[nagdu] NFB's view on guide dogs

[Ed and Toni Eames]

Dear Dan,

You are a refreshing voice in NAGDU.  Ed and I were NFB members for 
almost 15 years.  We did our best to change attitudes about guide 
dogs, but when the resolution came up to defend the Iowa Department 
for the Blind, we had to leave, publicly decrying NFB's position.

Dan, we suggest you follow our lead and become active in GDUI.  At 
least we know it is an organization promoting the guide dog blind 
person bond.  Stefanie wanted Braille and computer lessons, not o&m 
instructions.  What a travesty that NAGDU defends NFB!!

Toni and Ed Eames

At 11:14 AM 2/20/2009, you wrote:
>The Iowa Center, I presume, is in the United States and there is an ADA and
>state laws here, it's not an island unto itself.
>
>If the Iowa Center were called the Iowa Cane Center, and only cane training
>and no other skill were offered, than maybe I could see it.  Still I would
>advocate for the dog being allowed to accompany the individual on the
>premises.
>
>Laws aren't just made for the rest of the world, blind training centers must
>abide by them, too.
>
>Referring to the dog as a visual aid  is misleading.  Obviously, the dog
>sees, if the dogs were b lined we probably wouldn't be using them--smile.
>Every guide dog program teaches us that we're supposed to give commands to
>our dogs, I assume.
>
>The guide dog issue, or rather what I perceive the NFB leadership's approach
>to the guide dog issue, is the one serious divergence I have with the
>Federation.  This is from someone who got involved when he was a teen-ager.
>
>Well, also I'm not favorably inclined to the NFB's position on audible
>pedestrian signals, also, but that's another subject.
>
>The obsession with white cane travel and the tacit implication that those
>who don't use a cane are somehow less capable, together with what I've seen
>as a tendency to discourage people from saying anything glowing about the
>dog while glorifying the cane doesn't sit well with me.
>
>The guide dog and the cane are different mobility aids.  I personally
>believe the dog to be superior for my situation and my type of travel,
>There are things I can do easily with a dog that I would be hard-pressed to
>do with a cane, such as cross streets in a straight  line.
>Anyway, I've gone a bit beyond the question you posed, Rebecca.  My short
>answer is that, as I said state rehab centers and even NFB centers should,
>and in my opinion, must accommodate access with a guide dog.  I view it as
>an access issue and access denial.  Could it be  that some people discourage
>the use of guide dogs because they, the dogs,  see and for no other reason?
>I'm not sure that's true, but I'm posing the question to stir up the pot a
>bit.
>My personal approach to life isn't to prove that I'm able to do things all
>the time independently, I mean without help.
>
>I would say that as an adult, I do have some idea of what my skills are and
>if I felt my cane skills are adequate, wanted to work my dog, and received a
>closed-minded  access denial, I would be loathe to patronize such a program.
>What would happen if I just wanted to attend such a program, for say, my
>computer skills?
>
>Now, for the record, nothing in this post is meant to cast aspersions on any
>of my list friends, these are just my opinions, strongly held ones, of
>course.
>
>Cordially,
>
>Dan W.
>
>
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