Task 11 Discussion 10 (Addenum)

Walter & Group...

[GH]  A late entry for Task 11, but an important one, by Jay Clark.  A great deal to be learned by taking the time to follow this string of messages :

Group,

 

I was at a CCI event last weekend and one instructor is interested in taking the MCI exam at some point in the future. He has a medical condition called "monovision" that somehow effects his depth perception or distance judgement or something to that effect. He would have to explain the particulars.

 

Anyway, the issue he's worried about is the accuracy task and his ability to judge the distance to the targets. He didn't mention any potential difficulty with any of the other tasks. Only accuracy. Is there any precedent for dealing with a medical condition like this? Any thoughts?

 

FWIW, I'm sure it will be some time before he actually attempts the exam.

 

Jay

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>From Dan McCrimmon :

Hi Jay;

 

Boy beats me. If the accuracy task is his only problem, I think he could fail one task and still pass. However, some ability to recognize other targets and locations would be required.

 

I saw a blind CI run through the test once. He used a notched line and had a friend orient him to the target. Was years ago. never did find out how he did.

 

Has anyone run him through a pre-test to see how severe the problem might be?

 

Dan

Jay;

 

Please let me know how this works out. Useful if we run into it again

 

Dan

 

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[GH]  Dan,

Having once had an eye problem when tested, I can tell you that it goes much further than mere accuracy.  The candidate develops an overriding sense of lack of ability which can affect the performance of other tasks as well and set the stage for failure.  A severe "mindset" problem. That this can be overcome is explained, below.

Gordy

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[GH]  Jay's answer to Dan :

That's a good point, a pre-test would give a good idea of how much of an issue we're really talking about. He hit me with the question at the end of the weekend so I didn't have a chance to cast with him. He has a long way to go before he's ready for the exam anyway so this isn't going to be an issue any time soon.

 

I'll probably see him again at the gulf coast conclave in a few weeks so I can spend some time with him then. If all else fails I suppose I could teach him some tournament measuring techniques and then he wouldn't need to do any distance estimation but I'd rather have him learn the task without doing that. 

 

Jay    

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[GH]  Followed by,

Sounds like a plan. It is good of you to let him go ahead with his hopes. Even if he does not pass, it will not be because we or anyone else discouraged him.

 

Nice work

 

Dan

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[GH]  Jay,

I can speak from the heart on this one.

Back in '79, I was fishing in Alaska, when I fell.  I had placed my foot on a tundra ball in the river which looked like a rock.  My foot slipped and I went down and hit my head on a real rock.

That was followed by a detached retina in my dominant eye.  After an unsuccessful operation, I became blind in that eye to all but light and dark images which, of course, led to monovision.

This made accuracy casting all the more difficult as I now had to do everything with what had been my non-dominant eye.

I took my CCI test and passed almost everything except the accuracy events..... wasn't even close on those.

In all my years I had never flunked a test of any kind.  I wasn't going to let this one beat me !

 I spent more than a year working with different methods of triangulation as I did what many monocular folks automatically learn to do ..... move my head laterally a bit (side to side) as I "sized up the target".  I learned to apply that to Joan Wulff's eye target line / hand target line method.  To that, I added the change from strictly vertical casting to the close targets and performed those tasks with an off vertical casting plane which allowed my to use those principles better.

That allowed me to become quite accurate with my presentations as I focussed on those accuracy tasks as sentinel events.

I took the test again with a positive attitude, and passed.

Eventually, I underwent a series of operations which had not been developed at the time of my injury, and was blessed with a wonderful result, for which I'll be eternally grateful.

I have just spent a few days flats fishing with Peter Minnick who is totally deaf.  We have adapted to one another to the point that when we are out there on my skiff, THERE ARE NO DISABILITIES.

Lesson to be learned :  It is amazing what time, dedicated effort and the compensatory changes the human brain is capable of making to help overcome a disability.

Jay,  I'd be happy to know that you found a way to send this message to your candidate.

Gordy