Guide Dog Secrets Revealed

It is a question as old as time itself. Well, not exactly as old as time but at least dating back to the early 1900’s when Dorothy Eustis agreed to train student Morris Frank to work with Buddy, the first guide dog brought back to the United States as a service dog. Ms. Eustis and Mr. Frank continued the dream by building the first guide dog school in the United States called Seeing Eye. Since that time, other guide dog schools appeared opening doors to the blind so they could become as independent as possible considering most blind people have little to no vision.

There seems to be a major misconception in the minds of the public regarding the definition of blindness. It is possible for someone to have some sight yet still be blind. Social Security’s definition of blindness is 20/200 or worse in the better eye or less than 20 degrees peripheral vision in the better eye. This definition proves that despite having light perception remaining, it is possible to still fall into the category of blindness and be unable to travel independently without the use of a sighted person, cane, or guide dog.

For more than ten years, I spend at least a few days of each school year lecturing children about blindness and guide dogs. Elementary children have to be my favorites among those I teach about blindness if for no other reason than the fact they have the most interesting questions. It is probably questions adults have yet are too polite to ask. Here are a few children ask each year along with some of my most favored from a decade’s worth of children.

Do blind people see black? Answer: Totally blind people, meaning people without any vision at all do not really see black. They see the absence of light. It is a great area where there is nothing there so the person has to rely on other senses to get an understanding of the world around them.

Why did you go blind? Answer: My blindness is in part due to a hereditary eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa. I also have extraordinarily small optic nerves, which are the nerves that go from the eyes to the brain. These nerves tell the brain what the eyes see but mine are so small, they cannot tell the brain what is going on outside. Additionally, with the retinal disease, it makes the optic nerves’ job even more difficult because my retinas are broken. Last, I have two autoimmune diseases called systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjogren’s disease. These diseases in addition to the medication to slow the progression of lupus cause retinal damage, which damages my retinas more.