[Flagdu] A Response to Matilda Ziegler magazine

Sun May 8 14:44:43 UTC 2011

Marion, that is awesome!!!! Thanks for posting this Pat.
Have you visited my personal page at
http://www.raceforindependence.org/goto/Sherri.Brun
If so, Thank you for changing what it means to be blind.
If not, please go there now!
Thank you.
flmom2006 at gmail.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patricia A. Lipovsky" <plipovsky at cfl.rr.com>
To: "Florida Association of Guide Dog Users" <flagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 8:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Flagdu] A Response to Matilda Ziegler magazine


> Way to go Marian!!
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
> To: "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>; "FLAGDU List" <FLAGDU at NFBNET.ORG>; 
> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 4:18 PM
> Subject: [Flagdu] A Response to Matlida Ziegler magazine
>
>
>> Dear All,
>>    Below are comments that appeared in the May 2 issue of the Matilda 
>> Ziegler Magazine and my response.
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala
>>
>>
>> In response to Feature Writer Alena Roberts - Deciding When to Take Your 
>> Guide Dog With You
>>
>> I would like to express my opinion on the question posed by Alena 
>> Roberts; namely, when to take and when not to take your guide dog. I come 
>> at this from a point of view which Alena may not have expected--I am a 
>> blind person who has always used a cane and does not want a guide dog. I 
>> have sometimes not understood why my dog using friends drag their dog 
>> along. Here is a scenario which is difficult for me to understand.
>>
>> You are taking a cab to a restaurant, maybe by yourself, maybe to meet a 
>> friend. You will then take a cab home.
>>
>> 1. You go from the door of your house to the cab.
>>
>> 2. You go from the cab to the door of the restaurant, where the host or a 
>> waiter/waitress helps you find a table.
>>
>> 3. You repeat the process in reverse, restaurant to cab, cab to home.
>>
>> You are not really doing any independent travel. Why, then, do you need 
>> your dog? It seems to me that it's a lot of trouble and hassle to take a 
>> dog on such an occasion, not to mention that the dog may be in the way at 
>> the table, or in the cab. Why not use your cane?
>>
>> I don't even understand why Ms. Roberts says she "dislikes using a cane. 
>> A cane is merely a tool, like a hammer or screw driver. I use it when I 
>> need it, and I'm glad to have it. I can't even imagine wanting a dog.
>>
>> Tim Hendel
>>
>> Huntsville, Alabama
>>
>> Dear Editor,
>>
>>
>>
>>            I am writing in response to the comments made by Tim Hendel in 
>> your Readers' Forum of May 2. Mr. Hendel seems to contradict himself 
>> several times, leading me to believe he has not critically examined his 
>> own position. On the one hand, he asserts that blind people, when 
>> traveling to a restaurant by cab, are not doing any independent 
>> traveling. He supports this position by stating that, once a blind person 
>> gets inside the restaurant, the host or waiter helps them find a table. 
>> And how does the person get inside the restaurant, if not independently? 
>> Though Mr. Hendel does not specifically state so, am I to assume that the 
>> "help" to which he refers might be a sighted guide? Are we to also assume 
>> that, should the blind person wish to use the bathroom while at the 
>> restaurant, this should also be accomplished using sighted guide? 
>> Furthermore, when Mr. Hendel takes a cab to the restaurant, does he leave 
>> his cane behind like he contends guide dog users should their dogs? After 
>> all, what need has he of a cane, since he is not doing any independent 
>> traveling?
>>
>> Mr. Hendel engages in sanctimonious rhetoric when asserting that the cane 
>> is a tool, "like a hammer or a screwdriver. He fails to recognize that 
>> the same is true of a guide dog. I wonder if Mr. Hendel drives screws 
>> with a hammer and pounds nails with a screwdriver!
>>
>> If Mr. Hendel uses his cane when traveling by cab to a restaurant, his 
>> assertion that a guide dog user has no need for a guide dog is 
>> fallacious! I appreciate his statement that he cannot imagine wanting a 
>> dog. Likewise, I cannot imagine not wanting a dog. I have had a dog in my 
>> life since I was four years old. When I lost my sight, a guide dog made 
>> perfect sense to me! I also use a white cane and travel just as 
>> independently as with my dog. It's all a matter of choice which tool I 
>> use. Should I use a claw hammer or a rubber mallet? The choice is based 
>> upon which is most effective for the job to be done. I also have a sledge 
>> hammer but I only use it when beating others over their heads with 
>> self-righteous indignation!
>>
>>
>>
>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>>
>> National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind
>>
>> President at NAGDU.ORG
>>
>> Tampa, Florida
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>
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