[nagdu] NAGDU and NFB centers

[Margo and Elmo]

Marion, I will second that.  I have been pleasantly very pleased at the more 
open-minded attitude presented by this administration.  thanks.

margo and Elmo
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 8:23 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] NAGDU and NFB centers


> Tracy,
>    One of the hallmarks of this administration is that we reject the 
> "that's how it's always been done" argument. If it's been done that way 
> and it works, we might continue or we might fine tune it! If it's been 
> done that way and it doesn't work, well, it doesn't work and has a short 
> life expectancy!
>
> Fraternaly,
> Marion
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 3:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] NAGDU and NFB centers
>
>
>> Hi Angie.
>> Very well put. I've been to  center discussions before, and they never 
>> get
>> at the real questions.  They say their say; NAGDU says Sure OK, and 
>> that's
>> it. Everyone feels like they've done something, but really nothing's been
>> done at all.
>> A discussion like the one you suggest might get more to the nub of the
>> problem.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>> Hi Marion,
>>>
>>> Thanks for the information. I have a few questions about the cession.
>>>
>>> I firmly believe a panel discussion, including someone who advocates for
>>> more inclusion of guide dogs at NFB and similar centers, would be more
>>> productive than a presentation by Center staff. Is this a possibility? I
>>> believe that a debate would
>>> be more beneficial to everyone than a question-and-answer session that
>>> will necessarily be vary brief.
>>>
>>> Also, I hope the cession is honest and open enough that questions can be
>>> raised concerning center students' perceptions of guide-dog use. In
>>> particular, I'd like to know if anything was done in the wake of 
>>> Catherine
>>> Kudlick's article in the May, 2005, issue of the Monitor
>>> (http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm05/bm0505/bm050503.htm).
>>> In that article, Dr. Kudlick presents her interpretation of NFB
>>> "philosophy and policies" on guide-dog use,
>>> based on her time as a student at CCB:
>>>
>>> ***
>>>
>>> The NFB's sense of rugged independence also translated into its 
>>> philosophy
>>> and policies that discouraged using dog guides. Because numerous schools
>>> across
>>> the country specialize in working with dogs, a rehab center like the CCB
>>> could reasonably argue that it should specialize in teaching cane 
>>> travel.
>>> Besides,
>>> people should first have good cane mobility skills, lest they find
>>> themselves without their dog for some reason. But I think something else
>>> was also at
>>> work: the NFB seemed to be engaging with the sighted world's long-held
>>> belief that dogs served the more needy--and therefore less competent, 
>>> more
>>> feminized--blind,
>>> that the dog leads the person rather than the person controlling the dog
>>> like any other tool. Rightly or wrongly, we internalized the message 
>>> that
>>> using
>>> a dog was tantamount to copping out and creating unnecessary barriers 
>>> with
>>> the sighted world because animals are intrusive.
>>>
>>> Still the center didn't rule out dogs altogether. Among the students the
>>> ex-Hell's Angel Gavin had a dog, an unpleasant, high-strung German
>>> shepherd that
>>> wore a bandanna. Keyla had to spend most of her days curled up under one
>>> of the tables in the meeting room while her owner learned to travel with 
>>> a
>>> long,
>>> rigid cane outside. I never understood why Gavin had Keyla in the first
>>> place, especially since he was clearly such a talented cane traveler; I
>>> could only
>>> figure that her surly growls helped maintain his tough-guy biker persona
>>> in a way a white cane never could. More often our travel teachers gave
>>> certain
>>> students, including Harriet and Don, who had both experienced serious
>>> hearing loss, their blessing for getting dogs after they graduated. But
>>> the general
>>> message was clear: canes were about independence, confidence,
>>> assertiveness, and full social integration, while dogs were not.
>>>
>>> ***
>>>
>>> Of course, this is merely Dr. Cudlick's interpretation of NFB 
>>> philosophy.
>>> But if students other than Dr. Cudlick are leaving the centers with the
>>> impression that guide dogs serve the "less competent" blind, the centers
>>> should take affirmative steps
>>> to remedy the situation. I'm not implying that this information is
>>> deliberately conveyed by the staff--I believe there are guide-dog users 
>>> on
>>> staff at CCB, aren't there? But if this attitude is somehow being
>>> transmitted, it does no one any good to
>>> pretend that there is not a problem.
>>>
>>> I don't raise these points to re-ignite the old "NFB is anti-dog"
>>> controversy. I do believe these are important considerations, and I hope
>>> they can be discussed at the NAGDU meeting.
>>>
>>> Thanks to you and the board for your work in this area.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Angie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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