Today is finally the day that Walter and Wiley have been waiting for. It is the day after Labor Day and the school year is ready to begin. It is the day that two new partners will begin their journey together as they start their first day as seniors in high school. The two started their partnership back in the summer when they met for the very first time, and they have now developed an incredible bond, that is built on mutual trust, friendship, and respect.

Hi, my name is Walter, and I am in the 12 grade at Smithtown West High School, located in Smithtown, NY. I will not be starting the first day of my senior year alone. I will be surrounded by all my wonderful friends, and my new best friend, my service guide dog Wiley. I am now legally blind and I have been losing my eye sight since I was 10 years old. 

I have a degenerative eye disorder called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Losing my peripheral vision at the age of 11 was the first time that I had really started noticing a change in my eye sight, when I began having difficulty hitting and catching the ball as I tried playing my favorite sport baseball.

I have three other best friends, Max, Alex, and David. I have known each of them since we met playing Tee-Ball when we were five years old. They will also be starting their senior year of high school along with me and Wiley. All three play on the school’s baseball team, and I am the team assistant student manager. Wiley will be the team mascot this year since he will be accompanying me to all of the games. 

I am so excited to have Wiley in my life now. As my guide dog, he will not only help me navigate around the school building, but will also enable me to travel with the team on the bus and to different ballfields where the team will be playing.

Wiley is a very special dog. He is a specially trained Labrador Retriever that was given to me by the Guide Dog Foundation that is located in my hometown of Smithtown, NY. The foundation was established in 1946 as a non-profit and has been providing dogs to aid people who are blind or have low vision. The Guide Dog Foundation works with residents of the United States and Canada who are 16 and older and classified as legally or totally blind. 

Each applicant must provide medical documentation from an ophthalmologist with a declaration affirming a legally blind status in order to be considered for a guide dog. Approved applicants must meet all the physical, emotional, and training needs of the guide dog and be able to provide all the daily feeding, grooming, play, exercise, and relieving (bathroom) breaks. Providing food, toys, and lots of unconditional love is also a must. This is a lot of responsibility, but I think that I am prepared and up for the challenge.   

Wiley spent the first year of his life with a volunteer puppy raising family who began his training through handling him and exposing him to all kinds of different environments and people. He also attended many camps with certified guide dog professional trainers and instructors. When Wiley was ready, he began his formal training at the Guide Dog Foundation Academy and learned how to navigate around all kinds of objects, travel independently, manners training, and to respect verbal commands. When Wiley graduated the academy, he became eligible to be paired with his new partner. I’m glad that I was chosen to become Wiley’s new handler. 

I was notified over the summer that a dog was available and that I would need to go to the academy to meet the dog and work with the specialized trainers. I spent a month at the Guide Dog Training Academy. During the first days of my orientation, the dog trainers got to know a lot about me and my physical abilities and learned that I am a very athletic person who is capable of handling a strong and quick dog. Wiley was a perfect choice for me because he too is very athletic, strong, and quick. We were a perfect match. Oh, and I forgot to mention, that both of us are very smart too. 

The academy provided me with all of the training necessary, including learning to employ all of the commands that Wiley knows. I also learned how to use the special harnesses and other tools necessary to communicate with my guide dog. I learned how to navigate city streets, country roads, hiking, suburban neighborhoods, and getting around a typical building like a school, and grocery store. Wiley got to come home with me and has been living at my house for the past three weeks, along with one of the certified trainers from the academy who will be going to school with us for the next month, to ensure that we get off to a great start. 

Once it is determined that I can handle Wiley on my own, Javier the trainer will only need to check in with us from time to time, as I continue to learn to live with Wiley. I am hoping to go to college next year and plan to take Wiley with me. This last year in high school will be a great experience for us to really get to know each other before I head off to college and go to music school at Julliard in New York, City. Yes, I am a musician. I play the piano and my three best friends Max, Alex, and David are not only good athletes, but also musicians. We have been dreaming of putting a band together. Hopefully we can make that happen, and this will be the year that we can enter the school’s talent showcase.    

My mom was the first one that thought it might be a good idea for me to one day partner with a guide dog. She started making plans with the school district when I turned fifteen. She knows that I have always loved animals. From the time we first found out that I was losing my eye sight, my mom and grandmother were the ones who have looked out for me. My parents divorced a short time after my disability was diagnosed, and my mom has been the one making sure that I have had the best possible education to prepare me for losing my vision. From the very beginning, my mom has worked side by side with Brenda Clark, the Administrator for Special Education and Student Services for the Smithtown School District. Ms. Clark and my mom have worked together to ensure that my education has offered the best possible options available to me as an individual with a disability. 

My mom researched everything that there was to know about The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Ms. Clark has made sure to follow all of the six principals of IDEA which includes that I have a free appropriate public education; (FAPE) have had appropriate evaluations from professional specialists who are knowledgeable in working with legally blind students; have an individualized educational program (IEP) in place; am able to learn in the least restrictive environment; (LRE) have gotten to have my mom and I participate in decision making; and that there have been procedural safeguards in place throughout my educational experience to protect my rights. 

Certain accommodations have been put into place so that I have a special education assistant to help me navigate through a typical school day. I have also received services in learning to read braille, and have learned to use other forms of assistive technology. My guide dog Wiley has been added to my most recent IEP. Having Wiley is going to make it so much easier for me to be able to get around more independently in the least restrictive environment possible. Wiley is being provided to me free of charge due to the donations of many individuals and organizations who have helped to raise the $50,000 needed to train one dog like Wiley. My mom could have never afforded to pay for all of Wiley’s training.