[blindkid] Guide dogs for twelve year olds?

Albert J Rizzi albert at myblindspot.org
Thu Jan 21 03:03:57 UTC 2010


Bless you for allowing your son and nurturing his choices in life. Age is
just a number, Christ was an exceptional child as were many others. Would we
deny a guide dog to a potential world leder who had the responsibility to
contemplate the woes of the world and look to make it a better place just
because of age? 

Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
CEO/Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."


Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn



-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Susan Harper
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 4:25 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Guide dogs for twelve year olds?

     You hit on all the high points, which are being emotionally ready,
mature enough, and able to handle the commitment of a guide dog.  Age is a
number.  Remember only a few years ago people would be appalled if a 3 year
old had a white cane and now we give them to children as soon as or sooner
then when they begin walking.  It is not the age, it is the maturity and
readiness.

     We looked at helping dogs for our son who was a 12 year old teen with
no arms.  We got a ways into the process.  But part of that process is
determining readiness of both the dog and owner to be.  Our son opted out of
the program and now at 29, does not have a helping dog.  The demands on his
time were too great then and now.  Age is a number, not a measure of
maturity.

Blessings,
Sue H.

On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 8:22 AM, Heather <craney07 at rochester.rr.com> wrote:

> 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.
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
>
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/sueharper%40firstc
hurchgriswold.org
>
_______________________________________________
blindkid mailing list
blindkid at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
blindkid:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/albert%40myblindsp
ot.org





More information about the BlindKid mailing list