Osoyoos Elementary School students gather around Button, Osoyoos resident Sue Terada’s guide dog. Terada spoke to students about her experience with vision impairment on May 31. (Dale Boyd / Osoyoos Times)

By Dale Boyd

Osoyoos Times

As the town proclaimed June 1 Access Awareness Day in Osoyoos, a local woman shared her experience with vision impairment to students to educate and spread a message of inclusion.

Osoyoos resident Sue Terada and her guide dog Button shared her story of living with a disability to Osoyoos Elementary students on May 31.

“People with disabilities are regular folk. They have feelings, emotions, they want to join in and be part of the team. They want to be included, they do not want to be stared at and isolated,” Terada said.

She also informed students about her particular condition and helped them learn of the reality of disabilities.

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“People tend to think that you are either sighted or blind, but there is whole load of grey area in there. Probably 90 per cent of the people you meet are visually impaired but aren’t totally blind,” Terada said.

She brought along her guide dog for the past three years: Button.

She described the rigorous, lifelong training Button went through which allows someone like Terada to put her full trust in the dog. Terada also had to get trained herself.

“I have to learn what the dog learns because I have to use the signals she was taught and the language, using the right words because she knows quite a few words,” Terada said.

The students were of course curious about Button, and when it is appropriate to pet or interact with her, but they also asked questions about how Terada puts together her outfits and accomplishes other day-to-day tasks — some of which have been made easier in recent years with smart phones and various devices.

Osoyoos resident Sue Terada and her guide dog buttons visited Osoyoos Elementary School last week. (Dale Boyd / Osoyoos Times)

An important lesson the students walked away with was always ask the owner before engaging with a service animal of any kind.

“I want to stress to the kids they have to speak to the owner before they can touch or speak to the animal. It can be quite dangerous if you go to pet a dog when they are trying to cross a road,” Terada said.

Disability can mean many different things, and effect many people, Terada told the students.

“There are so many people with so many disabilities, and probably in everybody’s lifetime you will experience at least one period of your life where you are disabled. Could be a broken leg or a migraine, something like that,” Terada said.

Her message to the students was simple:  “compassion, inclusion and just treat people normally.”

The beginning of June marks the first recognition of Access Awareness Week in Osoyoos, with Mayor Sue McKortoff declaring June 1 Access Awareness Day in Osoyoos at Town Hall on May 31. The day also recognizes the work put in by a local committee over the last year to ensure accessibility throughout the town.

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Some goals have been easily accomplished, like removing a cumbersome bollard on Main Street, and other objectives like sound signals for traffic-light intersections are still on the wish list for Terada, who has been involved with the committee since it started around a year ago.

“I cannot cross at any of the traffic lights, I need to use the crosswalks. I think it’s not just a vision thing, I think for a lot of seniors, those lights are particularly difficult for folk to cross,” Terada said.

Mike Stiles is part of the committee and has been working as an advocate for people with disabilities in town which has been making progress prioritizing upgrades to city infrastructure.

He was happy to have the town acknowledge accessibility issues with the proclamation.

“It ensures the town is thinking about accessibility, which is important considering the amount of disabled people in town, we have one of the oldest populations in B.C. so it’s extremely important,” Stiles said.

He noted the committee’s voice is crucial with all current council members being able-bodied, comparing it to drafting a legal document without a lawyer.

“There’s a knowledge that’s not there if you’re not a disabled person,” Stiles said.

There was no shortage of pets for Buttons, Osoyoos resident Sue Terada’s guide dog, when the pair visited Osoyoos Elementary School last week. (Dale Boyd / Osoyoos Times)