[nagdu] Jury finds IA Dept. forBlind'sguidedog policy does notdiscriminate

[Hope Paulos]

Hi Alysha.  That's exactly what I'd like to see.  I also agree 
that cane skills are important, but I mainly want to attend the 
NFB center to improve cooking, home management, and perhaps some 
specific computer programs like xl or power point.  I can't seem 
to find a program either, and I think there should be one.  It 
would teach  Nfb philosophy, but be more individualized to the 
student.  Not every student learns the same.

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Alysha" <anjeans at att.net
>To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:07:44 -0600
>Subject: Re: [nagdu] Jury finds IA Dept.  forBlind'sguidedog	
policy	does	notdiscriminate

>As others have mentioned in their posts, I think we need to 
consider that
>much more than just cane travel is offered at training centers.  
So say
>there's a guide dog user who is comfortable with mobility but who 
needs some
>work on cooking or technology or braille.  Then, there doesn't 
seem to be a
>program out there this person could attend to learn the necessary 
skills
>without risking damage to their relationship with their dog.  I 
do think that
>cane travel is quite important and that all guide dog users 
should be
>comfortable with it, but it seems like all the training centers 
I've heard
>about mandate it as the only means of mobility to be used during 
the time
>one is there.  So I suppose I'm wondering why there are no 
programs (that I
>know of) that accommodate the potential needs of guide dog users 
instead of
>expecting them to essentially temporarily give up their chosen 
mobility aid.
>The important thing is that we can get around independently, not 
whether we
>do so with a dog or a cane.  Why is it that people seem to link 
mobility
>classes only with cane travel? I think a guide dog user could 
still benefit
>from mobility lessons that aren't focused on the training of the 
dog.  The
>problem solving and orientation skills taught in good mobility 
programs are
>useful to you no matter what mobility aid you use.  So I think it 
is fair for
>a program to demand competency with a cane, but I do not think 
that it is
>right to restrict the choices of guide dog users to either doing 
without
>training in the myriad of skills taught at centers or giving up 
the use of
>their dogs for a significant fraction of the day.

>Alysha


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