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On Aug 31, 2023, at 9:56 AM, Terrie Terlau <terrieter@...> wrote:

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Hello everyone,

I am a blind 71-year-old who got two BA degrees, a Master’s degree, and a PH.D. This info is relevant only because it shows that I went through a lot of university cafeterias. I got my first Seeing Eye dog in January of my senior year in college. I had learned to carry a tray in my left hand when I used a cane. However, the first time I went to the cafeteria with my new dog was fairly disastrous. I tried to heel her and use my limited light perception to find a table. As I walked, her face went to the floor and picked up all sorts of crunchy things. I could not correct as I had to keep my tray balanced. I realized I had to do something else.

Over the next few months, I figured out a way to carry a tray and work my dog. I will try to describe what I do.

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Of course, the tray is in my right arm. My right arm holds the tray on the side and my right hand comes around to the front of the tray and my hand wraps around the tray. I press the tray into my body so that my arm and chest help it stay balanced and take some of the weight. I also hold the tray totally in front of my body, ?not sticking out on the right at all. A dog? may not allow clearance for a few inches of tray sticking out to the right beyond my body. In this position, I can balance the left side of the tray with my left upper arm. Soa the tray is balanced on four sides, with my right and left upper arms, my chest, and my right lower arm and hand in the front. Nowadays I ask someone I’m with to put my drink on their tray or ask someone working there to carry liquid as I follow them to a table. However, back in the day, I often carried my own glass on the tray, grasping the front of the tray with my middle, ring, and little fingers and raising my thumb and index fingers to circle the glass or at least partly circle it. To do this, I always put my glass on the right side of the tray near the front edge.

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I think it is very reasonable for your student to gain more independence. The bag idea is a good one. If you go this route, I would suggest a cloth bag with a bottom insert, the kind of bag that supermarkets sell for shopping. There needs to be something solid for the food to sit on. It would help if your student used a plate with a lid. This way, the sides of the bag would not interact with the food on the plate. I have a set of four Tupperware plates with lids. I love them because they are freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe. I can freeze meals in them, pop them into the microwave, and then put them on the top rack of the dishwasher.

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I hope this helps. Please let your student know ?as many options as you can think of for handling the cafeteria and encourage her to pick a way that gives her more independence. Also, let her know that other blind people have figured out ways to carry trays.

With huge respect to all you O&Mers and hugs to those of you who like hugs,

Terrie Terlau and Seeing Eye Dog Pauline

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