For some folks, packing for a trip is not a big deal, but for two blind guys and one guide dog, it’s a process.

My partner, James, my guide dog, Oslo, and I begin our packing routine by adding adhesive bumps and rubber bands to label bottles and boxes, charging or updating batteries on our adaptive tech, and meticulously placing things in our luggage a few days prior to our departure. 

Although Oslo’s guide dog training didn’t involve packing a suitcase, he takes his bag stuffing very seriously. As soon as I place the luggage on the bed, I can hear his paws click with excitement over the hardwood floors. Sometimes, he is right on the money and throws his toy or blanket on top of my clothes. Other times, he is way off base — like the day he placed the TV remote next to my socks.

After I’m packed, I always zip my bags and roll them near the front door. This is when I often reflect on the place I’ll be visiting. Since our upcoming trip will be to the San Francisco Bay Area, I recently found myself reminiscing about the time I lost my wallet there.

A few years ago, I met up a group of friends in San Francisco’s North Beach District for lunch. One of them gave me a ride back home to my Oakland residence, and it wasn’t until Oslo and I walked through the door to our apartment that I noticed my wallet was not in my pants pocket.

“Crap!” I remember shouting, my heart beating.

Several phone calls later, I discovered my wallet wasn’t at the restaurant, the coffee house, or in my friend’s car. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I would have to wait until Monday to begin to straighten things out with my bank and the DMV.

Days later, I was fumbling with the DMV website using my screen reader when I heard a knock at the door. I was handed a large padded envelope, and I curiously tore it open. To my delight, it was my wallet — ID, bank cards, cash and all. I immediately asked the delivery man to read me my hero’s name off the return address; yet, there was none.

“No name,” he said. “It’s postmarked in San Francisco though.”

I’ve had a lot of anonymous supporters in my life. Like the many, often funny screen names that share and support my work on social media, or the people who open doors for me and whose names I never get.

To all of you who are reading this, whether I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you in person or not, I wanted to take this opportunity to say: Thank you for supporting me!

Now, I’m thrilled to announce another avenue of support we recently established through Springboard for the Arts for my publishing company, Oleb Books.

The mission of Oleb Books is to expand the representation of disability in literature by publishing disability stories by writers with disabilities.

Now, as Oleb Books moves into its second year of operation, we are gearing up for our fall fundraising.

So, as one of my supporters, I would like to take a moment to ask you to please consider making a $10 donation to Oleb Books this fall.

Your gift will help writers with disabilities get discovered by readers!

To donate, and to learn more about the impact of your donation, please click here.

In other Oleb Books news… 

I’m happy to share that Oleb Books’ debut title, Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities, has just received a gold medal in the Non-Fiction – Anthology category in the 2019 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards.

In support of the book, and along with contributing authors Caitlin Hernandez and David-Elijah Nahmod, I will be hosting several book talks around the San Francisco Bay Area this month, from Sept 25-30. Please check my events page for details. If you’re in the area, please come on out!

And, once again, that donation link is: https://olebbooks.com/donate.

Thank you (as always) for your support!

Oleb Books is a sponsored project of Springboard for the Arts, a nonprofit arts service organization.

Contributions on behalf of Oleb Books may be made payable to Springboard for the Arts and are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

I played my Amália Rodrigues CD so much that my high school friends would refuse to jump in my white jeep.
“I’d rather walk than have to listen to that sad music,” they said.

Even my Portuguese friends put my Amália CD down, saying it was the music of their grandparents. My love for Fado pushed me to travel to Lisbon, the Azores and the Madeira’s in my 20s. With my Brazilian Portuguese, I moseyed through colorful markets, jumping at every opportunity to listen to a live Fadista perform. And it was at one of these concerts where I shared a table with an old lady who beamed when I told her I was from San Francisco.

“I have a brother who moved there in the 70’s with his amigo,” she explained in Portuguese, “The day he left Sao Miguel was the last time we spoke though.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she left before the concert started. The woman’s reaction stayed with me for awhile. But like many memories, it was eventually buried.

Fifteen years later, I was now blind and a writer and was listening to Pandora when an Amália song started to play. For the first time in years, I thought of that woman and her brother. And as Amália sang her heart out, a story began to take shape in my mind.

Midday Dreams is not my attempt at piecing together the woman’s story. It’s a tale that was inspired by the stranger’s tears, but took on a life of its own as I re-kindled my admiration for the bluesy Portuguese music. As someone who writes memoir, it’s important for my readers to know that Midday Dreams is not based on anyone I know. It’s not my first work of fiction, but it is the first tale my readers will have access to that has nothing to do with me.

About Midday Dreams
Belo Cipriani (Blind: A Memoir) returns with a magical short story that whisks readers away to another time, another place. 

In the lyrical Midday Dreams, Cipriani takes his readers to a lush, tropical island that isn’t the paradise it might appear to be. There, the devout Izabel learns to open her heart to those who don’t live and believe as she does. 

Infused with prophetic dreams and magical realism, Midday Dreams will surely find its way into your heart.

Midday Dreams is available now at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iTunes and Kobo.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the “Get to Work” columnist for SFGate.com, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and  YouTube.

Many talented writers and artists talk about isolating themselves in nature, and I myself have been fortunate to get writing residencies in some of the most beautiful regions of the world. It’s no wonder people think being out in the country is the purest way to inspire art. As a writer who is blind, I find that spending time in nature can be very constructive to writing: The sound of birds chirping, the scent of ancient trees, and the peaceful song of branches dancing in the wind always lead to inspiration.

But getting a writing residency is very competitive, and many writers can’t afford to leave their daily lives for weeks or months to focus on their craft. For any writer who feels stunted because they can’t escape to a natural place, I’d like to tell you about urban inspiration.

Tapping Into Every Sense
We’re often told to look up at the sky or to a lavish garden for inspiration. Being in nature forces people to use their senses to absorb instead of analyze. The smells, colors, and animals that serve as muses trigger memories and help us conjure up other worlds.

When I lost my sight, the doctor told me our brains receive 80 percent of information through our eyes. The rest is distributed among the other four senses. In other words, vision is distracting.

I often asked my friends and family members to decode unfamiliar noises or scents and soon realized most people don’t know the smells, sounds, or the feel of their own cities.

Great writers can bring every sense into their story. The books I love the most are those that leave me with distinct scents, flavors, and sensations on my skin. Learning to describe urban places is just as important as writing about a forest or a lake. Although you may not have noticed, your city has a story to tell just as much as nature does, and learning to use your senses in an urban environment can become a powerful writing tool.

Connecting to Your Environment
I’m sure by now you’re wondering how to deploy this urban inspiration technique. Here are some tips to help you open your senses:

1. Listen. Start by closing your eyes and learning the noises that make up the soundtrack on your street. Once you identify them, learn who or what makes them. If it’s a car, find out the make and model. Write the sound out in its onomatopoeic form, and start a list. You’ll be surprised how those sound words can come in handy when writing memoir or fiction. Researching something you hear can also lead you to a story.

2. Feel and Smell. Take a walk. Get to know the physical feelings and scents of your city. Find out what the bus stops feel like and what they are made from. Figure out the smells on busy streets. Go into coffee shops, restaurants, or markets and investigate what ingredients are calling your nose.

3. Notice Colors. Although I’m totally blind, I still notice colors. I have a machine that reads colors on objects in a robotic voice. I walk to places and scan things to get a reading. I get strangers on the street involved by asking for their feedback on a color. After asking three to five people the same question, I end up with a list of different ways to express the same shade of paint.

Sometimes, I ask people what color their neighbors’ houses are, and I’m never surprised when they don’t know. Learn the color palette of your street. Learn the different shades of blue that make up the sky above your house and pay attention to the time of day.

4. Get to Know People and Places. In researching my second book, I delved into my city for inspiration. I visited the car museum to get the feel for seats and steering wheels. I wanted to touch with my hands and see how cars have evolved in the past 100 years. I went to a Buddhist temple to get the sense of the energy during chanting and met with a perfume maker to learn the vernacular of fragrances.

Each place and person I experienced in my city helped inspire hours of writing. Your city has a wealth of people with different experiences and backgrounds, and many cities also have treasure troves of history and culture waiting to be discovered.

Nature works as a conduit for creativity because isolation helps people tap into all of their senses. Most people think the only way to produce art is by running away to some desolate place. The truth is that my inspiration comes from experiencing the world around me — whether I’m in the country or the city.

Opening your mind to experience the world in different ways is an integral part of writing. Until we fully learn to absorb and experience the world we live in, we’ll never be able to communicate or connect our readers to that world.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the “Get to Work” columnist for SFGate.com, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Photo: “The Tenderloin, San Francisco, CA” by Tom Collins is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

The Big Red Button
Many people find it hard to imagine starting over again. Whether it is after a divorce, the loss of a loved one, or the development of a physical disability, it can be hard to even think of leaving the house again, much less address the changes that the person’s life will inevitably undergo.

In 2007, at the age of 26, I was assaulted by my childhood friends, and as a result of the injuries inflicted, I became blind. It was initially terrifying. I was young, healthy, and intelligent, but without my sight, my vision for what I could have in a future became blurry and unpredictable. Because of this incident and the resulting recovery, I learned a lot about how hitting that reset button as a child, even in the case of a silly game, helped me to understand that starting over can lead to even greater discoveries and accomplishments.

A Chance at a Do-Over
If you are looking to begin again, you should first learn what is possible in your new life. Some areas will be easier to master than others: learning to walk with a cane came easy to me, but Braille proved to be my biggest foe. Finding inspiration, connecting with others in similar situations, and building confidence can provide the necessary inspiration and motivation.

Begin by seeking out a mentor — someone who has or is living in a similar situation. If you want to get out of debt, you should find someone who struggled to pay bills and avoided debt collectors’ calls. If you are learning to be a single parent, find a woman who not only is a single parent, but also leads a million-dollar company, volunteers for community causes, and still makes it to her son’s games. I found that having a blind author as a mentor helped me to remain patient and have faith that I could eventually learn to iron my own clothes, go shopping, and even travel far distances. This person also served as inspiration for my own writing ambitions. Find a mentor who can provide advice on the current changes in your life and also serve as a inspiration for your future.

Confidence was the other main issue I struggled with after becoming blind, and it can be the most important quality in maintaining a positive attitude and making progress. Just like in the games I played as a child, the only way I was able to make it to the next level was to take a risk, make mistakes, and learn from them. I made a lot of wrong turns in order to finally become familiar with a neighborhood and find the route that would work for me. I spent many hours learning to pick out clothes with the help of adaptive technology, and I learned to ask people for help when I needed it. Challenge yourself to fail every chance you get. It will help you to push yourself to learn something new, to meet new people, and to find new confidence in yourself.

Sometimes the best plan is planning for a reset. Find a mentor and build your confidence; you might just find a hidden level that is worth fighting for.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the “Get to Work” columnist for SFGate.com, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Photo: “button” by Keith is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

When I decided to become a writer, I figured that my past experience as a recruiter coupled with a big dose of eagerness would make landing my first writing gig not as challenging. Unaware of the obstacles ahead, I retired from an eight year career in staffing and belly flopped into the competitive field of writing.

I’m now a freelance writer and I’m always looking for my next gig. Initially it was frustrating to hear undertones of fear or confusion in the voices of the hiring managers when I revealed my blind side to them over the phone or to get the novelty treatment while interviewing in person, which never lead to job offers. My luck began to change thanks to the help of a television commercial. A few years ago, Samsung was running an advertisement that featured a blind woman and her guide dog as she used her phone on the beach. Everyone mentioned the commercial to me and suggested I contact Samsung for a job; I even got the same phone she had as a gift.

Realizing the impact of demonstrating a blind person using a cell phone had on my circle of friends prompted me to carry my adaptive equipment with me to job interviews. I heard sighs of awe and admiration whenever I showed the people interviewing me my laptop and talking dictionary. I began to hear “When can you start?” instead of “We will be in touch.”

I believe that more employers would hire blind workers if movies, commercials, and print ads showed more blind people doing day to day mundane things. Currently, the media showcases people of all shades of skin and cultures; I look forward to the day more companies use disabled people in their marketing, as we also buy their products.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Belo Cipriani: At what age did you start to paint?

Simone Guimaraes: I first began to show an interest in art when I was 7 years old. By the age of 8 years old, I was already taking private painting classes.

Belo: Who are the painters that inspired you?

Simone: The main artist that inspires me is Frida Kahlo. She was definitely ahead of her time and I can relate to her because it’s not easy to put yourself in your paintings. By just being able to look at her artwork, you can feel all the emotions she was feeling in that moment, as though you were there with her.

Belo: How has your painting evolved in the last couple years?

Simone: My artwork evolved significantly as I got older. My first creations were flat, and a product of what others would tell me what I should paint. Now my artwork uses recycled elements that add texture and different dimensions, such as fabrics, stamps, paper, and recycled wood.

Belo: Do you focus on any themes?

Simone: The theme that I most closely compare to is that of folk art, with the usage of women, celebrations of life, and Afro-Brazilian scenery.

Belo: What is your creative process like? Do you listen to music when you paint?

Simone: As for my creative process, I always listen to music, with the exception of classical music.

Belo: Do you have a studio or is there a place in your home you like to paint in?

Simone: My studio is located within my home, with glass doors facing the garden.

Belo: What are you working on now?

Simone: Currently I am working on a painting of Victorian houses on a recycled window from a demolished house instead of a canvas.

Belo: How may people buy your work?

Simone: I sell my artwork at the Embarcadero, and people from all over the world end up purchasing my artwork. I sell my smaller pieces that are lowered in price and easier to transport to those I meet downtown. My larger pieces remain in my studio and are displayed at my art shows as well as my website www.simoneguimaraes.com.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Image: “Bahianas in Carnaval” by Simone Guimaraes (Medium: Acrylic Mixed Media)

A street full of manic traffic informs me it’s a major thoroughfare and I should use it to navigate this new domain.

The smell of coffee whispers, “We can awaken your brain with a delicious cup of brew.”

The distinct scent of certain chemicals gently reminds me I’m due for my bi-weekly haircut.

And, once night descends, the laughter and music radiating from doorways is an open invitation to go dance the night away in a club. Walking back to my hotel, I know my face will soon be hitting the pillow when I smell the pizzeria right next door.

Traveling My Way

A warm rush of elation washed over me as I arrived at LaGuardia airport. I’d been away from New York for a while and was looking forward to reconnecting with this most vibrant of cities. An airport employee soon greeted me and inquired about my book tour as he led me to a cab. The vehicle pulled up two feet away from the employee, and I was escorted to the door when suddenly, a man shouted in broken English, “No dogs allowed!”

He was, of course, referring to my guide dog, Madge. And so began another epic struggle for my pre-existing rights as a traveling blind man. The airport employee and I explained that my yellow lab was a service dog. The cabbie continued to deny me service. Another employee piped up in my defense and — perhaps a little too loudly — explained to the driver that he was breaking the law. I whipped out my cell phone and warned the driver I would report him. Finally, a third employee joined in the ruckus, insisting that Madge was not merely a pet. With four people angrily indicting the cabbie, he finally caved, and Madge and I were allowed to board the cab — albeit beneath a flurry of angry mutters.

The tense and silent ride that followed represents many frustrating moments I have experienced while traveling in both the U.S. and abroad. Even though I am protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — and by similar regulations in other countries — I am constantly reminded of just how unfamiliar ticket agents, flight attendants, hotel staff, and transportation companies are with the law. What’s more, they often seem to lack training in dealing with disabled patrons.

I was not born without sight. My vision loss was the result of a brutal attack that occurred in San Francisco six years ago. The point being that I know what it’s like to travel as a sighted person. It was a shock when I went from being greeted politely by members of the travel industry to having to instruct airport and hotel staff exactly how they should deal with me. Sometimes, it only takes the person a few simple instructions to help me with a task. Other times I run into a situation where I’m denied service and actually asked to leave an establishment. So, you can see, even though there are laws in place to protect and assist me, they aren’t always universally applied.

After losing my sight, the mere thought of depending solely on my senses of smell and hearing to get around made me anxious. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that while my attackers may have robbed me of my sight, I’d be damned if they were going to take away my love of travel. I adapted accordingly. I now travel internationally and can honestly say I feel more connected to my environment than when I could see.

As I alluded to earlier, there are all sorts of sights and sounds — especially in a city — that really help me place where I’m at. Once I get a whiff of hot coffee, for example, I tell Madge to find the door. We end up in a coffee shop where I can ask people for directions or use the Internet. People’s footsteps let me know where there are sidewalks and stairs.

Whether we’re relying on sounds or smells, finding a location with Madge and my GPS is a fun game, and making mistakes helps me learn a place better, just as it would a sighted person. If discovering new places was thrilling back when I was sighted, it’s absolutely intoxicating now that I’m blind.

A Unique Set of Problems

Still, every traveler has a host of challenges waiting for him along the way, and it’s no different for blind people. The challenges we face, however, tend to be different than those of the average sighted traveler. I would say that there are three main problems I encounter while traveling.

The first problem centers on my guide dog. Traveling with a guide dog really amps up your speed. In my experience, cane versus canine boils down to riding a tricycle underwater versus driving a Harley Davidson gifted with an exceptional sense of orientation.

I make sure to only travel to countries that have some type of access law for service dogs, yet some people still ignore the law and refuse to let me in. Sometimes this is dependent upon how the culture of the country I’m in views dogs. In the Czech Republic, for example, a service dog would be heartily welcomed. Many restaurants even have a communal water dish for canines accompanying their human patrons. However, if I were in India, with its abundance of mangy street dogs and lack of a strong dogs-as-pets culture, Madge would likely be canis non grata.

The second problem I often encounter makes me want to scream, “Who moved my cheese!?” I always explain to the hotel’s cleaning crew how imperative it is that they never move my things. Unfortunately, in many cases they do. When this happens I have to call the front desk to send someone up to help me find what I’m looking for. Granted, this is a big, preventable waste of everyone’s time.

The third problem is entrance. I’m not talking getting on buses or subways; the whoosh of the automatic door shows me where to go in. But rather being denied entrance. Even without Madge, some places of business have refused me entry simply because I was blind and unaccompanied. They viewed me as a liability, thinking I would get hurt without the help of a sighted person.

I’ve also found that certain cultures view blind people as bad luck. They feel that the blind person lost his sight because of bad karma, and they prefer to keep their distance. On the other hand, there are certain cultures who revere the blind. This is definitely something I consider when choosing what country or city to visit.

Training the Travel Industry, Along With Everyone Else

Up until this point I’ve been a pretty “negative Ned,” but I really wanted to drive home some of the problems before I present possible solutions. Like most problems, if we work together, we can make traveling easier on everyone.

I definitely think the travel industry would benefit from some corporate initiatives. You know, actually enforcing disability etiquette training for its employees. This is especially important in places like the U.S. and Europe, where it is already part of the law. Not only would this help travelers with disabilities, it would also promote a greater understanding to the public at large by busting certain stereotypes about the disabled.

When it comes to hotels, front desk staff should be trained to ask patrons who are blind what specifically they can do to make the their stay as comfortable as possible — no two person’s needs are alike.

Travelers who are blind can help by always having a copy of the part of the ADA that details the guide dog section. If traveling to Europe, make sure to have a copy of the corresponding EU law written in the language of the country of destination. I also always call ahead to hotels and airlines to let them know I’ll be arriving with a guide dog. Even though I write my specifications when I make my reservations, these don’t always get read, and I find people usually appreciate a kind heads-up.

It’s also important for the average Joe to know what they can do to help out a traveler who is blind. A blind person should always be asked if they’d like help before a stranger jumps into an advocacy role. My situation with the angry cabbie in New York is slightly different; the airport employees were on duty, and it is their job to help customers.

Increased Global Mobility

Traveling is no longer an exclusive luxury. Even the blind can go online and score a great travel deal. The travel industry has seen a significant increase of blind travelers, and the numbers will only get bigger. Travel companies should take heed, lest the frequent neglect of our ADA rights turn into a legal nightmare.

Many people who are blind are ready and willing to experience what international travel has to offer our senses. Dr. John Prescott, a musicologist and lecturer at University of California, Berkeley, was born blind and has traveled internationally all his life. Despite all of my griping, he insists that the travel industry has gone through a slew of positive changes in the past decades, and I believe him. For example, when he studied abroad in England in the late ‘80s, he had to quarantine his guide dog for six months. These days, according to Guide Dogs UK, the quarantine has largely been abolished.

Diana Saint James is the owner of Dimensions in Travel and has personally seen the increase in blind travelers. Her travel agency has created various vacation packages for blind people and their guide dogs. In fact, Dimensions in Travel has done 13 guide dog cruises since 2004. Efforts like these help spur the travel industry into making changes in accessibility.

If nothing else, it would greatly behoove industry leaders to realize that the millions of blind people around the world comprise a very viable market; after all, they have to travel for college, weddings, and other practical reasons — just like the next person. I firmly believe that much of the ignorance can be eliminated via education and training, ensuring that everyone’s trip is memorable for the right reasons.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Belo Cipriani: Did you have any dogs growing up?

Jason Bellucci-King: My mom got us a Jack Russell Terrier mix for my 11th birthday. Her name was Sally and she lived until she was 17. She was an amazing pup that taught me a lot about communicating with dogs.

Belo: Where did you work before joining Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB)?

Jason: I have a varied professional background that began in the real estate industry when I was fresh out of high school. I worked my way up and eventually spent most of my time as an mortgage underwriter. After the real estate market shifted, I worked as a low voltage field technician installing phone and data systems for high-end residential clients for a couple years. I then got a job at a local pet food supply store and worked there as I was going to school for an EMT certification.

Belo: How did you hear about GDB?

Jason: After I received my certification, I was looking for a job on an ambulance when a good friend of mine told me about GDB. We had been friends through high school and worked at the same mortgage company together. She was a puppy raiser when she was younger and had just gotten settled into a position as a Canine Welfare Tech in the training kennels. She encouraged me to apply and I was very intrigued and began volunteering over the summer as a lifeguard at the old dorm to wait for an entry level position to open up.

Belo: When did you decide you wanted to train guide dogs?

Jason: Once I started working in the kennel and learning more about what GDB does everyday.

Belo: How far along are you in the apprentice program?

Jason: I’ve just entered my 3rd year as an apprentice.

Belo: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Jason: Multitasking — it doesn’t come naturally for me.

Belo: Where are some of the dogs you’ve trained working now? (city, state etc.)

Jason: Dogs that I’ve trained are working in California, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia in the USA, as well as in Ontario and Alberta in Canada.

Belo: What is your favorite part of the job?

Jason: Everything.

Belo: What does your family think about your profession?

Jason: They are very proud of me and extremely supportive.

Belo: How many dogs have you trained?

Jason: Almost 30 so far.

Belo: What’s next for you career wise? (taking tests, etc.)

Jason: Looking forward to going through the certification process and getting a GDMI license within the next year.

Belo: Any tips you can share about training or grooming?

Jason: Follow your dog.

Jason Bellucci-King is an apprentice trainer at Guide Dogs for the Blind. Learn more about the largest guide dog school in the United States at www.guidedogs.com

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Photo courtesy of Guide Dogs for the Blind

Belo Cipriani: Did you have any pets growing up? And, if so, what were they?

Laura Chandler: My childhood was full of animals. Over the years we always had at least two dogs. I also had cats and horses growing up.

Belo: When did you know you wanted to work with animals?

Laura: I hoped that my professional path would include animals and was lucky when the first practice I worked for hired me and took a chance on a green 19 year old! When my mom or I tell childhood friends and acquaintances what I do for a living, every one of them gushes over how perfect my job is for me.

I used to play vet clinic when I was a kid. My mom loves to tell stories about how I used to set up a makeshift waiting room and exam room in our home office. I would have my mom bring in my stuffed animals and I would check them in, take vitals, explain the procedures that needed to be done, and check the client out, including taking payment for services! I was born to be a vet tech!

Belo: Did you have any other jobs prior to Guide Dogs that had you working with animals?

Laura: I have worked in the veterinary field since 2002. The first half of my career was spent in emergency and critical care, working nights and weekends while attending college. I have spent the past six years at Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), and at another general practice with a high dentistry case load, concentrating on my growing love for veterinary dentistry.

I have been in the field in varying capacities for the last eleven years, and, over the years, I have been amazed at what good oral health can do to the overall health of a patient. It has been proven time and again by medical studies that patients with clean, healthy mouths have better surgical, oncological, and medical treatments. I have been privileged to watch patients come back from the brinks of death just by addressing the disease in their mouths. I heard a veterinary dentist once say that if the level of disease present in most of our patients’ mouths was somewhere else, say the skin, clients would be rushing their pets to emergency clinics. Clients just don’t look in their pets’ mouths. If they did, they would be rushing to get them in for dental cleanings! The mouth is the gateway to the body.

Belo: What type of training did you have to complete to do the work you are doing at GDB?

Laura: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree and also took post-secondary education and continuing education courses to obtain my Registered Veterinary Technician license in the state of California. I then continued my education focusing on dentistry for the past four years, including more post-secondary education, mentorship programs, and continuing education to obtain my Veterinary Dental Technician certification from the American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians. I am currently in the process of pursuing my specialty license in dentistry with the Academy of Dental Technicians.

Belo: How many dogs do you treat in one day?

Laura: Both at GDB and at my other practice we see many dogs a day for a variety of treatments, appointments, and procedures. On average, though, I have about two dental procedures each day.

Belo: Any funny stories about caring for a dog?

Laura: I have loads of entertaining vet stories, but funny is subjective. Our field is made up of medicine geeks. What is funny to us may not seem funny to the lay person!

Belo: What are some foods or toys that help clean dog teeth?

Laura: When I recommend tools for veterinary dental care, I suggest items approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC), an organization that independently evaluates the effectiveness of veterinary dental products. This council endorses veterinary dental products that are proven to work. Typically, I do not recommend any dental home care product that does not carry the VOHC seal.

Just like human dentistry, not just one modality will address all the needs of oral health. We brush, we floss, and we use mouthwash. For my dental patients, I suggest at minimum a two-front approach, usually consisting — first and foremost — with brushing every other day (at least), since it takes about 48 hours for plaque (bacterial colonies) to mineralize into calculus, which cannot be removed by teeth brushing alone. I also recommend chew treats or a water treatment product.

Some of my favorite chew products:

• Bright Bites® (see next answer for more info)

• Hill’s Science Diet T/D food (Not as the patient’s full diet, but they are great as treats. These large kibbles break up and “clean” the surfaces of the teeth as they are chewed.)

• Greenies® are good for patients with no food allergies

My favorite water treatment product:

• Healthymouth™ water additive prevents plaque accumulation. Just add it to the patient’s drinking water.

Bones are not something I recommended for oral health. Most bones are too hard and the risk of fractured teeth and damage to the oral cavity is way higher than any dental benefit claimed by the maker. As of now, there are no bones approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council. I just don’t believe they provide benefit in the form of creating a healthy mouth. With that said, there are dogs that need to chew and enjoy the stress relief. For those dogs, I subscribe to Dr. Fraser Hale’s (a prominent veterinary dentist) knee cap rule: If you wouldn’t want to hit yourself in the knee cap with it, don’t give it to your dog to chew! Also bones should be used supervised, so dogs cannot chew too hard, risking fracturing teeth, or eating the bones!

I do not recommend hard bones (i.e. NylaBones™) for any patient! They fracture teeth — it is that simple!

Bones I do recommend:

• GoughNuts™ Sticks

• Kong® Extreme Goodie Bone

• West Paw Design Zogoflex® Dog Toy Line – Hurley Bone

Belo: Do breath mints for dogs work? Do you recommend them?

Laura: Bad breath is not normal. If your dog has bad breath, there is most likely some disease in the mouth. 80% of dogs over age 3 have periodontal disease. There is no such thing as “doggy breath.” Bad breath is the first indicator of periodontal disease. Having said that first, I do not recommend doggy breath mints to clients, since most are only masking the smell of disease, not addressing the cause of the bad breath. Also, most doggy breath mints are not hypoallergenic.

After a professional dental cleaning to address the possible causes of the bad breath, I do recommend a product called Bright Bites® to maintain a healthy mouth. They can be found online or at Pet Food Express stores. This product is approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council to not only improve breath with their three fresh flavors (cinnamon, spearmint, or peppermint), but also to abrade the surface of the teeth to remove the plaque (bacterial colonies) and calculus (mineralized plaque) that lead to periodontal disease. Also, Bright Bites® are hypoallergenic and are easily digestible (100% soluble).

Laura Chandler is a Veterinary Dental Technician at Guide Dogs for the Blind. Learn more about the largest guide dog school in the United States by visiting www.guidedogs.com.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Photo courtesy of Guide Dogs for the Blind

I interviewed few disabled candidates and rarely considered their job prospects. As a recruiter, I rarely debated if and how they would be able to perform the duties of a position. I soon found a new perspective — one that changed the way I viewed both the role of the recruiter and the place of people with disabilities in the job market.

A Shift in Thinking

I was attacked more than six years ago — a beating that caused severe retinal trauma, which left me blind. A year after the attack, I found myself at California’s Orientation Center for the Blind, learning new ways to complete necessary daily tasks. Most significantly, I learned that while I had helped place hundreds of people into positions at top companies, my opportunities and chances of finding a job were slim.

Members of the blind community warned me that I would need a lot of patience when I began my job search. I now belonged to a group of people erroneously viewed by recruiters as unskilled, unproductive, and more difficult. I didn’t need my guide dog, Madge, to sniff out the irony of my new situation.

According to Dr. Lennard Davis, these stereotypes exist in part because people’s misconceptions of the blind are split between thinking they’re completely helpless, yet also brimming with superpowers. These misconceptions carry over into the business world and can seriously confuse potential employers.

The Misconceptions of Managers

According to a recent study done by the nonprofit National Industries for the Blind (NIB), out of 3.5 million blind Americans of working age, a walloping 70 percent are not employed. And of the 30 percent working, the majority work for blind organizations.

One major reason blind people struggle to find employment is that public misconceptions of the blind affect hiring managers’ perceptions of potential candidates who are visually impaired. I’d like to break down a few of these — put out by the NIB study — and discuss why these misconceptions are fallacies.

Among hiring managers, most respondents (54 percent) felt there were few jobs at their company that blind employees could perform, and 45 percent said accommodating such workers would require “considerable expense.”

The reality is that a blind person can do any job that involves a computer, and there are a slew of adaptive tech toys that make most jobs accessible, such as a portable scanner to read printed material. As for the purported expense, according to The American Foundation for the Blind, most accommodations cost less than $1,000, a negligible amount for a serious business.

Forty-two percent of hiring managers believe blind employees need someone to assist them on the job; 34 percent said blind workers are more likely to have work-related accidents.

This fear can be attributed to some of our common idioms, e.g., “It’s like the blind leading the blind.” This phrase implies poor navigation skills, when the reality is that blind people often have superb orientation skills due to hours of training by mobility experts. Far from being clumsy, the visually impaired have an attention to detail that most sighted people lack. Insurance statistics back this up: Blind people actually have better safety records than their sighted colleagues.

Nineteen percent of hiring managers believe blind employees have a higher absentee rate.

In reality, blind people don’t actually miss more time from work. A DuPont study, completed during a 25-year span, found that disabled people, in general, have better attendance than 90 percent of their non-disabled colleagues.

The Realities of 2014

The disabled did not get their rights during the Civil Rights movement and had to wait until the ‘90s for the Americans with Disabilities Act to pass. Even now, many people assume the blind are unemployable. As a former recruiter, I realize there are different requirements and considerations that need to be addressed when hiring a visually impaired individual, but without changing our perspective on the capabilities of the blind, we can never end the discrimination that still takes place.

Some companies such as Google, Apple, and Yahoo! routinely hire visually impaired employees. The U.S. government — especially the CIA, the Department of Rehabilitation, and the Social Security Agency — also hires many visually impaired people.

Jobs capitalizing on the unique skills the blind develop are also being created. Givaudan, a company in the fragrance and flavors business, has developed a special internship program designed to give the blind work experience. Participants evaluate fragrances, detecting subtle differences that aid the creative team.

Just like the civil rights took time and effort to sink into people’s consciousness, it will take some time to abolish blind stereotypes. However, both the blind and sighted people can contribute to the shift.

How Managers Can Improve Inclusivity

Prejudices toward the blind workforce are not beyond repair. In addition to a “lead by example” role that managers can take, they can also become more inclusive by reaching out to groups that cater to the blind to recruit for potential new hires.

Encourage your human resources department to diversify its pipeline of candidates by recruiting from employment programs at organizations such as LightHouse in San Francisco and The Lions Center for the Blind. Hiring a blind person for an internship not only gives him job experience but also will encourage others to be more open to considering a person who is blind for a position in the future.

If a company is serious about inclusivity, then it is also very important that its website and job application portal be ADA-compliant. Companies can also demonstrate a commitment to diversity by portraying blind people in their recruitment advertising.

How the Blind Can Increase Their Chances of Hire

The reality is that we live in a sighted world, and stereotypes pervade the workplace. For people without sight, bring your adaptive equipment along to interviews to demonstrate how you would complete required tasks to give the hiring manager the insight they need to make a decision.

Network in the blind community and get to know people in your line of work. If you know of a person who is blind and doing the job similar to the one you are applying for, get advice from him and obtain a reference if you can. Telling a hiring manager about another blind person in a similar role can help you land the job. Finally, do not hesitate to report a company if you believe you were discriminated against.

How Sighted People Can Help

If you work for a company that does not feature people with disabilities on its employment page, let your employer know he is not being inclusive. You can also ask your employer, school, and friends what they are doing to acknowledge disability awareness month in October.

Education helps young people crush outdated beliefs at an early age. In California, the FAIR Education Act, which passed in 2011, requires public schools to include disability education. If you are a parent outside of California, demand your school district to add disability studies to its curriculum.

Finally, perform a quick Google search any time a disabilities stereotype crosses your mind. Educating yourself on the truth about disabilities is the best way to eliminate outdated stereotypes.

It will take time to change the collective consciousness of society and root out wrongful discrimination against people with disabilities. However, people can help by educating themselves about issues facing blind people today, discouraging outdated stereotypes, and working to encourage inclusivity in their workplaces.

Who is Belo Cipriani?

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. You are invited to connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Photo: “Hire Us” by Dita Margarita is licensed under CC BY 2.0