Podcast Summary:
Meet Jenny Pelletier and Abdi Mumin, two passionate Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instructors who are helping blind and visually impaired students build confidence, independence, and street smarts—one step at a time. In this episode, they share how mastering cane skills, navigating new environments, and embracing your journey can unlock freedom and open new opportunities. Whether you’re heading to high school, college, or a first job, O&M is your toolkit for success. From snowy sidewalks to exploring campuses and even hiking trails, they remind us: your path is yours to shape. Confidence is the game-changer—are you ready to swing for the fences?
Full Transcript:
{Music}
Jeff Thompson:
Orientation and mobility.
Abdi Mumin:
A lot of our younger students, they have the grasp of the skills, but the confidence is not there. The independence is not there, and that’s a key component. Yeah, the skills are there, but do you have the confidence? Do you have the independence to go out there and just swing for the fences, even though you know that you might get lost?
Jeff Thompson:
Orientation. Knowing your relationship to the environment around you.
Jenny Pelletier:
You may take a different way of getting somewhere, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, because that’s the route that is most effective for you, where you have the most landmarks, it’s most reliable, whatever the reason is. And I always tell people that, yeah, it may take a little longer, but that’s okay, because you’re going to get there confidently and safely.
Jeff Thompson:
Mobility. Being able to move and travel efficiently, safely, and intentionally.
Abdi Mumin:
You can walk down this stretch of sidewalk with confidence. No matter what life throws at you, you have the tools and what it takes to get from point A to point B.
Jeff Thompson:
We hope you enjoy.
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson. Today in the studio, we have two Orientation and Mobility Instructors. Jenny Pelletier. Of which I’ve been running into and participating at many events lately. Hi Jenny.
Jenny Pelletier:
Hi.
Jeff Thompson:
And Abdi Mumin. Abdi, welcome to Blind Abilities.
Abdi Mumin:
Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Jeff Thompson:
Jenny, I’m going to shoot it over to you first. Can you define orientation and mobility?
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, it’s kind of a, I think, two big words. Orientation mobility is the understanding of where you are in an environment and how to move efficiently. And I would say as independently and as safely and as confidently as possible through it. I would add it’s everything, it’s how we move all the time every day. So it’s a big part of who we are and how we move.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah. How did you get involved in orientation and mobility as a career?
Jenny Pelletier:
Ooh, that’s a really good question. It’s kind of a confluence of many different things, I would say. One is my work as a music therapist at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind. I was really intrigued with what Holly Nordmeyer, the Orientation and Mobility Specialist there, was doing with our students and how a lot of those concepts transferred over into music as well. And then I would say having, we had a couple exchange students who were blind and I just learned a lot living with them. They just taught me a lot in many different ways. And then I guess the other thing I would say is traveling to other countries through our MSAB international travel program was really interesting to me just in terms of independence and mobility in other settings. I could go on and on about that. But yeah, so I guess lots of different ways.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, we just talked to the International Club at Minnesota Academy about Trip to Italy. Always interesting to talk to them.
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah.
Jeff Thompson:
But an experience. Absolutely. Abdi, how did you get involved in orientation and mobility?
Abdi Mumin:
Yeah, I got involved because I live it every day. So I’m actually blind and I went blind when I was, I started going blind when I was in my teenage years. And at first I, I wasn’t really receptive to the idea of going blind. I focused on the negative aspect of what it means to be blind. And that honestly was due to my own, I guess, fears, my own lack of education in blindness. But one thing that really helped me was the NFB’s Colorado Center for the Blind. I had accidentally run into someone who told me about the Colorado Center for the Blind.
I started doing some research. And before you knew it, I was there for my first day. And to go from a 22 year old who relied on their family members or their cousins or their friends to get them from point A to point B, and being completely dependent upon others to the first day, Executive Director Julie D. and handing me my first cane and saying, well, I hope you get around. They gave me a mentor, but it was on me to get from point A to point B to point C and do that on time with expectations, high expectations at that. It really made me think to myself that, okay, this game has changed, the game has really shifted.
Abdi Mumin:
And O &M was a huge part of that. And to have that freedom, to have that hope again, it truly changed my life at 22 years old. It was like I was born again. And I was like, I can definitely see myself doing this for the rest of my life. And from that point forward, I promised myself that anything I can do to give people that hope, to give people that confidence to go out and travel and navigate this big world, anything I can do to help people with that, I promise to do that and to do as much as I can. So that’s how I became an orientation mobility instructor.
I went and I got my NOMC again from the NFB. And it’s been a true honor to just like Jenny to travel the world, I’ve taught travel in parts of America that are rural, I’ve taught in parts of Africa from Cape Town, South Africa to rural villages in Uganda to Tanzania to Kenya. So it’s again, just a whirlwind since 2018 for me showing up at the Colorado Center for the Blind to now it’s been not only my own journey, but to be a part of other people’s stories and other people’s achievements. It’s truly been an honor.
Jeff Thompson:
Well, I’m glad you found your way to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I should say is St. Paul’s. Yeah. The Twin Cities.
Abdi Mumin:
Yes, sir.
Jeff Thompson:
So that’s the difference between OMC and NOMC is one is sighted and one is not sighted. Is that the difference or is it just the different process of certification?
Abdi Mumin:
Jenny, you want to answer that?
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah. And then you can chime in. Yeah, the comm certification, the Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist is through it’s meeting the standards of AER, the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. And then after going through your university program, the master’s program in O &M, then you sit for the certification exam through ACV-REP, which is the Academy for the Certification of Vision.
I mean, try to get it right. Rehabilitation and Education Professionals. And that’s the certifying agency where you can, you know, you’re submit your CEUs and that sort of thing. And to be a comms, it doesn’t matter if you are sighted or not. So yeah, that doesn’t make a difference for either, actually, either certification.
Abdi Mumin:
Yeah. And for NOMC, like Jenny just said, it doesn’t matter if you’re sighted or blind or visually impaired or whatever you’d like to call yourself. The biggest attribute for NOMC is the SDCT or Structure Discovery Cain Travel, which is the teaching method that the NOMC or the NFB really promotes, which is giving the person the tools, giving them a tool belt and be like, okay, well, here’s this tool, here’s this tool and then giving the person the confidence and the independence to pick which tool they’re going to work with and being able to use that tool. And that’s, again, my own way of describing the NOMC. So hopefully I do adjust this to the NOMC.
Jeff Thompson:
Oh yeah, it just comes up once in a while, so I thought we’d get that out of the way. Now, when someone decides if they need O &M, I mean, so many people are reluctant, they lose some sight, and it’s one of the things that they just don’t want to carry around, pick up the cane, carry it around with them. So Jenny, how do you handle someone that is reluctant to use it, but they know they should use it?
Jenny Pelletier:
Well, it really depends on each person, and you definitely have to mentally be in the right place. I mean, it’s really hard to teach someone who is mentally not there yet. So it’s really, I think, meeting people where they’re at and being sensitive to the different transitions and different, I mean, really grief and loss in many ways that people are going through.
Some people have congenital vision loss, some people were maybe sighted a month ago and now are not. So it’s so different, and that process is so incredibly different for each person. So I think just as part of the O &M assessment, just having some understanding of where a person is at in their journey and trying to meet them where they’re at.
Jeff Thompson:
Abdi, what is it like on one of the first times you meet a student? Walk us through the process.
Abdi Mumin:
Yeah, almost immediately, there’s this hesitation to really accept the fact that either one, they are going blind or that they are blind, and especially with some of my students that have a little bit of usable vision or remaining vision, like Jenny said, they might not mentally be prepared to accept that their blindness. And part of my job is just easing the process in and understanding that, hey, you don’t have to rush this, but at the same time, using anecdotal evidence to say, the faster you accept that this cane, and you need this cane, and you’re in dire need of this cane, the quicker the student could start learning. Because if the student hasn’t accepted the fact that they are blind or they are going blind or that they need the cane, you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle from get go.
So I think it’s a balancing act. But one thing I always do is I just simply tell the student, amen, I’ve done so much in my 29 years, it’s shocking. Like I went to the White House in September, and it was one of the most humbling experiences to be around advocates for the 30th anniversary of the ADA and being around advocates everywhere I looked to my right to my left, no matter where I looked, there was advocates there. And I was like, this is the peak of my existence. This is what I’ve always wanted to do.
Abdi Mumin:
And to think that I’ve spent four years sitting around and not accepting my blindness, I’m like, those four years I’ll never have back. But just to think about that and to tell the person, it’s like, you don’t have that regret in your life.
You don’t want to look back and be like, man, there’s so much time that I wasted just because I was fighting something that’s inevitable. Right. So let’s accept the fact that the blindness is there. And this is now your new norm. Don’t let it define you. Don’t let it hold you back.
And let’s see how we get around this. What modifications can we put in our life? And the biggest modification is assistive technology, orientation, mobility. So let’s grasp that and let’s get to it.
Jenny Pelletier:
Abdi had mentioned there’s folks that have maybe some functional vision. And I think that area when folks have some vision loss, but it’s not dependable, it’s a really difficult place for people to be in. And most folks who do orientation mobility training are probably used to using a blindfold. And that’s something that we use quite a bit just so that folks can begin understanding what the cane can do. Because often without that, it’s really difficult to understand that connection of what the purpose is of a cane. And I actually, maybe I should also add that O &M isn’t always about using a long white cane. It often is, but it doesn’t have to only be about the cane. There’s a lot of other skills, especially, you know, orientation skills that may or may not have anything to do with the cane.
Jeff Thompson:
When you mentioned the blindfold, I remember the moment I went under the shades, all the noises, all the white noise that used to be white noise, was not white noise anymore. It was information for me. So I have this level of white white noise because that first layer is now a sprinkler as I’m going down the street or a dog that’s in a yard somewhere. But when I return, those are the same landmarks that give me confidence that I’m returning correctly. Just the noise, the sounds and all that. And that’s not the cane, that’s me interpreting my environment, which is then again orientation.
Jenny Pelletier:
I was really lucky to be working with Abdi a couple times, well, maybe more than a couple times now. And he just did an awesome job of, I remember, was asking one of our mutual clients just to stop and name every single thing that you can hear near or far.
And, you know, just to really begin focusing on what do all these sounds tell you, they’re informing you about what’s around you. And anyway, I just really liked how he asked those really good questions.
Abdi Mumin:
Thank you for that, Jenny. That’s a lot of confidence I really appreciate.
Jeff Thompson:
When you start out with a student and they learn the tapping and the cane, the size of the cane, all these things start to come together. And then you probably see some progress, some more confidence, a faster step of bigger reach with the cane. Or I guess independence starts coming as they start making their own decisions. What’s that like to experience that, Abdi?
Abdi Mumin:
I can only describe it as one of the greatest feelings. It’s an adrenaline rush. It’s a high. I can’t stop teasing. I was with a coworker a couple of days ago, right after I got done with the lesson. And it was one of my favorite clients to see that she had started a lesson feeling, I don’t want to say trepidation, but she was feeling like this was almost not going to work, because she’s been told so many times that this and this is going to happen or that’s going to happen or you’re going to put yourself in danger. And after an hour and a half lesson, the smile that she had on her face and the excitement in her voice, it’s like it gets your heart pumping, honestly. It’s one of the greatest feelings. And as an adrenaline junkie, I love adrenaline. And I’m like, that’s one of my favorite things is I get paid to have fun. I get paid to encourage people and give people hope. And it’s probably the greatest feeling and the greatest job on earth.
Jenny Pelletier:
I would totally agree. I think another aspect of this is that both Abdi and I work with all different age groups, so not just our pre-employment transition services, but also adults and older adults. And it’s just as exciting when the person is 85 years old and learning these new skills, something that they never thought that they would maybe have to do, and they’re successful at it. And they’re doing the same thing that the 16-year-old is also doing. It’s pretty cool. And it’s inspiring too to meet all ages, but especially those older adults who, again, are just learning these brand new skills and rocking it.
Jeff Thompson:
How is it built upon? How does someone learn to begin a better O &M traveler? Is it through experience, recognition of things they’ve learned and adding it all together so they can expand? I mean, there’s a thing called route travel or structured discovery, so you can learn any type of thing. But I think along the way, even route travel, you’re going to pick up tips and tricks that’ll let you go off course, let’s say. So how do you work that into a schedule with a student?
Abdi Mumin:
The best way I put it with my students is orientation mobility is like building a house. We’re going to build the foundation. We’re going to work on the basics or the core techniques of cane travel. So I’ll teach you how to hold the cane, how to arc your cane, how to stay in step and how to keep your cane centered, how to identify certain things.
And then we’re just going to keep growing on this. I actually like to teach my students both ways. I’ll teach them a route, but tomorrow we’re going to change that route because if you just keep taking the same route today and you learn everything on this side of the sidewalk and you learn, yeah, and 10 feet once I hear the pull to my right, then I take a right. And then, well, if once you learn that way, let’s say tomorrow there’s construction on that sidewalk and now there’s been a wrench thrown into your plans and you’re stuck. You need to make it to an appointment and you don’t know the other side of the street.
Abdi Mumin:
Well, with structured discovery and with actually using the tools, you know that you can walk down the other sidewalk no matter what’s there, even though you haven’t traveled down there, you know that you can walk down this stretch of sidewalk with confidence no matter what life throws at you. You have the tools and what it takes to get from point A to point B in a timely manner.
And I think that’s the most important part. It’s build upon your skills and be prepared for anything. And with that, I think you can learn how to hold the cane. You can learn how to arc a cane, but a lot of that comes from within and a lot of our students, a lot of our younger students have that they have the grasp of the skills, but the confidence is not there. The independence is not there.
And that’s a key component. Yeah, the skills are there, but do you have the confidence? Do you have the independence to go out there and just swing for the fences, even though you know that you might get lost?
Jenny Pelletier:
And I think a lot of that, I’m sure, Abdi would agree, is the ability to problem solve. And you can really tell in the clients that we work with when that is or isn’t a skill. And it’s probably the most important skill is how do you get out of a situation?
How do you reach into your tool bag and use all the different tools that you have to get back on track?
And I guess another thing maybe to add to is that, you know, when you’re working with folks and you’re assessing where they are with their skills, you know, you’re usually also moving like you wouldn’t all of a sudden be out crossing a six lane highway the first day you’re meeting with someone. I mean, there’s obviously that building like Abdi said, you know, you’re building a foundation and building from that. So I often start with like an indoor familiar environment and going to like a indoor unfamiliar environment and then moving outdoors into a familiar and unfamiliar environment and just kind of working up in order to build confidence. And sometimes that means to, you know, just listening, just walking in areas where there is high traffic at some point to kind of get used to what that sounds like and feels like. And yeah, it’s I feel like it’s a gradual build, but everybody’s I mean, everybody’s just so different. I can’t stress that enough.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, that’s great. When they’re able to go down the street, go to the store on their own and come back and be successful at that confidence. And then they stretch it further. When they get used to their environment, sometimes they graduate from high school or go to college.
Now, that’s a whole new area that they’ll start by possibly going to the dorms and stuff. Is there a service that they could get familiar with the campus with an OMN instructor?
Abdi Mumin:
I’m sure, yeah. You could talk with your counselor if you’re going to college and you would like some O &M to just navigate around the college, look around and go look at the dorms and so on and so forth. I’m sure we can offer some services like that, Jenny.
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, so that would usually be us or another O &M trainer that SSB contracts with. Yeah, and what I would do in those situations, and again, depends on the student, what their prior or existing experience with that area or that campus might be. But often, I like to start with like a big picture approach by like reviewing the area even around the campus. Like, what are the street names around the campus and where the bus stops if that’s applicable? And like, what are the compass directions in relation to that main entrance or kind of a home base, so to speak. And that often involves a tactile map. Some folks really, really like tactile maps and some maybe haven’t used them before, but I feel like that can kind of give you an idea of a campus in terms of like the shape of it. You know, how is it laid out and how are the buildings arranged and that sort of thing.
So anyway, often I like to kind of start with that big picture approach and then zooming in from there to, you know, specific routes to classes and that sort of thing.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, I remember when I started at the University of Minnesota, it is a very large campus. I like what you said about home base. Anderson Hall was my home base because that’s where some of my classes were.
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, I remember Anderson Hall.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, and then I would bridge from there to the Wilson Library and then there’s a tunnel, you know, all this stuff added up. And as I approached the next semester, I saw where my classes would be and I was like, hmm, so then you get exploring. But I like what you said about learning the main streets, the buses, because it’s all there.
And once you get a couple legs of that down, that was very interesting, especially at the University of Minnesota, you’re, you’re like find Waldo. There’s so many students there, you don’t really stick out like a small college, you would.
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, it’s a big place. I mean, usually once you hone in on your major, then, you know, your area, your setting is a little smaller, but for sure at the beginning, it’s a lot of travel.
Jeff Thompson:
Now, if someone gets hired at a building, maybe it’s a corporate building or maybe it’s just a building that has a large layout, could they get services there to like from the bus to the front door and then elevators, you know, get familiar with it? I’m sure they made it through the interview and stuff like that. But when you’re showing up for work, have you ever done anything like that?
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, for sure. I mean, we get referrals for folks in the workplace through our workforce development unit. Yeah, absolutely. And again, I mean, a lot of those skills, I would say are transferable, whether you’re showing up at your first day of work or, you know, another building where in terms of asking for help, you know, if you need direction or that sort of thing. Yeah, we often work with folks in the workplace and do some room familiarization and developing those routes within that particular building, especially like where are the, I always feel like the emergency exits is really big, important thing that everybody will maybe think of sharing that with you. But how do you get out of a space if you need to where are the emergency exits, where are the bathrooms, how large is the room, what shape is the room? I mean, you know, all those different things. But so the main answer is yes.
Abdi Mumin:
Yeah, I think that’s the best answer is, yeah, again, talk to your counselor and should be like, Hey, I got a job and I need some orientation mobility. A couple of clients I work with right now, that’s actually what we do is we go to their place of work and we work on finding their way. A lot of my clients, one of their biggest concern is like, how do I do this effectively? How do I do this at the same pace as my peers?
And I’m like, none of that matters. As long as you know how to get from point A to point B and you’re confident and you’re comfortable in your own skin. And it really happens to a lot of us when I first started at my first job, and I had to use my cane, I’m like, okay, I’m walking through a high school setting. I was a high school teacher and I’m just like, well, this is, I feel like everyone’s looking at me and that’s going to be a common occurrence.
So just tamping that down again, just working on what’s your belief of blindness, what’s your expectation of yourself and don’t change that for anyone else and don’t hold yourself to more than you can handle or don’t put more stress on yourself. Just breathe, take it easy and we’ll get to our destination.
Jenny Pelletier:
And sometimes it might be a longer route. I always tell people that, you know, you might take a of getting somewhere, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, because that’s the route that is most effective for you, where you have the most landmarks, it’s most reliable, whatever the reason is. And so I always tell people that, yeah, it may take a little longer, but that’s okay, because you’re going to get there confidently and safely.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, when I found a tunnel between the buildings during the wintertime, I was in love. I was like, I love this tunnel. But if I didn’t know about it, I didn’t know about it. So I always went outside around and stuff like that. So it’s nice to sometimes explore and find out what’s available and have the confidence, like you said, Abdi, to try it.
Abdi:
100%.
Jeff Thompson:
When we’re talking about the cane, a lot of people talk about the cane size, the cane type. I have a pile of canes over here and I have to admit, I will use them differently. Like when I’m traveling going, let’s say off road, I’m not just in the urban area, I have the alt-terrain cane or I have the urban explorer. If I’m going in a lot of cabs and going to be speaking or doing a lot of business stuff, I don’t use a telescopic too much, but there’s an option there or I might use a collapsible because the real estate that I’m in, I can fold it up because I’ll be at dinner tables and stuff. So there’s a bunch of different options and everyone has a preference and I think it really depends on the person. But then there’s cane tips. How do you handle these decisions?
Abdi Mumin:
I am very, very, very passionate about this subject here because not, not for the cane. Some people use the NFB white cane, some people use the Ambutec, some people use commander tech, some, but some people use the D cane. I personally have no say on what kind of cane you use. I say as long as you’re comfortable, by all means.
Same thing with cane tip. Some people like the metal tip, some people like the ceramic tip, some people like the marshmallow rolling tip, the marshmallow regular tip. None of that is my concern. The one concern I do have is cane height. And the reason I push this more than anything else is people tend to misunderstand what this cane is for. This cane is not to identify the fact that you’re blind to anyone else or that driver’s see, oh, this person has a white cane, this person’s blind. No, this cane is now your eyes effectively, right? And you don’t want to be that person who’s taking baby steps because your cane is so short, right?
So I always tell my students, I bring your cane up to your nose. Why? Very simple. The longer your cane is, the more obstacles you can identify from a further distance. Then that allows you to take normal steps.
Abdi Mumin:
And I’m pretty tall and I have a cane. So I’m like, I want to take full steps. I want to, I don’t want to shuffle my feet. I don’t want to take half steps. I don’t want to take quarter steps. I want to take full steps, full stride, walk with confidence and walk with my regular gate and my regular speed down the hallway or down the sidewalk. I’m not going to be doing that when my cane comes up to my belly button or my sternum mark. At that point, that cane is just a prop. I’m taking tenths of a step. And that really gets to me because when we’re issuing or when we’re telling people, hey, this is my opinion about the cane height, it’s all of that can be. Again, just remember, everything I’m saying is my opinion.
This is, there’s no book on this. There’s no, I think you should have the confidence to pick your cane, but understanding why the cane’s height matters is also very important. And that’s what I always push.
Abdi Mumin:
I tell my students, this is why I got you this type of cane. Of course, you can overall me. You have the right to say, Hey, this is what I’m more comfortable. This is what I like, but I’m going to explain to you, this is why the cane is this tall. And this is why the cane height matters. And a lot of people tend to misconstrue or misunderstand why cane height is so, so important. And that’s my biggest fight is what I’m always fighting is just that putting that information out there. Hey, we issue this type of cane because of this and this reason. So that’s my spiel. And I apologize for ranting.
Jeff Thompson:
Jenny, I was on the trip with you when we were in the canoes and we went and watched a waterfall and there was a tricky trail. And all the students took the trail and that was with wilderness inquiry. And this scale, you offered her the all-terrain cane, which in that situation worked well for her and she raved about it. There that was, and that’s an adjustable cane, but she was using it more for support.
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, I think it’s just good to have options, right? And just to try different things. And I mean, even going back to what Abdi was saying and letting people know they can always switch, like just because they have something doesn’t mean it’s what they’re going to be using through life.
But yeah, the all-terrain cane has been helpful for some outdoor activities. And I think it has potential because it is strong. It’s made of titanium and it has this adjustable height. So you can sort of use it like a trekking pole to some extent, kind of like a hybrid approach, I guess.
Sometimes when I’ve introduced that to like adults or older adults, I worry that people will end up using it as a full-time cane, which I don’t recommend because it is, you know, quite a bit heavier.
Jenny Pelletier:
But yeah, in that kind of instance where people want to be outdoors and hiking and they need something that will really hold up to some rough terrain, I think it can really be helpful. I’m thinking too back to when at MSAB when we took a group to Ecuador and we were hiking through the Amazon rainforest and it was muddy, it was rocky. I mean, it was kind of one of those trails that if I had previewed it, I probably would have said, no, I don’t think we are gonna do that because it was really treacherous.
But I’m just thinking back to that experience and thinking like that kind of cane probably would have come in handy there because you could have leaned on it a little bit. You could have, yeah, used it kind of in that hybrid sort of fashion.
Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, I don’t get the information back from that cane, but I do use it for sturdiness or for like a walking cane in a sense when I do use it. And that’s what the purpose for it. I believe it was designed for.
So that’s how I use it. Whereas when I have a solid cane, I can feel the surface is better. I can get used to the sound. There’s a certain vibration that comes up the cane that once you get used to that, you kind of recognize things without even thinking about it.
Jenny Pelletier:
Can I add one more thing about cane size? Sorry to jump back there, but I was just thinking too with what Abdi was saying about just factors to consider.
Some of the people that we work with too have also a support cane or a wheelchair or a walker. And often people just think that determining a height or size of a cane is just how tall you are. But if you have to reach over a walker, you might need a longer extension or if you have weakness, arthritis, whatever it might be, you might need a lighter, you might be more comfortable with like the NFB rigid cane, that sort of thing.
Or how fast you walk. Some people are really fast walkers and some are just so slow that the preview might, you know, they might not need a really extensive preview because they are walking so slow for whatever reason. So definitely things to consider. And I think that’s why it’s good to have an orientation and mobility specialist there to help kind of troubleshoot and assess those different things.
Jeff Thompson:
Abdi, I’m going to send this question to you. How did you like winter travel?
Abdi Mumin:
It depends. As a student, I was, oh man, I’m not going to lie to you. It was, I remember there were some days where it would be Colorado doesn’t really get that cold, but I remember one particular day where it was negative 11 degrees and I was like, yeah, I don’t think we’re going to go out today.
And my instructor looks at me and he puts on his Gator mask and his beanie and he goes, all right, well, we’re going outside then. And I was not a fan. I’m not going to lie to you.
But I understood almost, I want to say at the end of my program where it was, again, starting to become winter again. I graduated in November and I was like, I understand the importance of like realizing, hey, just because it’s snowy outside or it’s cold outside, that doesn’t mean I get to stay home because what if I’m going for a doctor’s appointment? What if I’m going for my job? Like life doesn’t wait for me just because it’s cold outside.
Abdi Mumin:
You have to be able to be held to the same standard and the same expectation as everyone else just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I get special treatment. So that really settled in with me at the time. And boy, did I need it because I almost immediately got hired on as a teacher and I needed to go to my job. I was getting on a bus at 6am and this is during COVID-19. So there’s no one, rarely is there anyone on this bus, but I’m on this bus at 6.40, 6 o’clock and I’m like, why am I out here? It’s 12 degrees outside.
And then I remember it’s, if I don’t do this, I don’t have a job. And as an instructor, cold weather is probably some of my favorite time to travel because my students, there’s just so much on them. They’re trying to identify traffic patterns. They’re dealing with the cold. They’re dealing with snow and it’s like, it really tests your problem-solving skills and it provides this opportunity, this learning opportunity, but also this teaching opportunity that would not really come along in the summer.
Abdi Mumin:
Like, okay, sure, there might be a fire hydrant that burst that happened to me one time. And I have to explain to my client that, hey, what you’re hearing right there? That’s a fire hydrant that exploded, but that’s nowhere near as fun as explaining how there’s nine feet of snow on the corner of Lake and Stevens. I think that’s one time we’re over there.
And I’m like, all that that you’re feeling is, that’s all snow that the plows put over there. And how do you get around that without getting into the street, without putting yourself in danger? Then boom, now there’s just a whole new lesson of it’s not just getting to the local grocery store, the corner store. Now you have to learn how to navigate this mountain or this hill of snow and watching my students, one, get to that problem, problem-solve, use the tools that they’ve learned. It’s amazing to see this work in progress. I almost call it beauty in progress, art in progress. So it’s really, really fun to be out there in different weathers and different climates.
Jeff Thompson:
Jenny, you’re a snow travel fan?
Jenny Pelletier:
Well, I am. It’s the cold that is really difficult because I feel that the cane really conducts the coldness. It’s interesting because I totally, I mean, you have to get out in all kinds of weather because if you have to get to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the snow is not going to stop for you or the rain is not going to stop. But I do think it is harder, like if someone is just learning some emerging skills and it’s 11 below, they’re probably not going to be able to concentrate really well. So sometimes it’s kind of a tossup or we’ll decide together in those situations. But yeah, you still, still got to get out.
Jeff Thompson:
Jenny, how can someone find out more about O &M that is provided by State Services for the Blind?
Jenny Pelletier:
Yeah, well, anybody can reach out to State Services for the Blind and get connected with a counselor or either of us if there’s questions. There’s also some good information on our website.
We also just added a PDF on human guide technique, which could be really helpful for folks, you know, maybe just want some review or often a family member will like to have some review on how to use human guide technique with someone who is blind or visually impaired. Yeah, just by reaching out to SSB, we can certainly connect and answer some questions.
Jeff Thompson:
Well, Abdi, it was nice to meet you. I’m glad you’re here in the Twin Cities area, helping others learn to navigate safely out there. And Jenny, thanks for coming back on to Blind Abilities and sharing with us all this stuff on orientation and mobility and the services that are provided by State Services for the Blind of Minnesota. So thank you both very much.
Abdi Mumin:
Thank you so much for having us. It’s really a pleasure.
Jenny Pelletier:
And I’m grateful that I get to work with Abdi and I am excited for hopefully the new ideas and programming that we can come up with down the road.
Jeff Thompson:
Sounds exciting. Such a great opportunity to learn from Jenny and Abdi about orientation and mobility and the services provided by State Services for the Blind.
Jeff Thompson:
To find out more about all the programs at State Services for the Blind, contact shane.desantis at state.mn.us that’s s-h-a-n-e.d-e-s-a-n-t-i-s at state.mn.us.
Jeff:
Be sure to contact your State Services for the Blind, your Voc Rehab, and find out what they can do for you. Live, work, read, succeed.
[Music] [Transition noise] –
When we share-
What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities