[DSM-Iowa] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] The Intersection of Guide Dog Use & Mental Health

Thu Jul 2 16:05:52 UTC 2020

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> From: "Marion Gwizdala, President via NFBNet-Members-List" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
> Date: July 1, 2020 at 7:23:06 PM CDT
> To: NFBNet-Members-List at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] The Intersection of Guide Dog Use & Mental Health
> Reply-To: "Marion Gwizdala, President" <president at nagdu.org>
> 
>   
> Please circulate the following message as widely as appropriate.
>  
>  
> July 1, 2020
>  
>                 The National Federation of the Blind is committed to securing the rights of all blind individuals, including those at the intersection of blindness and mental health. As a division of the National Federation of the Blind, the National Association of Guide Dog Users represents the interests of those who choose to use a guide dog as one of their tools of independent mobility. When a blind person is denied training by a guide dog program due to a previous diagnosis of a mental illness, we feel obligated to Act!
>  
>                 The National Association of Guide Dog Users has been contacted by two individuals screened out from training by Southeastern Guide Dogs due to their publicly published policy automatically disqualifying individuals from application due to a list of mental health conditions. One of these individuals is a licensed attorney who disclosed a previous diagnosis of bipolar disorder when applying to the state bar, was vetted by the bar, and deemed fit to practice law in the state. This person was preparing to retire a 12-year-old owner-trained guide dog and thought Southeastern Guide Dogs Would be a good fit because their parents live in Bradenton. The second is an office manager of a very busy three-office ophthalmology practice. After being denied training by Southeastern Guide Dogs due to a previous diagnosis of bipolar disorder, this person received a guide dog from Freedom Guide Dogs and has been working as a successful team for nearly three years.
>  
>                 Just as I believe a guide dog may not be the best choice for every blind person, I also believe that there are mental health conditions that might preclude someone from being a good guide dog user. However, there are many factors to be considered when making that decision, a process known as an individualized assessment. (Please see the excerpt from federal law concerning this cited below.) This is very different than what Southeastern Guide Dogs calls automatic disqualification. This will likely be a topic for a future Braille Monitor article. You can view the entire list of disqualifying conditions on Southeastern’s official page 
>  
> (http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/309633/Southeastern-Guide-Dogs-Guide-Dog-Application 
>  
>                 Southeastern Guide Dogs is fully aware of our objection to this policy and our belief that this policy violates Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On June 15, I sent an email message to Titus Herman, Southeastern Guide Dogs’  chief executive officer, citing specific sections of the Act. This message closed with the following statement:
>  
> “The National Association of Guide Dog Users strongly urges Southeastern Guide Dogs to modify their policies, practices, and procedures automatically disqualifying blind individuals with mental health disorders from applying for and receiving a guide dog from your organization. Within our membership, we have experts on mental illness and the law who can help Southeastern Guide Dogs craft sound, effective policies that respect the dignity of the individual while complying with state and federal law should you need such expertise. I am open to discussing this issue further with you or your representative(s). We would appreciate a response to our concerns by June 30, 2020.”
>  
>             As recently as June 22, we brought this up to Susan Wilburn, Southeastern Guide Dogs’ Director of Admissions and Graduate Services. Ms. Wilburn stated the disorders listed on their website had been reviewed by a psychiatrist. I mentioned our concern again and advised I had written to Mr. Herman and John Compton, Southeastern’s board secretary and an attorney. As of this writing, I have had no response.
>  
>             Guide dog training programs are places of public accommodation as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Mental illness can be considered a disability under the Act. Discrimination is defined, in part, as “the imposition or application of eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or any class of individuals with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying any goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, unless such criteria can be shown to be necessary for the provision of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations being offered”. 42 USC 12182(b)(1)(i). 
>  
>                 If you or someone you know has been denied training by Southeastern Guide Dogs or any other guide dog training program due to a previous diagnosis of a mental health condition, we would like to hear from you. The information we receive will be kept strictly confidential in compliance with state law and codes of ethics. , so you will remain anonymous. Please contact us in whatever format you feel most comfortable
>  
> Advocacy Help Line: (202) 573-8582
> Confidential Email: advocacy at nagdu.org
>  
> National Association of Guide Dog Users Inc. (NAGDU)
> National Federation of the Blind
> (202) 573-8582
> Advocacy at NAGDU.ORG
> Visit our website
> Follow us on Twitter
>  
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind  people and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds you back.
>  
> 
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