[Blindtlk] Canes and Dogs, the In-House Checkup

Tue Mar 19 07:03:09 UTC 2013

Peter, Amen and Hallelujah! the seeing Eye's policies just fit my
personal philosophy. It is why after doing much extensive research and
consideration I always go back to TSE! I view the ownership and
mandatory follow-ups by most of the schools as degrading and akin to
workshop pay. something is wrong with this lack of trust in in the
quality they put out. graduates should be treated as the grown adults
they are not as grade-schoolers where ththey must be checked up on and
 graded so to speak. TSE never ever checks up on its grad and they
only come when and if you ever need them....providing honest and fair
assessments. Only way I'll ever go anywhere else is if they should
ever refuse me service or my health requirements dictate.

Sometimes, circumstances beyond our control interferes with a team and
shortens the working relationship and that should be taken into
consideration by the schools retaining ownership. JMO and personal
experience!

On 12/16/12, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
> Money money money!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Diane
> Graves
> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 11:13 AM
> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Canes and Dogs, the In-House Checkup
>
> Now that would be a good idea. After all, we have a strong O&M program run
> by our own for cane users. Why *not* have a guide dog program? I like that
> idea.
>
> Diane Graves
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Peter
> Donahue
> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 1:49 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Canes and Dogs, the In-House Checkup
>
> Good afternoon everyone,
>
>     I'm increasingly becoming convinced that some of this misunderstanding
> is being generated by our own guide dog users and not just those outside
> the
> federation. This came clear to me judging from the reactions of those
> attending this year's NAGDU Meeting in Dallas last summer concerning
> several
> issues being discussed.
>     For years the NFB has been trying to convince guide dog schools to end
> the practice of retaining ownership of their dogs and adopt a policy
> similar
> to that of The Seeing Eye. Put simply as Lucas Frank said last summer "We
> have no (Ownership policy)! When students complete training they leave the
> school with their dog and it is there's."We also know that a number of
> schools that retain ownership have wrongfully taken dogs from their
> handlers
> with no explaination of why. We just picketted Amazon last Wednesday. I'll
> retract this belief concerning the use of guide dogs when NAGDU organizes
> pickets of guide dog programs that wrongfully take dogs from their blind
> handlers to bring public awareness to this shabby practice.
>
>         Likewise I worked with several NAGDU Members to craft a "Guide Dog
> consumer Bill of Rights." During the NAGDU meeting schools at the
> convention
> were asked to indicate whether or not they would "Sign on" and recognize
> the
> rights of the blind consumers they serve. Some refused to comment. Others
> side-stepped the issue all together and still others wanted to "Negotiate."
>
> I shure hope we don't go down the negotiation path and allow these outfits
> to water down this document. As far as I know not one guide dog program has
> signed on to the Guide Dog Consumer Bill of Rights.
>
>     Going back to the matter of ownership retention when Marion Gwizdala
> and
> a few others spoke out strongly against the beliefs of guide dog programs
> that ownership was necessary pittifully few in attendence applauded. Yet
> these same people joind others to help bring the house down when it came to
> cheering on those that spoke in opposition to the continued payment of
> subminamum wages to blind shop workers! If you asked me something is very
> wrong with that picture!
>
>     If the NFB was more agressive in addressing these matters we would be
> more visible and people would know that we do indeed recognize one's choice
> to use a guide dog for independent travel and are a force in the affairs of
> guide dog users. If folks find this offensive I'll gladly retrack what I
> said when the following conditions are met:
>
> 1. Greater publicity is given to the practice of ownership retention of
> dogs
> by guide dog schools.
> 2. All schools recognize the NFB'S Guide Dog Consumer Bill of Rights as it
> was originally drafted.
> 3. More is done to urge all guide dog programs to employ blind persons as
> guide dog trainers and class instructors.
> 4. (This is the big one.) We entertain discussion concerning the NFB'S
> establishing its own guide dog program; a program operated by guide dog
> users for guide dog users!
>
>     I have repeatedly suggested such a discussion to President Gwizddala
> but
> to date it has not been an item for discussion during the NAGDU Meeting.
>
>     If there are still folks that think we're anty guide dog we should look
> within our organization to see if there are actions and lack of actions
> that
> are still perpetuating this myth. Persuing more agressive solutions to the
> issues I've discussed above could put us further down the road to ending
> this misunderstanding. All the best.
>
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
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