[nabs-l] fear of dogs withcanapohbiaof

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Mon Nov 28 00:24:20 UTC 2011


Hi Vejas,
As others have said, fear of dogs is a common issue especially among
people who have been attacked in the past, blind or sighted. There are
techniques for reducing your fear if it is disrupting your life, like
if you are afraid to walk outside or go over to a friend's house who
has a dog. For example, systematic desensitization is a process of
gradually exposing you to the scary object while you are relaxed so
that you can develop less of a fear response to it over time. A
professional psychologist or counselor may be able to help you
overcome your fear if it is causing you a lot of trouble. However, if
you are not often in situations with dogs, you might prefer to just
avoid them.
Best,
Arielle

On 11/26/11, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Vejas,
>
> Wow, this is a very interesting question! I don't have a lot of
> perspective on this, as I don't have such a fear, but here's one
> thought.  I don't think the fear of dogs isn't a blindness issue,
> because all blind people don't have this fear.  However, I
> understand what you're saying.  I've been outside plenty of times
> and have heard a pretty ferocious-sounding dog barking near me.
> But as long as I hear the dog running around in a certain little
> area and isn't running toward me and growling and barking at me,
> I know he's probably in a fence and can't jump it.  I'll tell you
> this: my family and I had a Rotweiller for a long time.  She was
> a big dog, and a lot of our friends and neighbors were afriad of
> her.  But she had a very sweet disposition, and was very nice to
> everyone.  But at the same time, we liked having her around
> because we knew that if anyone tried to break into our house or
> something, she would protect us.  But she had a very sweet
> temper, and so have all other Rotties I've met.  All that makes a
> lot of people afraid of rotties is their size and their bark, but
> once you get to know them, they're great! Just throwing out some
> thoughts.
>
> Chris
>
> "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The
> real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that
> exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and
> opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical
> nuisance."
> -- Kenneth Jernigan (President, National Federation of the Blind,
> 1968-1986
>
>  The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps blind and visually impaired youth
> in Maryland say "I can," by empowering them through providing
> assistive technology and scholarships to camps and conventions
> which help them be equal with their sighted peers.  For more
> information about the Foundation and to support our work, visit
> us online at www.icanfoundation.info!
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: vejas <brlsurfer at gmail.com
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:49:12 -0800
> Subject: [nabs-l] fear of dogs withcanapohbiaof
>
> Hi All,
> I don't know if any of you other blind people have this, but I
> have a considerable fear of dogs.  Someone suggested it was
> because we couldn't see them, so we don't know how aggressive
> they are.
> In first grade I got jumped by a dog, which scared me, but it's
> gotten worse because I have constantly had bad dreams where I am
> near a really aggressive dog such as a pit bull, and it's really
> scary.
> I'm sorry if I offend anyone by saying this, but if certain
> breeds didn't exist, such as Doberman, Pitbull, Rotweiller and
> Chao, blind people could walk more confidently down the streets
> without having to worry about an attack.
> What are your thoughts about this issue?
>
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