[blindkid] Guide dogs for twelve year olds?

[Sherry DeFrancesco]

Hi there,

My greatest concern for a 12-year-old using a guide dog would be the child's 
mobility skills. When using a guide dog; it is most important that the human 
part of that team has developed the skills necessary to travel independently 
with a cane. Not so sure a 12-year-old kiddo would have these skills to 
foster an affective guide dog team or not. However, I believe that each 
guide dog applicant needs to be evaluated on an individual basis. No two 
persons are alike and I would not rule out anything that could be a way to 
insure that our visually impaired kiddos reach maximum potential. You know 
your child best.

In my opinion, for what it is worth, the appealing side of a 12-year-old 
with a "service dog" is the benefits to self-esteem and socialization, as 
well as a way to learn real responsibility. However, the mobility is the 
focus here.

Guide Dogs for the Blind, San Rafael CA/Boring Oregon have a "Canine Buddy" 
program that may be of interest to
you. Not sure of the particulars and/or if there are any age restrictions, 
but if interested, here is the link:
http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageServer?pagename=programs_youth_k9buddy

I find this a very interesting topic, and something to really think about.

Kind regards, Sherry


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Heather" <craney07 at rochester.rr.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 8:22 AM
Subject: [blindkid] Guide dogs for twelve year olds?


>I just wanted to get some feedback on this from some parents of blind 
>children and teens.  I, personally, was absolutely apalled to hear that a 
>local guide dog school, not mentioning names *coughs* Freedom guide Dogs 
>*Coughs* has preposed a program to place guide dogs with twelve year olds. 
>All of the other schools in the US accept teens no younger than sixteen or 
>eighteen years of age, depending on the school, but twelve?  I am happy to 
>note that at present, no O and M instructors, parents or twelve year olds 
>have contacted the school to enquire about this program, but I am dreading 
>the day.  This makes a mockery of those exceptional blind teens who are, at 
>sixteen or seventeen, responsible enough, committed enough and have 
>demanding enough schedules to properly care for, utalize and actually need 
>a guide dog.  At what age would you consider supporting your teen in 
>researching guide dog schools?  At what age would you support them actually 
>submitting applications?  How old would
> you want your teen to be before actually being placed with a guide dog? 
> Do you think that you would have the blunt honesty to deny your support of 
> your child getting a dog guide, if they were not emotionally, mentally, 
> etc capable of utalizing a guide dog, at that time in their life?  Do you 
> think that you could restrain yourself from taking care of the dog, 
> interacting with the dog, or doing things that would undermine the 
> ownership of the dog by your blind teen, acknowledging their sole 
> ownership and responsibility for the dog, even if you, as their mother or 
> father still have all other rule-making power in the house-hold?  Finally, 
> would you ever, honestly let your twelve year old apply for a guide dog? 
> I just felt this should be brought to the list's attention.  Just me 
> personally, I would not encourage my blind teen to start researching guide 
> dog schools until age fourteen or fifteen, and I would not allow them to 
> apply to schools until they were at least fifteen, and that is
> assuming that they are emotionally ready to deal with the demands of a 
> guide dog, such as handeling an emergency vet situation, mentally able to 
> care for the dog, such as, researching and selecting safe toys, effective 
> medications and appropriate foods, mature enough to deal with the social 
> implications, such as access issues, and that they actually had a need, 
> not just a want for a guide dog, due to a challenging travel area or 
> complex and demanding schedule of activities and classes.  Please share 
> your thoughts.
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