Who knew walking down the street was so difficult.

One of Michael's classes each day is called Mobility Training.  In the class, at this time, he is learning how to manuver around a residential neiborhood.  He is learning how to check when he reaches the end of the sidewalk and then how to listen to cars and be able to tell from those sounds when it is safe to cross.

He was pretty good at determining when it was ok to cross.  He did seem to have a problem keeping straight as he walked accross the street with nothing to use as a check.  When on a sidewalk he could extend his cane and be able to feel grass or bushes or something that would tell him he was still going straight on the sidewalk.  The street, obvously, has no way for him to check, it is something he needs to be able to sense.  As you can see from the following pictures he kept viering to the right as he crossed.

The instructor stayed close by him but didn't interfer unless Michael was is danger.  It was difficult as his mother to watch him struggle to figure things out and not say or do anything to help him. But I kept myself in check as did his teacher and he usually figured out for himself when he did something wrong and then corrected himself.

At this point, he realized he was not only off course but had found a puddle to boot.  He mentioned how glad he was that he was not wearing his new shoes.

At this part of  his walk, Michael got really confused.  He could not understand why he was walking down the sidewalk and suddonly there was a curb on his right, grass and dirt right in front of him, and yet he was sitll on sidewalk.  The instructor and I stood there for a long time quietly waiting while he tired to figure out where he was.  He is learning to rely on his cane and his sense of hearing to help him figure things out. After some time using that cane to feel around and listening to the sound of the cars, he finally figured out where he was and continued on down the sidewalk.

I have developed a new appreciation for being able to see.  It is amazing just how much we rely on our eyesight to function every minute of every day.  We look forward to Michael's eyesight being restored wheather in this life through some new tecnology or the next.  Either way, we know God is in charge and we can always find things to be grateful for.

P.S Michael is still waiting for the right time to used the intercom at the school.....