[nagdu] Blind Inc.

Fri Apr 2 22:38:07 UTC 2010

Wow, I just looked at blind inc. 6 to 9 months? wow. That is an intensive
program. does the commission for the blind in nyc know about this program?
it was never offered to me as an option when I lost my eye sight 4 years
ago. Must be expensive.

Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
CEO/Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."

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-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Wayne Merritt
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 5:35 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.

This seems like an appropriate time to throw in my 2 cents worth.
Others have said what I would have said pretty well. I did attend the
Colorado Center too back in 1999 from January to August. I used my
guide dog at the time for about 5 months of that before I retired him
for personal reasons which had nothing to do with Center ttraining.
I've touched on this in other posts on this list, but the short
version was that I was getting too stressed about the daily
responsibilities of having a guide dog. Anyway, though the CCB policy
for guide dogs has changed since I attended, now they're more in line
wiht the other NFB centers, I didn't encounter any resistance
regarding my dog while in training, other than trying to take my dog
into a kitchen one day, but that makes sense.

I've said this next item a few times in the time that I've been on
this list and now seems like another appropriate time. I work at the
Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center in Austin, Texas, which though it's
the state adult training center for the blind, they do accept people
from other parts of the U.S. Our Center has probably the most
inclusive policy of all the centers I've heard of; basically, the
student can use their dog for 4 of the 8 hours of training, and then
the rest of the training day they have to leave their dogs in their
rooms or I suppose they could leave them in someone's office. People
with guides have come to the Center frequently over the time its been
operating. I'm okay if anyone wants to contact me off list and I can
pass your information along to our admissions person. We have had a
student from out of state, about 2 years ago a woman from Florida came
with her guide dog. Criss Cole offers many of the similar core
training areas as other centers, such as Braille, technology,
Industrial Arts, Career Guidance, Daily Living Skills (including
cooking, planning and organization skills), O&M, Home and Personal
Management, and others. We offer the traditional 6-9 month program,
though there has been talk of letting people come specifically for a
certain training area, such as career guidance. In fact, we do
currently have a gentleman that's just here for career guidance.
Anyway, if you're interested then contact me off list. I think that
during O&M, you have to use the cane at least in the beginning, in
order to build those ever crucial cane skills. Our center also has
people with partial vision or light perception wear the sleepshade or
blindfold during the training day, from 8-12 and 1-5, just like the
NFB centers.

Sincerely,
Wayne Merritt

On 4/2/10, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com> wrote:
> Exactly. NFB seems to have no idea that there are people with other
> disabilities that also happen to be blind.
> Also, NFB touts independence but only their flavor of independence.
> Kind of like a parent saying to a kid "You can be whatever you want when
> you grow up, and I'll even let you choose which type of doctor you want
> to be". Promoting independence also means allowing people to make
> choices that and individual may dislike.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 11:55 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.
>
> Marion, I think a person can live "fully and vibrantly" even if they
> don't
> have great cane skills.  I know a guy who often seems confused while
> traveling, but he gets where he wants to go.  More than that, he goes
> places I'll probably never go, like Iraq and Korea, as well as
> travelling
> all over the U.S.  Now he has retired his dog, and because of declining
> health has not gotten another, but he still gets where he wants to go.
> Isn't that what the oft-cited Nature of Independence speech was about?
> Basically, stop judging each other on how we get where we want to go, so
> long as we get there?
> Cane skills are very handy, but people who don't have them can still get
> where they want to go, and that's what counts.  I do get tired of this
> veneration of the sacred long white cane.  It's just a long stick.
> Using
> it is not rocket science.
>
> I found what Rox said about her travel very interesting.
> Tracy
>
>> Jewel,
>>     If you are going to attend a center, I think it would be best if
> you
>> did
>> so before getting your guide dog. Their very intensive O&M training
> will
>> make you a superior guide dog handler. If you choose to go after
> getting
>> your guide dog, I would suggest you do so well after you and your dog
> have
>> bonded. During the day, you will be using your white cane. You will be
>> able
>> to see your guide dog during breaks and for relief, as well as before
> and
>> after training.
>>     Just for the record, there are those who will try to spin this
> policy
>> to
>> be an "anti guide dog" policy; however, I am of the opinion, from
> talking
>> to
>> and listening to what they believe and how each of the centers
> approach
>> this
>> issue, that it is not anti guide dog, rather it is pro sound O&M
> training.
>> I
>> am of the opinion that, like the general public, many blind people see
> a
>> guide dog as the answer to their O&M problems, rather than as an
>> enhancement
>> to them. Both the white cane and guide dog have their advantages and
>> disadvantages. Without the flexibility to choose the one that works
> best
>> for
>> a particular application, a blind person limits their independence and
>> their
>> ability to participate in all aspects of society and life! A carpenter
>> learns how to use a hammer, but cannot build a house with just one
> tool!
>> In
>> order for us to live fully, we must have several blindness tools in
> our
>> tool
>> box. Of course, if one is comfortable with limiting their choices,
> that is
>> their prerogative. My choice is to live fully and vibrantly. Sometimes
> my
>> guide dog is not a part of this choice. JMHO!
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jewel S." <herekittykat2 at gmail.com>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 10:36 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.
>>
>>
>>> Hi, this makes me curious. I am considering going to Louisiana Center
>>> for the Blind. Should I go before I get a guide dog? What are the
>>> rules at LCB for guide dogs?
>>>
>>> ~Jewel
>>>
>>> On 3/31/10, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:
>>>> Hi Martha.
>>>> There are people on this list who have been through the Colorado
> Center
>>>> with their dogs, or there used to be.  Jen was one of them, I
> believe.
>>>> She
>>>>  said it was fine.  I don't know if the dog arrangements are
> different
>>>> at
>>>> Blind Inc.  They have always appeared to me to be the most anti-dog
> of
>>>> the
>>>> bunch, but that's my opinion.
>>>> I wouldn't do it myself, but others have and it's been OK for their
>>>> dogs.
>>>> Tracy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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