strength,” Thurman said.
BY MARK LAWTON
There is a huge shortfall of orientation and mobility specialists. I get calls from school districts who haven't had a specialist in two to three years."
