Yes, in my experience, the teacher is always sighted.

Most of mine were sighted but I think it varies... I first got training from people who were visually impaired as well and it was good training but they were kind of limited in terms of what they could do. I think I got more from the sighted O&Ms that I worked with. They were able to give me the driver's point of view on things which helped me understand why drivers behave in certain ways at intersections. They also had the ability to do monitored "drop" lessons. This essentially meant getting in the car to go off to a lesson and then she would pull over, tell me to get out, and tell me where to meet her with no other information given. She was then able to watch what I did and could give me an analysis of what I did right and what I did wrong once I reached the destination. This was super helpful. When I was with visually impaired instructors they had to stick really close to me to know what I was doing. On the flip side visually impaired instructors really know what it's like to travel with a visual impairment because they do it on a daily basis and have personal insight on different issues. Both work well for different reasons. I think most O&Ms are sighted though at least from my experience.

Oh I feel you. Medical staff can go either way in my experience but at an eye department, seriously? You'd think they would be more cognizant of independence and O&M issues. I went to go see my doctor for a regular physical and I arrived into the office and checked in, a volunteer grabbed my arm to guide me to my seat and I wanted to say "You know, I figured out how to get here on the bus, got in the building, and found your department, do you really think I can't problem solve my way to a seat?" I really don't mind people asking, and I will ask if I need it, but I really dislike people touching me without any kind of warning. I even wouldn't have minded if he had walked me over to the seats but minus the grabbing. I haven't mentioned it to anyone who's done that at a doctor's office yet though.

 

One of my O&Ms a while ago taught me this thing, I think it's called the Hind's Break or the Hind's Maneuver. Basically if they grab your arm and you take your other arm and grab their arm a little above the elbow, this usually kind of catches people off guard and they will loosen up that you can gently tug your arm out of their grip and then you are in control of their arm and can kind of push off. The whole point of this is that you can separate but it doesn't feel to the person like you are aggressively pushing them away, you can kind of slip out. That's how he explained it at least.

 

I have a particular problem on public transit with people trying to help me on to buses or trains, and it's a major safety issue because I don't know who they are or if they really are just trying to help. This is aside from the fact that it's super invasive and that I am fully capable of managing on my own. The other maneuver that was taught to me by this one O&M is twisting my arm towards their thumb until it breaks or loosens their grip and then I do a little tug and that takes their hand right off. This is good for people with death grips that are so determined to help me that they are unable to listen to my verbal request that they quit touching me.

 

I'm looking forward to guide dog training this summer, people have told me that those kinds of encounters happen less and less when you are accompanied by a guide dog.