Guide Dogs NSW/ACT gives Sharee a head start
Like many of us, Sharee Paton values her independence highly and doesn't like asking for help. "I'd prefer to give things a go myself first," Sharee says.
The 27-year-old has gradually lost all of her vision due to a congenital eye condition that was diagnosed when she was a child. Since 2002, Sharee has been using a long cane to travel safely and independently around her rural hometown of Canowindra, NSW.
Sharee works at her local community-health centre and is also studying a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology by correspondence. In December last year, Sharee needed to undertake a residential subject at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
Finding your way around a new place can be daunting when you cannot see well. But Sharee got a head start by contacting Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and having an Orientation and Mobility Instructor orientate her to the campus before the start of the lectures. The instructor helped Sharee locate student services, the library, lecture halls and accommodation.
"I was really lucky because the Guide Dogs instructor went into the first lecture with me, introduced himself and gave my class instructions on how to assist me by offering their arm if I needed a sighted guide," Sharee says.
"I call it borrowing a wing," she jokes. "I found people more willing to offer me assistance than usual - even if they were quite nervous to start with! It meant there were 42 people to help me navigate the wide, open campus, which can be tricky sometimes."
Sharee concludes: "Guide Dogs services have definitely helped me; it's the best service I have received since I started losing my sight."