Section 3: Situations of Uncertainty - What Now? -- Page 10 of 14        Self-Study Guide | OUTLINE | INDEX | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 |Section 5 | REVIEW |

When you find yourself in a Situation of Uncertainty and have determined that the risk of crossing is not acceptable, the last step in this process is to consider alternatives.

I use every opportunity to have students practice finding and using alternatives whenever we find a Situation of Uncertainty. If they say the risk of crossing there is acceptable, I always respect their decision and then I ask them if we can use this to practice considering alternatives anyway, because they will certainly find crossings with unacceptable risk some time in their lives. Sometimes, even though the risk of crossing is acceptable, they find alternatives that are preferable.

Every Situation of Uncertainty has at least one alternative to crossing -- if nothing else, there is always the alternative of simply turning around and not going where you intended to go. I remember one teenager who was having a horrible time getting to her destination during her O&M lesson because of risky or extremely difficult situations, and after more than an hour I came up to her and suggested she do whatever she'd do if she were not on a lesson. She said she would go back home, and that is what I suggested she do. I never encourage people to take risks that they are not comfortable with -- our students need to be empowered to honor and trust their own instincts, even if they differ from our own.

The next page has all the alternatives to crossing independently that I've accumulated over the years. If you can think of any alternative that isn't listed, I hope you'll let me know.