[nagdu] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind'sguidedog policy does notdiscriminate
lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com
lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com
Mon Feb 23 22:12:49 UTC 2009
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
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/lindagwizdak%40peoplepc.com
>
More information about the NAGDU
mailing list