SEEING EYE DOG: Helping people.
DOGS: Enhance people’s independence

By JONATHAN DALE, Staff Writer
October 15, 2007
Printed courtesy of Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, CA

Leslie Mora said she can’t wait until she turns 16 years old so she can try to obtain a Seeing Eye dog.

  The 15-year-old Central Union High sophomore was one of 15 blind and low-vision students from through­out the Imperial Valley who were presented with a special choice for getting around via a Seeing Eye dog presen­tation Saturday.
  “I loved it,” Leslie said. “I thought it was a really good presenta­tion.
  “It made me want to get a dog,” she said.

  The presentation took place at the Imperial Valley Center for Exceptional Children in the 1500 block of South Waterman Avenue in El Centro on Saturday.

  “Basically we invited Ray Kornman from Seeing Eye Inc. in New Jersey,” said Linda Dorantes, an orientation and mobility specialist for the Imperial County Office of Education’s Visually Impaired Department.

  “He came to talk to students countywide about the eye dogs that present more mobility, more freedom to the blind,” Dorantes said.

  Based in Morristown, N.J., the self-proclaimed mission statement of Seeing Eye Inc. “is to enhance the independ­ence, dignity and self­confidence of blind peo­ple through the use of Seeing Eye dogs,” the company’s Web site says.

  While Dorantes tries to teach blind students how to move around without human or animal aid, giv­ing them the option of learning how to handle a Seeing Eye dog comes with the territory.

“My job is to introduce students to independent travel to and from school,” she said. “But for some students who would like a dog, that is why we came out here today.”

  As part of the daylong conference, students took turns being led by the instructor so they could get a taste of what Seeing Eye dog-assisted persons experience.

  “It was really fun,” Leslie said. “It was a real­ly good experience because it felt really good. “It gives you an oppor­tunity to walk faster with­out being insecure, think­ing you’re going to run into something,” she said. Dorantes said she was excited to see so many people take part in the conference and hands-on learning experience.

  “It was a great turnout,” she said. “It was the first time we had 99 percent attendance for students and parents.

  “Families were really excited to know that there is that opportunity for these children,” Dorantes said. 

  >> Staff Writer Jonathan Dale can be reached at 337-3440 or at jdale@ivpressonline.com