[Ct-nfb] FW: Letter to the Courant

Tue Feb 23 19:18:39 UTC 2016

From: Heidel, Kenneth [mailto:KHeidel at courant.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 1:42 PM
To: Elizabeth Rival
Subject: RE: Letter to the Courant

Thanks again . your letter is posted here:
http://www.courant.com/opinion/letters/hc-ugc-article-state-senate-bill-woul
d-interfere-with-the-wa-2016-02-23-story.html. Also likely to make the
newspaper.

KH

From: Elizabeth Rival [mailto:erival at comcast.net] 
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 9:30 PM
To: Heidel, Kenneth
Subject: RE: Letter to the Courant

Sorry, I did not see a trimmed version, I am sure it would be great. All I
can do is try again.  See below, Beth Rival    

February 16, 2016

Dear Editor, 

I write to ask the general public's help in defeating a new State Senate
Bill that would medicalize the way blind people currently acquire our guide
dogs. 

We have learned about the detrimental effects that this bill could have on
the guide dog industry: 

As it is currently written, the bill in question, SB 35, will see medical
service providers making the decisions about what types of rehabilitation
services we need, something they are absolutely not trained to do. Health
insurance and medical personnel need to leave it to experienced
rehabilitation professionals.

SB 35 Will take us away from the philanthropic funding model, which is
already working quite well, and stack yet another cost onto health
insurance. The current guide dog system isn't broken and I don't want the
Connecticut General Assembly to try to "fix" it.  Dog guide Schools only
suggest a donation. 

I expect to pay for my dog's physicals, food, and health.  Since we are not
experts on other types of service dogs, we will not speak for them. By the
same logic, we are the only ones that can speak for ourselves when it comes
to guide dogs.

In conclusion: Right now, guide dogs are funded through charitable
donations. No doctor is required to say I need one, and no unit of
government says where I must go to get a dog. Please do not let SB 35 change
that! Please vote against Senate Bill 35 until the language about guide dogs
has been removed! 

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Rival

2nd Vice President of National Federation of the Blind 

33 Parish Drive 

Kensington Ct. 860 828 8378 

erival at comcast.net <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','erival at comcast.net');> 

From: Heidel, Kenneth [mailto:KHeidel at courant.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 8:21 PM
To: Elizabeth Rival
Subject: RE: Letter to the Courant

I don't see how this is an improvement over the trimmed version I bounced
back to you, and it is 302 words long.  "Roughly 200 words" means 210 or so.
There are a lot of extra words here -- you would not state your name in a
letter that is signed by you, and you don't need to explain what the
organization is.

I'm happy to use a letter from you, but it can't be this long.

Regards,

KH

From: Elizabeth Rival [mailto:erival at comcast.net] 
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 8:06 PM
To: Heidel, Kenneth
Subject: RE: Letter to the Courant

February 16, 2016

Dear Editor, 

I write to ask the general public's help in defeating a new State Senate
Bill that would medicalize the way blind people currently acquire our guide
dogs. 

My name is Elizabeth Rival. I am a board member of the National Federation
of the Blind of Connecticut, a statewide organization of blind consumers,
and I have also served as president for 4 years. We have learned about the
detrimental effects that this bill could have on the guide dog industry: 

As it is currently written, the bill in question, SB 35, will see medical
service providers making the decisions about what types of rehabilitation
services we need, something they are absolutely not trained to do. Health
insurance and medical personnel need to stay out of a process that is the
domain of experienced rehabilitation professionals.

SB 35 Will take us away from the philanthropic funding model, which is
already working quite well, and stack yet another cost onto health
insurance. The current guide dog system isn't broken and I don't want the
Connecticut General Assembly to try to "fix" it. The cost of obtaining a
guide dog is not obstructive whatsoever for blind people, schools only
suggest a donation. 

I expect to pay for his physicals, food, and health.  Since we are not
experts on other types of service dogs, we will not speak for them. By the
same logic, we are the only ones that can speak for ourselves when it comes
to guide dogs.

In conclusion: Right now, guide dogs are funded through charitable
donations. No doctor is required to say I need one, and no unit of
government says where I must go to get a dog. Please do not let SB 35 change
that! Please vote against Senate Bill 35 until the language about guide dogs
has been removed! 

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Rival

2nd Vice President of National Federation of the Blind 

33 Parish Drive 

Kensington Ct. 860 828 8378 

erival at comcast.net <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','erival at comcast.net');> 

From: Heidel, Kenneth [mailto:KHeidel at courant.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 6:40 PM
To: erival at comcast.net
Cc: Pach, Peter
Subject: Letter to the Courant

Hello and thanks for writing. However, letters are ordinarily limited to
roughly 200 words. We don't mind if they run a little long, but yours is
more than twice that length. 

If you'd care to cut it down and resubmit it, please feel free to bounce it
back to me here. The suggested trims I've made below take your letter down
to a length we could accept.

Regards,

KH

Community Contributor kjurgens01

Feb. 19, 2016, 4:20 p.m.

February 18, 2016

Dear Editor, 

I write to ask the general public's help in defeating a new State Senate
Bill that would medicalize the way blind people currently acquire our guide
dogs. 

My name is Elizabeth Rival. I am Second Vice President of National
Federation of the Blind of Connecticut, a statewide organization of blind
consumers, and I have also served as president for 4 years. We have learned
about the detrimental effects that this bill could have on the guide dog
industry: 

As it is currently written, the bill in question, SB 35, will see medical
service providers making the decisions about what types of rehabilitation
services we need, something they are absolutely not trained to do. Health
insurance and medical personnel need to stay out of a process that is the
domain of experienced education and rehabilitation professionals.

SB 35 Requires would require guide dogs to come from an "accredited,
non-profit organization," even though common standards do not yet exist.
And, though ADI (Assistance Dogs International) has attempted to create
common standards, they fall short of what's needed, especially in the areas
of consumer participation and consumer advocacy and rights.

SB 35 Takes autonomy away from guide dog schools by telling them that they
must affiliate with other school. This robs schools of their independence
and the freedom to innovate as they serve their particular consumers.

SB 35 Will take us away from the philanthropic funding model, which is
already working quite well, and stack yet another cost onto health
insurance. The current guide dog system isn't broken and I don't want the
Connecticut General Assembly to try to "fix" it. 

The cost of obtaining a guide dog is not obstructive whatsoever for blind
people, especially as some guide dog schools only suggest a donation. 

On a personal note, I own my third guide dog from the Seeing Eye school. I
expect to pay for his physicals, food, and health care. I also take
responsibility for my two retired guide dogs at home. While the National
Federation of the Blind of Connecticut appreciates well-meaning people have
authored SB 35 to help us, it poses serious potential to do a lot more harm
than good. Since we are not experts on other types of assistance dogs, we
will not speak for the consumers of other types of assistance or service
dogs. By the same logic, we are the only ones that can speak for ourselves
when it comes to guide dogs.

In conclusion: Right now, guide dogs are funded through charitable
donations. No doctor is required to say I need one, and no unit of
government says where I must go to get a dog. Please do not let SB 35 change
that! Please vote against Senate Bill 35 until the language about guide dogs
has been removed! I am eager to be of any assistance you need.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Rival

2nd Vice President of National Federation of the Blind 

33 Parish Drive 

Kensington Ct. 860 828 8378 

erival at comcast.net

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