[nagdu] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind'sguidedog policy does not discriminate

[Buddy Brannan]

HI MARSHA,

On Feb 21, 2009, at 5:06 PM, Marsha wrote:

> I think your mixing up the difference between a persons self image  
> about
> them selves being blind, and there choice to use a folding cane or a
> straight cane. Perhaps a person who is completely okay with there  
> blindness
> uses a folding cane, does that mean they are not what they think as  
> okay
> with there blindness?

No, but the inverse can be and often is true: someone who does not  
have a positive attitude toward his blindness may well be more  
inclined to use a cane that is more easily hidden from public view.  
The cane is a very visible reminder of blindness, one that is  
impossible to ignore, and one that tells the general public that yes,  
here is a blind person. Someone who is uncomfortable with his  
blindness may well be very uncomfortable with advertising what is  
perceived to be a deficiency to the rest of the world, since he hasn't  
come to grips with it himself and doesn't find it a respectable thing.  
The insistence in our training center on using a rigid cane rather  
than a telescoping one, at least during training, is one more way that  
center students are made to daily confront their blindness and over  
time, to realize that blindness is not shameful. It's part of what our  
centers do that goes beyond mere skills training. Some might call this  
"indoctrination", I suppose, but there's no arguing with success.

As effective a mobility aid as a guide dog is, it isn't quite the loud  
symbol of blindness that a cane is. Guide dog users know all too well  
the sort of superhuman traits attributed to our dogs. Just last night,  
I was taking Chet out to park here at the hospital, and this woman was  
starting to make a bunch of racket about how I was going to step off  
the edge of the sidewalk! Then, when I took the harness off Chet so he  
could park (after she got through telling me I could move a couple  
feet to the right to find the sidewalk), started marveling about how  
those dogs are so amazing, how they knew where to go and all. Sure,  
I'm just the dumbass along for he ride, right? Like it or not, that's  
the perception. And also, like it or not, some of our number hide  
behind their dogs and avoid confronting their blindness and simply  
aren't comfortable with it. Not all, perhaps not even most, but  
certainly some.

This is a complex issue with no easy answers. Do the center policies  
need examination and modifying? Certainly. Is there room for  
compromise and middle ground here? Absolutely. But at the same time,  
the immersion model does work. Part of the reason it works, I believe,  
is that it gives all students a common starting point, a point where  
each student must confront his blindness, raw, naked, and with nowhere  
to hide from it. (The blindness is raw and naked, not the student.) I  
think any modification which would allow for guide dog use in some  
capacity must preserve this aspect; very simply, the student must be   
in a position throughout the school day where his blindness cannot be  
hidden--or, more importantly, hidden from. I'm afraid I don't have the  
answers for how this could be accomplished, but I firmly believe that  
it must be in any case.

BTW, I am a Louisiana Center graduate, 1993, before I got my guide  
dog. I know that the methods we employ work. I also believe there's  
room for change. What I don't know is what form that change should  
take. Because, just as the cane is more than just a mobility aid, so  
too is a guide dog.

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 746-4127 or 888-75-BUDDY
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