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

[lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com]

Hi Buddy,
Yes, I've heard aboout people wanting to hide their blindness and want a 
cane they can fold up and hide (grin!). I have a telescoping cane and one 
that was a telescoping one but wouldn't stay extended to use. So, I put hot 
glue in the joints with my glue gun and then used white plasic tape to cover 
the joints and have made myself a rigid cane!  That's the one I use when I 
leave Landon home.  When I was a full time cane user, I preferred the rigid 
cane - the NFB ones were my favorite because they were so light in weight.

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy at brannan.name>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind'sguidedog policy does 
notdiscriminate


> 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
> Create your own economic stimulus package:
> http://www.powermall.info
>
>
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