Taking the Lead | Unmet Needs

In this episode we talk with Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist Kristy Plesscher on our Unmet Needs survey. If you'd like more information about the survey email [e-mail]. 

What is Taking the Lead ?

Leader Dogs for the Blind empowers people who are blind or visually impaired with the tools for safe and independent daily travel. Our goal is to educate, advocate, and share real life experiences of those with blindness. Come learn, laugh, and grow with us.

Taking The Lead Podcast_040124_Kristy
Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hopner with my co-host, Leslie Hoskins and Timothy Kyo. We did something really exciting not too long ago at Leader Dog. We collaborated with another guide dog school, and we wanted to share a little bit about that this morning.
Leslie: Yeah, it was so exciting. Guide Dogs For the Blind came to visit on the Leader Dog campus a couple weeks ago and it was just a fantastic meeting. So they brought eight team members, including their president and CEO, and we just had three days of fantastic discussions. I mean, we talk about a lot on this podcast, how we collaborate and when we go to conferences, we always try to get together with the other guide dog organizations.
This was a very deliberate connection and an opportunity for us to collaborate and share. And the best thing I think was, so we met with like each different department and leader dog kind of came and almost like presented how we do certain things with in [00:01:00] different departments. And then we'd kind of ask, you know, how do you guys do it?
And then they'd share what they do. It was such an awesome opportunity for us to rethink some things, like they do a lot of things completely different, and we were like, oh my gosh. Like I would've never thought of that. Not that it's better or worse necessarily, just a whole different perspective. So it was really fantastic to kind of hear what they do and how they do it.
And some things, you know, were, you know, taken down notes like, oh my gosh, that's fantastic. Same thing on their end, but they're another fantastic guide dog organization. And again, we do talk about how we all get along and collaborate, but they also have an orientation mobility program. And so they're starting to really kind of build that up and.
Wanted to learn a little bit more about our program. And so it was fantastic to get to share and kind of highlight our organization.
Christina: Yeah, I think it was really cool because in my past careers you never do that. You know, you don't, you don't get together with the competing station or the competing company and actually just go and [00:02:00] you know, really we're all serving the same people.
Yeah. And so it was cool to see, you know, they're out on the west coast, we're in the Midwest, and so. Obviously the, the time difference one I'm sure, and it was cold for them, but you know, it was really cool to see how things are done in another part of the country as well.
Timothy: You know, listen to this podcast.
We're all leader dog team, I mean all the clients and everybody, but you know, it's, it's cool that you can collaborate with other organizations 'cause somebody can make a, a better biscuit and you might get a better idea for a biscuit and, and we're all on the same team when it, when we ultimately get down to it.
So it's cool. When I saw that, I saw the post about that and. I'm all hung, you know, for Leader Dog, but it's great that you guys can, because you, you guys see each other at conventions, at other conferences. You all probably know each other by first name and stuff, so I think it's kind of cool.
Leslie: Yeah, it was.
It was so fantastic. And you're right, so a lot of times clients have different perspectives on it. Like some client it's right. Like Timothy, you say your diehard leader dog, you'll come to Leader Dog every time. Other clients choose to kinda [00:03:00] bounce around and hop to different organizations for various reasons.
And other clients will follow their guide dog mobility instructor. So if they have one instructor they really like to work with, and if that instructor goes to another organization, they might choose to do that too. And the reality of the situation right now too, is that everybody has a long wait list so many times.
Clients or applicants are applying to kind of all the guide dog organizations and going wherever they get in first, which is totally understandable too. It's so great, right? 'cause we say this all the time. We collaborate, we also refer clients to other organizations. So if they have a specialty or something that we feel a client will be a better match elsewhere, we will absolutely make that referral and suggestion.
And same thing for other organizations to us, you know, especially one of the things we often get referrals for are our deaf-blind program. And so a lot of times, GDB was saying, you know, they look to us as the leaders in that area, but we just, I don't know, it was just so invigorating. Everybody walked away feeling so good about things and.
To meet people in the specific [00:04:00] department that you're in to share tips and tricks and what you're doing, and then make those connections that we can hopefully continue so we can reach out and say, Hey, you know, have you thought about this or that, and what do you guys do for this? But another big thing we talked about was advocacy, how we can do more together as guide dog organizations or just organizations in the blindness and low vision field in general.
So just
Christina: exciting things. It was great. Yeah, and I think something I took away from it that was really cool is that everyone was so passionate about the end goal, which we all have is the same thing. So yeah, we run differently. We do some things differently, but at the end of the day, everyone was so passionate about, I.
What we're trying to do. So it was very cool to see, you know, everyone who in their own respects there was, you know, guide dog mobility instructors. There was orientation and mobility instructors. Those went cane instructors. For those who don't know that what that is, and to see the passion of like each team member, I kind of got to sit back and kind of watch a [00:05:00] little bit of that and be almost a fly on the wall, but I was in the room.
Yeah. Um, it was just cool to see the passion everybody had and. To see everybody come together. Yeah. It
Leslie: was fun. So great experience and, uh, even better. Today our guest is a leader dog team member who has over 10 years of experience in the blindness and low vision field.
Christina: Yes, Chrissy Cher is a certified orientation and mobility specialist at Leader Dog.
She attended Western Michigan University and graduated with her Master of Arts in Orientation and Mobility in 2013. She has worked for Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. VP Rehabilitation services in LLC in Peckham, Inc.
Timothy: Christie, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you here this morning.
Do you mind telling you about your history with Leader Dog and what you're doing right now?
Kristy: Good morning guys. First of all, I just wanna thank you guys for having me on the podcast and such a fan of taking the lead. So I'm excited [00:06:00] to be here and be a part of the conversation with you guys. But my history at Leader Dog, so I, I hired in as an orientation and mobility specialist, um, on our extended services team in 2017.
And one of the things that really drew me to this organization and this team is. We use the terms o and m team and extended services team kind of interchangeably. We're all O and M instructors and the main function of our job is providing orientational mobility services. Um, but we are the extended services team and we do a lot more than that.
You know, we do a summer camp. We are, um, we do a lot of upskilling for other professionals in our organization. We do a professional seminar for professionals outside of our organization and conferences and, and all sorts of things. And so, um, although we're the o and m team, we do a lot of extended services and it makes it a really cool team to be a part of.
Um, [00:07:00] so I started doing that in 2017. In 2022, after my second little girl was born, uh, leader Dog supported me in moving into a part-time position on our extended services team. So I have less time to teach now, which is a bummer. But I get to focus a lot more time on some of those extended services, um, which is exciting.
So, uh, right now the thing I'm focusing on is our unmet needs survey, which is really cool, and I'm excited I'm here and I get to talk to you guys about it.
Leslie: Yeah. Thank you so much for being here, Christy. It's been so fun. We were on the o and m team together for several years and had a fantastic time.
Yeah, and you're right. I'm so glad you brought up the extended services part of it. 'cause I think we don't talk about that a lot, but our OS are doing so much more than sometimes a typical o and m role. So we do teach, but also all of those other things that we're responsible for and it does make it fun and interesting.
Yeah.
Christina: So what is [00:08:00] extended services? I mean, that could be a wide range of things. So Chrisy, if you could kind of talk a little bit more about what that means.
Kristy: Yeah, you're absolutely right. It is a wide range and you know, over the course of the time I've been a part of the team, it's meant a lot of different things.
And over the course of the time that services has been a part of Leader Dog, it's meant a lot of different things. So one thing that's so. Great about this particular group of people, and you could say it about every department at Leader Dog, but our o and m instructors are just constantly innovating and coming up with new ideas and willing to try new things and, and get feedback and say, well, this, this is a, a population of people that need support in this way, so let's try this out to help them.
And if it works, let's keep doing it. If it doesn't, we'll scrap it and start over. So. A few examples I can give right now, right? Is we have our summer camp during the shelter in place for Covid. We rolled out a few different virtual programs to, you know, continue serving [00:09:00] people at that time. We're not doing those anymore now that we're back in person, but it's an example of how Leader Dog Extended Services team is just constantly adapting to the needs of the people we serve.
And I think. Are, are looking for new ways to do that now as well. Does that answer your question?
Christina: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, because like you just said, you're meeting the clients where they at and with what their needs. So that's gonna be an ever changing thing, especially as technology changes and people's lives change.
Leslie: Yeah, because the, the extended services team has been responsible for teen summer camp throughout the, uh, the years also now, teen o and m. We did a lot of the GPS support, so helping all clients with any sort of GPS or technology and continue to do that. So the extended services team is doing so much more than sometimes what people realize, but you're right, it's such an innovative team and it keeps getting better and better, and so creative and seeing those needs and then kind of trying to follow up with the.
Appropriate programming. So that kind of brings [00:10:00] us to one of the biggest projects that we've been working on and that Kristy, you've kind of been spearheading is the Unmet Needs survey. So do you mind telling us a little bit, what is the Unmet Needs survey and why are we doing it?
Kristy: Yes. So it's such an exciting project to be a part of.
So this started with our strategic plan and people from across the organization are hearing the same stories and really across the blind rehab industry, we're all hearing the same stories, that it's just hard out there for people to find high quality blind rehab services that they need, and the reasons for that.
Can vary. Some people are saying there just aren't any blind rehab professionals in my home area, or I didn't qualify for services because I don't have a vocational goal, or because my vision was one degree off from meeting a legal definition. So, um, you know, I'm just outta luck. Or they just don't know what services are available.
Um, but whatever the reason. [00:11:00] Leader dog identified this is a problem and it's a problem for a lot of people we're serving. And uh, we wanna try to put some numbers to it, to, to really understand that problem so that we can figure out what our role is in solving it. And so, um, that's sort of the, the premise of the unmet needs research.
Um, and then to try to answer that we put together. A cross-functional team with representation from all across our organization, including Christina. You've played a huge role in this. Um, and people outside of our organization, we had a lot of client involvement. We had involvement from professionals, um, in other areas of the country to give their perspective about what their observing in their territories.
Uh, and we just had a lot of. A lot of conversations and, and wouldn't you agree, Christina, that pretty much started with just that storytelling. I'm talking about just everyone in a room together, like, this is what I'm hearing, this is what I'm hearing, and [00:12:00] we're frustrated.
Christina: Absolutely. I think being in those first couple of meetings, it was very interesting for me to hear from other people.
You know, I've helped in the marketing of this, sending out the emails and doing that. Hearing what other people were hearing, our guide dog mobility instructors, people from other organizations. It was really cool for me to hear what their clients or potential clients are saying. So it's been really interesting too to, you know, send out the emails and see what people are responding to as well.
Leslie: And I found it super interesting too, going to conferences and we've been promoting this as well and colleagues, right? Like you're saying, Christie, they want the results too 'cause they're seeing and talking to the same people and hearing the same things. And so it's not just Leader Dog that's invested in this.
We do have a lot of other people who are really looking forward to the results of this survey.
Kristy: And you guys both make a, an important point that it. Right. It's not just a leader dog problem, and it's not just leader dog clients, right? It's, it's, it's also the people that we're never [00:13:00] meeting, and that's really what our conversation started to circle around.
After we all got our stories out of our system and, and asked questions that led to more questions, we found ourselves talking about two types of people over and over again. The first type of person is the type, is the client we're already seeing. And I wanna be, I don't wanna generalize because I don't want someone to hear this podcast and say like, oh, well then I'm not, I'm not a leader dog client, potentially.
Right. Um, it's, it's not always truth behind this, but we, we notice some patterns that a lot of the people we serve, um, are people who are. More on the active side. Um, oftentimes, especially people that are coming for guide dog training have already had a, a degree of blind rehab services before coming to see us.
They're at a point in their lives where they can leave home for an extended period of time. So when we're looking at that [00:14:00] person, we know we've got resources, we've got a highly trained staff, um, and we can work with that person. To help develop their skills so that they can go on and reach their individual travel goals.
So that might mean getting to the office or getting to the airport, or getting, um, to, to a restaurant, right? Wherever they wanna go. Our team can help people develop skills to get to the front door of that place. What we don't know is what happens after they get to the door and they cross over that threshold.
You know what, what happens within that? That purposeful destination, right? So if someone wants to get to a local restaurant, our team can work with people to develop a beautiful route to get there. Low risk, street crossing decisions, you know, whatever they need when they step into that restaurant, we don't know if they have the, the skills they need [00:15:00] to access the printed material on the menu, or if they feel confident in their dining etiquette or their.
Non-visual cash management skills, right? To make sure they're paying their bill and getting the correct change back from their bill. Um, so just because somebody has a purposeful destination, if they don't feel comfortable once they get there, they don't feel independent once they get there, how purposeful can that route be?
Right? Absolutely. Um, the second type of person, the second type of person we talked about is someone we're not seeing yet. Right? And that could be because. Someone who lives in a retirement community who doesn't feel 30 hours in a week of o and m is what's gonna fit their personal, independent travel goals.
Somebody who's a caregiver for, you know, their family that can't just leave for an extended period of time or has a a high demand job that they can't take that kind of time off from. So. With these [00:16:00] conversations about these people, we came down to two questions. The first being, what barriers limit a person from ever considering Leader Dog as a blind rehab option?
Never even picking up an application and for the people we do see what barriers persist for those people after they leave that. Present challenges to reaching their long term independent goals.
Leslie: Yeah, I think that's so exciting, right? Because those are exactly the people we want to reach. And then also the people who we are serving, how can we do more?
I think this survey does a great job of trying to get all of that information to explore options, right? Like we don't necessarily know what the outcome of this survey is going to be, but we know Leader Dog has historically focused solely on mobility, right? So getting people from point A to point B safely, whether that be with a guide dog or a long white cane.
So this is some information that we can actually take back, look at and say, okay. Here's some huge gaps. [00:17:00] Where else can we potentially fill in and kind of explore those opportunities, which is very exciting for Leader Dog and kind of outside of our, our realm, at least as of now. I know in the past, in our history, we've tried different things here and there.
So exciting to be bringing in all this information. So, Christie, we've talked a lot about kind of the individual, so the person receiving services side, so that potential client or the client that will never experience Leader Dog, but. Who else are we directing the survey to? Because there's actually two versions of the survey.
So do you mind explaining the other kind of version?
Kristy: Yeah, so thank you for asking that. It ties into your point that this is an industry-wide problem, right? Where leader dog's not the only group of people interested in these survey results. Um, so we have a second survey for people providing services to people who are blind.
Or have low vision. Um, and, and I think that one's really important too, because of the professionals that we work [00:18:00] with out in the industry, our professional colleagues have a real finger on the pulse of what's happening in their home areas and, and their feelings. That same frustration that we're feeling and that our clients are feeling that we just wanna do more.
And so they might have some different perspective on, you know, this position has been vacant for five years and I'm watching this waiting list. Grow people needing services and, and this is a problem and this, this survey directed towards professionals is a platform to share that problem again, because we just wanna have a better understanding.
We know everybody knows that these service gaps exist and that they're a problem. We are trying with this research to really quantify that and figure out who it's impacting, where it's impacting people, and how that might change based off demographics. So thank you for bringing that up, that that's equally important.
Both the surveys are really working in tandem.
Timothy: So Christie, if [00:19:00] somebody's interested that participating in this survey, how do they go about doing that?
Kristy: We are putting it out there in a lot of our internal communication. So if you're a part of a mailing list at Leader Dog, you're getting it. We're also working with our colleagues with other organizations.
They're sharing it through their mailing list. So if you're not on one of those already and you'd like to be a part of it,
Christina: reach out to us at taking the [e-mail]. That's our podcast email. We can get you connected with Christie if you have more questions before taking it, or we can send you the survey.
You can just reach out directly to us and we can get that out to you.
Leslie: Yeah, and the best thing too is again, because accessibility is such a priority, we have it in multiple different formats available. So if you're worried about getting a link and not having access to that. Again, we'll get you connected with Christie.
Christie has done a fantastic job of making this available, both as a link, also a printable version. You can call and we can set up an appointment for somebody to go over the phone with you. So we are trying to [00:20:00] make this as accessible as we possibly can to get it in the hands of as many people as we can.
Again, both those groups being blind rehab professionals, and then also people who are blind or visually impaired. So we want kind of two different surveys out there. Some people qualify in both those categories and we want their opinions in both of 'em, but it's fantastic to try to get some of these answers and Christie really did a nice job of highlighting both these surveys and the importance of them.
So what ha, can you tell us a little bit, so we've been doing this for a while. Can you tell us kind of the timeline of, you know, have we gotten some results in, how long are we doing this survey? Anything like that?
Kristy: Absolutely digging through the survey has been so exciting. Or the survey results I should say.
So we have a lot of engagement in our survey for people with vision loss, and we want more of that because these are the voices that we really want to be guiding our decision making. This is our phase one part of this research, and we're closing this out at the end of May. [00:21:00] And we picked that timeline just so we have time to put together a summary of all of it and have it to present at the end of our fiscal year so we can make some decisions about what phase two means.
And it's been really cool. We have one thing I'm really excited about. One of our team members is a volunteer who does data analytics professionally. He's using Microsoft Power bi, which I don't know a lot about, but I'm learning a little bit about from him. It's a really powerful tool and he's using it to really peel apart the layers of these survey results, and so he's able to tell us what the 25 to 45 year olds in Southwest.
Us are saying and what the 65 plus adults in the New England area, you know what, what they're saying they need more of or what they're having a hard time finding. So it's really allowing us to dissect our survey results and look at it from [00:22:00] multiple angles. And I think that's gonna be really important when we start talking about what phase two is.
Um. But right now, you know what's really exciting is just that we have so many people engaged and we want even more people engaged, um, because I think we're all feeling that same frustration and tired of hearing the same stories, and it just feels good to have an outlet to be a part of the solution.
Leslie: Absolutely. Yeah. And the exciting thing too is like, again, we want this to go outside of our Leader Dog community. So we have sent it of course, to all of our clients who we have relationships and contact information for. But if you are a current client and you have access to the email or survey, um, please do pass it on to your support groups or other networks that you have to share with other individuals, both professionally and again, individuals who are blind or visually impaired receiving services.
We want. Um, lots of input from absolutely as many people as we can. So, um, please let us know if we can help share that [00:23:00] information with you, for you to continue to pass it on. We'd greatly, greatly appreciate it, but it's just a fantastic opportunity. Yes. Thank you for that, Leslie. Of course, of course. Uh, you've done such incredible work on this survey, you and the team that you put together and have really taken initiative, so I'm very excited to see the results.
Like you mentioned, I think we kind of already have an idea. We talk about the barriers that many people tell us about, and when we're out talking to other professionals. Knows what they're seeing. 'cause many times too, right, they're the ones that have to deny somebody services because they don't qualify.
Or you know, one of the biggest problems we talk about is we know there are so many people sitting in their homes right now who are blind or visually impaired that don't know that services even exist or where to start. How do we reach those people? And so I think this is kind of a good starting point to kind of collect as much data as we possibly can.
And it kind of goes along with, you know, the professionals not only who are kind of in blind rehab, but also the optometrists and opt ophthalmologists. We've included them in this survey, um, because again, they're [00:24:00] the ones making these diagnosis. So it's just, it's an exciting opportunity to bring everybody to get together and put it all into that data, um, in that fantastic volunteer who is able to compile it all.
'cause you know, that's way over my head. Stats was never Yeah. Something that I thank goodness for. Drew. Drew. Yes. We need to give Drew a shout. Shout out. He's fantastic. And so
Kristy: are you. Thank you. You, and you know what, I wanna give you guys a shout out quickly too, if I can, because I, I spoke with someone recently who, who wanted to take the survey over the phone and he let me know that.
I think in his home state there are three blind rehab professionals scrambling, trying to serve everybody, and until he started listening to. He thought he was the only person struggling with this stuff. And so listening to you guys talk about blind rehab and services and, and Timothy, you talking about your experience was all just so validating and motivating for him.
And so you guys are doing such great work [00:25:00] and thank you for what you're doing to get the word out there about these services.
Timothy: Well, thank you for that. That's why we do this every other weekend. I enjoy doing it. I'm sure Leslie and Christina does too. So it's to feedback from the listeners and.
Leslie: That's very kind, Christie, and thank you so much for joining us today and sharing about the survey.
And again, everybody, or anyone who's interested in that survey or passing it along to anybody else, you can email us at taking the [e-mail], which Christina will say here in a second too. But thank you for joining us this morning and kinda sharing everything about it and how you came together, and hopefully we look forward to having you back and talking about the results.
Kristy: Yeah, I would love that.
Leslie: Thank you guys. This was so much fun. And thank you so much to our listeners for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast. I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Timothy Kyo and Christina Hebner. We hope you enjoyed learning about Kristy and the important work she is doing. Please join us next time as we continue to dive into the world of blindness.
Christina: I. And if you'd like to learn more about applying to Leader [00:26:00] Dog for free services or taking this survey, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at [phone]. And you can also reach us at taking the [e-mail] with any questions or ideas and we can also send you the survey that way. And don't forget, if you like the podcast today, hit subscribe and check us out wherever Podcast Stream.