Participants:

Keith McGregor, Director of Canine Training and Special Needs at Leader Dogs for the Blind will give an overview of Leader Dog’s Deaf-Blind guide dog program including a brief history of how and why the program was developed. Keith has been a guide dog mobility instructor for over 27 years and has trained more than 60 people who are Deaf-Blind to use a Leader Dog.
Keith will answer questions from listeners about Leader Dog’s guide dog program related to people who are Deaf-Blind, those with multiple disabilities, or those who are strictly visually impaired.

Erica Ihrke COMS, Manager of Extended Services at Leader Dogs for the Blind will give an overview of Leader Dog’s Accelerated Mobility Program (AMP). AMP is designed to teach a client basic orientation & mobility skills in an extremely condensed time frame of one week. Erica will explain how this program was inspired by clients applying to Leader Dog to receive a guide dog but is offered to anyone who is blind that needs mobility services whether they choose to use a cane or wish to train with a guide dog.

All of Leader Dogs for the Blind’s services, including our guide dog and accelerated mobility programs, are offered completely free of charge to our clients. This program would be of interest to anyone who wishes to improve their independent travel skills.

The mission of Leader Dogs for the Blind is to empower people who are blind or visually impaired with lifelong skills for independent travel by offering quality Leader Dogs, highly effective client instruction and leading edge technology.

Hosts: Robert and Ruth ann Acosta
E-Mail: boacosta@pacbell.net