PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION PACK 2017/2018 - www.guidedogs.ie - Irish Guide Dogs
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PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION PACK
2017/2018
www.guidedogs.ie
HISTORY OF
IRISH GUIDE DOGS
FOR THE BLIND
INTRODUCTION
& CONTENT
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is a non-profit organisation
that provides life-changing services to people who are
vision impaired and to families of children with autism.
Here at Irish Guide Dogs we have come a long way since
we were co-founded by the late Mrs. Mary Dunlop and
History of Irish Guide Dogs 1 Mr. Jim Dennehy in 1976.
We achieved our first Guide Dog partnership in 1980 and
Fundraising Ideas 2
have not looked back since.
Information on School Visits 3
For over 40 years we have provided life-changing
Become a Friend of Irish Guide Dogs 4 services and support to people across Ireland with sight
loss. In 2005, we were the first organisation in Europe
Meet Assistance Dog Charlie 5 to provide Assistance Dogs for families of children with
autism.
Support and services available 6
Throughout that time we have consistently focused on
Smart Street Heroes 7 innovation, to ensure that we maximise the number of
people who can benefit from our services. Since starting
Activity: Simulation Glasses 8 our journey in 1976, we have greatly advanced our
knowledge and understanding of dog training.
World Sight Day 9
We have invested in state-of-the-art training facilities
Types of Vision Loss 10 and developed programmes that deliver the best dog, at
the right time, with the most suitable temperament to
Annual Fundraiser: HEROES 11 match our clients’ needs.
All our programmes are offered free of charge, with
intensive support and aftercare available to all our clients.
SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES
1976: Organisation is founded
2005: Introduction of our Assistance Dog
Programme for families of children with
1980: Moved to our current site in Model Farm
Road, Ballincollig, Cork and trained our
autism
first Guide Dog partnership
2010: Taoiseach Enda Kenny officially opens
€5m redevelopment of National
1988: Introduction of the Orientation &
Mobility Programme (Long Cane Training)
Headquarters and Training Centre.
1999: Introduction
Programme
of the Child Mobility 2016: President Michael D. Higgins visits the
National Headquarters and Training
Centre to celebrate the 40th Anniversary
2004: Launch of The Independent Living Skills
training facility and programme
of Irish Guide Dogs and to recognise the
significant contribution of its voluntary
community.
1
FUNDRAISING
Help us to provide life-changing services to people who
are vision impaired and families of children with autism.
We raise more than 85% of our income from voluntary
donations and events. We need YOU to make sure we
can continue to meet the demands for our services.
Get involved today by organising an event
in your school. Here’s a few ideas to get you
started:
• Create your own in house events; sports days,
quizzes, sponsored silences etc.
• Get involved in our annual fundraiser in the spring.
(See back cover)
• Virtual pet show: pay €2 to enter a photo of your pet,
have a local vet judge the winner, display the
photos on your school wall
• Christmas: sell Irish Guide Dogs Christmas cards
and calendars in your school
• Hold a jumble sale for unwanted Christmas gifts
• Halloween: sale of spare sweets
• Organise a crazy hair day
• Sale of our gifts, see list on back cover
• Arrange a table quiz
• Donate to colour a square competition – we can
supply the posters
• Arrange a green day to celebrate the Irish Guide Dog
colours
• Rock paper scissors championships: pay €2 to
participate at your school
Contact us at education@guidedogs.ie to discuss how we
can bring your ideas to life and support you in any way
we can.
2
SCHOOL VISITS
AND TOURS Below are some pictures of schools that
have completed a fundraising event in aid of
Irish Guide Dogs and have received a
school visit or tour of our Headquarters
and Training Centre in Cork.
Cree National School Clonmel School - Coláiste Chluain Meala
School Visit HQ Tour
Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan
School Visit
Nagle Rice Secondary School Scoil Dean Cussen
HQ Tour School Visit
Patrician
Academy,
Mallow
HQ Tour
3
Become a Friend of Irish
Guide Dogs for the Blind
Sign up for our online Student Newsletter
by visiting www.guidedogs.ie/education and
completing the sign up form to join the mailing
list and receive a quarterly newsletter containing
a roundup of stories from schools around the
country.
Why not send in a photo of your school group
participating in an Irish Guide Dogs activity and
see your own school featured.
School Visits
If your school is learning about vision impairment
or autism why not have one of our Volunteers visit
your school with one of our Ambassador Dogs, or
if your school has completed an Irish Guide Dogs
project why not reward yourselves with a visit and
tour of our Headquarters and Training Centre in Cork.
Scoil Dean Cussen
Please contact the Regional School Visit
Co-Ordinator in your area to book
your visit:
Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Clare, Limerick
Tipperary, Waterford
Katie Kiely
Anne Burns
t: 021 487 8246/085 887 6580
t: 021 487 8259/087 195 4827
e: katie@guidedogs.ie
e: anne@guidedogs.ie
Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Laois,
Meath, Wexford, Wicklow Leitrim, Longford, Mayo,
Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon,
Julie Ann Ramsell Sligo, Westmeath
t: 021 487 8292/087 264 7172
Lynda Foley
e: julieann@guidedogs.ie
t: 021 487 8238/085 859 5072
e: lyndafoley@guidedogs.ie
4
CASE STUDY
A s s i s t a n c e Do g
Meet
Charlie
Meet Charlie, he’s a puppy on his way to becoming a
Future SuperHero Dog. He has soft fluffy ears, eyes
the colour of the most chocolate-y chocolate and a
tiny tail that can’t stop wagging.
But you shouldn’t be fooled by his looks. He is a very
serious puppy, with very serious intentions. When he
grows up, he wants to be a hero. How can a puppy be What Yolo does every day really inspires Charlie
a Hero you might ask. Well its simple-Irish Guide Dogs to become an Irish Guide Dogs Hero. He’s always
actually offer a puppy like Charlie a very clear path to by Skye’s side, helping her keep calm-even when
follow. They help him become a child with autism’s she’s somewhere new and feeling completely
best friend, constant companion and protector. And overwhelmed by all the sights, sounds and smells.
when we say “best friend”, what that often means is
“one and only friend in the world” because it can be For a child with autism to get the most out of an
hard for children with autism to make friends. Assistance Dog, they need to have one by the age
of seven, and it takes two years to train. Everyone
Charlie will gain the skills to keep a child with autism at Irish Guide Dogs is working very hard to reach
safe, help them to socialise and bring a whole family all the children who need an
back from the brink. That’s why Charlie wants to Assistance Dog like Yolo.
become an Assistance Dog.
We hope you’ve enjoyed
Charlie has a friend called Yolo, a full grown dog who Charlie’s story and any support
has finished all his training. He has gone to live with your school might give to Irish
a little girl called Skye. Yolo says “First you have to Guide Dogs will help Charlie,
understand what your new friend and their family and other dogs like him help
have been through before you arrive. They’ve often more children with autism.
had a difficult time”.
His friend Skye, for example, was diagnosed with Answer the following
autism when she was two years old. She didn’t talk. questions:
She didn’t walk. She barely slept and, as she grew
older, she didn’t know what danger was. Her mammy
1. What type of dog is Charlie training to become?
and daddy had to watch her all the time and they
were always worried they couldn’t keep her safe. 2. What age would a child with autism need to have an
Yolo’s already been a Hero. Skye was on the beach
Assistance Dog by to get the most out of them.
one day and she kept walking out into the sea. Her
daddy was calling her back, but she wasn’t listening. 3. How many years does it take to train an Assistance Dog?
Then, all of a sudden, Yolo shoots into the water, runs
around her and gently nudges her back to safety. 4. What skills will Charlie learn in training?
It was all sorted out in an instant without anyone
getting upset or stressed. 5. Who is Skye’s “Best Friend”?
5 Answers to Case Study questions can be found on page 9.
Maths Quiz What Support Is Available?
It costs €38,000 to raise a As well as providing Guide Dogs to people who
Guide Dog from Breeding to are vision impaired and Assistance Dogs to
families of children with autism, we also deliver
Retirement. Dogs work for
confidence-building rehabilitation services to
approximately 10 years. It adults, young people and children including long
takes about 2 years to fully cane mobility training, communication and daily
train a dog. living skills.
Number of clients Our services are designed with the needs of the
individual at heart and we go to great lengths to
in Ireland:
match each client with the right dog to suit them
• 162 Guide Dog Owners and their lifestyle.
• 273 Assistance Dog Owners
• 738 Other vision impaired
Services include:
clients • Guide Dog Programme
• Assistance Dog Programme
This year’s plan: • Independent Living Skills Training
• Create 30 new Guide Dog • Child Mobility Programme
partnerships • Next Step Programme for young adults
• Create up to 36 new moving out of home
Assistance Dog • Long Cane Training
partnerships • Gardening Programme
• Train 15 clients in Long Cane All of our programmes are offered free of charge
Skills with intensive support, and after care available to
• Train 12 clients in Independent all our clients.
Living Skills
Every year we:
• Conduct 600 aftercare visits
to client homes
OUR ES
SERVIC
Maths Questions:
1. How many clients do we have
in total?
D
2. How many NEW clients will GUIDE OGS
benefit this year?
MOBILI N &
PR
3. How many TOTAL clients will
YOU AMMES
ORIENTATI0
TY
OG
we work with this year?
R
TH
4. In “Dog Years” how long does
it take to train a Guide Dog?
5. How many new partnerships
will we have in total
according to this year’s plan?
GO
ON
S NCE
PP IN G TA
SU
S I S
OR AS
DOG
Answers to Maths Quiz are on page 9.
T
6
SmartStre
et H
I am a
ero
SM A R T S T R E E T
Last year we launched a Smart Street campaign 1. Become one of our SmartStreet Heroes
as part of World Sight Day to create better Explain to your family members how they can help
awareness of how the public can help people people with vision loss in the community by:
with vision loss in their community by keeping • NOT parking on pavements
pedestrian pavements free of obstacles, i.e. • NOT blocking pavements with household
parked cars, over-hanging branches, household wheelie-bins
wheelie bins and street furniture such as • Trimming garden hedges and
signage. These obstacles put the safety of overhanging branches.
people with vision loss at risk by causing an
injury or by forcing them on to the road where 2. Take the SmartStreet Pledge:
they are unable to see on-coming traffic. Show your support for our SmartStreet Campaign in
October, by pledging your commitment to keep our
This is an ongoing campaign and we would pavements free of obstacles. Keeping pavements
like you to support it by speaking to your free of obstacles, also, helps children with autism who
students about the importance of keeping own an assistance dog and other pedestrians, such as
pavements clear of obstacles so they can parents with buggies.
relay this important message to their parents/
guardians. The following activities may get the 3. Show and share :
conversation started in your classroom. Show and share the SmartStreet video featuring
Joe Bollard and his Guide Dog showing how blocked
pavements make their daily walks difficult. This can be
found by visiting: www.guidedogs.ie/smartstreet
The glasses on the next page Why not put old transparent sheets used on
projector screens that may be lying around to
represent the main differences in good use. Download the picture on page 6 from our
vision loss and enable people website and photocopy it using the sheets. Get your
students to cut out the glasses, or better still cut out
to understand the varying visual some cardboard as well to fit around the rims. Try them
problems of registered blind and on and have a chat about how they feel without being
able to see as well as they normally would.
partially sighted people. It also gives
people a sense of the difficulties For a full list of exercises that can be carried out using
the glasses please see our Simulation Spectacles
experienced due to reduced vision. Exercise Pack on the below page:
www.guidedogs.ie/education
78
ACTIVITY
These glasses simulate retinitis pigmentosaWor l d S i g h t
Day
World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held
in October to focus global attention on blindness and Fundraising for WSD
vision impairment.
World Sight Day reminds us to pay attention to Encourage students to become
eye care issues that impact lives everywhere, both a SmartStreet Hero by getting
developed and developing economies. There are simple sponsored for €5 (or more) by
things you can do like going for an eye test, wearing making 3 or more SmartStreet
your glasses when you’re supposed to and giving interventions such as:
yourself regular breaks from staring at mobile phone,
iPad and computer screens!
• Getting family members to park their
cars or vans on the street not on the
The main causes of vision loss in Ireland are:
pavements
• Age-related Macular Degeneration (which people • Cut back overhanging branches from
acquire over the age of 50) your garden
• Cataracts, Diabetic Retinopathy, Glaucoma and • Ensure wheelie bins and refuse
Retinitis Pigmentosa containers are not left on the
pavement
• There are 54,810 people in Ireland who are blind or
vision impaired. • Report broken street lights, potholes
or badly cracked paving slabs
A study conducted by Trinity College Dublin highlighted
the importance of mobility services, like ours, for
people registered blind. The study found over a third of
older people registered are unable to get out in to their
local community independently.
Over half of people who are vision impaired have
difficulty visiting places they are unfamiliar with. Over Take a look at the photos across
a third of older people registered blind are unable to the page to gain an insight in to
get out in their local community independently. Our
how our Guide Dogs might look
services enhance the mobility and emotional wellbeing
of people who are vision impaired. to their vision impaired owner.
1) 1149, 2) 96, 3) 696, 4) 14, 5) 69 safe & help them to socialise, 5. Yolo
Answers to Maths Questions: 1. Assistance Dog, 2. Seven, 3. Two, 4. To keep a child with autism
Answers to Maths Quiz from Page 6: Answers to Case Study from Page 5:
9TYPES OF
VISIO N L O S S
NORMAL VISION CATARACTS
AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA
DIABETIC RETINOPATHY GLAUCOMA
10We would be delighted if you would get
involved in our annual fundraiser. Here are
some ways in which your school can participate:
• Hold a Guide Dogs fundraising event in
your school. See page 2 for some ideas.
• Order some fundraising items from our
Headquarters. We can send you:
Stickers Collection Buckets Posters
• Order some items to sell to raise money.
If you would like
to take part,
please contact
CHRISTMAS PENCIL
CARDS CASES the Regional Co-
(Recommended (Recommended Ordinator in your
donation donation area. Contact
€6 each) €4.50 each)
PENCILS details can be
(Recommended donation €1 each)
found on page 4
Order some items to sell
CALENDARS
(Recommended
to raise money PENS
(Recommended
donation donation €2 each)
€8 each)
FRISBEES TOY DOGS
(Recommended donation €5 each) (Recommended donation €12 each)
11You can also read
