Tags: airport travel, Blind, transportation, traveling with guide dogs, traveling with vision loss, Vision loss
I hold a quarterly dog guide group at Blind Service Association in Chicago. Recently, our guest speakers provided an informative presentation on getting the assistance you need to make your way through the airport. Whether you are using a dog or a cane, it’s great to know about the support available when you travel. Here are some highlights from our meeting.
Fifteen dogs were in attendance at our February quarterly Dog Guide meeting. All of the dogs were awesome and extremely well behaved! Our guest speakers from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were very giving of their time and didn’t mind one bit that half of their audience was snoring under the table (grin).
George Prescott and R.J. Schneider provided us with an overview of what TSA does and also about a new program recently started called PSS or Passenger Support Specialist. Here’s what we learned:
Please, come join us May 12th for the next BSA Dog Guide meeting where we’ll be discussing access issues with our guest speaker from the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. Everyone is welcome, regardless of what school your dog is from or if you’re just in the “considering a dog guide stage.” RSVP by May 10 to Pam Berman by email or phone: 773-671-6624.
Pam facilitates a dog guide group at Blind Service Association in Chicago and is also Outreach Alumni Representative for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Pam and her guide, Cabrillo, travel the Chicago metro area raising awareness about guide dogs and other advocacy issues.
Thank you for the information! Pity this was not in play when I got my second guide dog. Though I had made advance arrangements for assistance while traveling through the Denver Airport, when I arrived, I was told by a male staff person, “This is Denver, we don’t do that here!”