[nagdu] Blind Inc.

Sat Apr 3 12:11:45 UTC 2010

Well isn't it true that in the state of Michigan where we had our last 
convention, that an Blind counselor was fired and happened to be an NFB 
member and it was picked.

Not all state rehabilitation are like that.  But they do show up at our 
state conventions, but my counselor actually told David Stayer who is my 
legal advocate, because I had issues when I went to school for the Medical 
Billing and Coding we had many issues with the Commission here in NY and as 
well with other issues.  That she told David, that did I think I was special 
because I am an NFB member.  His response was that if she wasn't an NFB 
member with the NFB knowing what is supposed to be offered and paid for she 
would not be getting the proper services that every blind person should be 
getting.

So that statement alone says something.

I have a new counselor, but not a good one.

Cheryl Echevarria
Independent Travel Consultant
http://Echevarriatravel.com
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 10:58 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.

> Really? Is that a standard opinion held by other federal organizations?
> rehab centers? What gives?
>
> 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."
>
>
> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Buddy Brannan
> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 10:42 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.
>
> It's a strong statement that is true in many states; I don't know whether
> New York is one such or not. However, it is true in some and has
> historically been true for many.
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>
>
>
> On Apr 2, 2010, at 10:37 PM, Albert J Rizzi wrote:
>
> > that's a strong statement.
> >
> > 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."
> >
> >
> > Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> > Behalf
> > Of cheryl echevarria
> > Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 6:35 PM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.
> >
> > Albert the Commission knows all about all three schools they don't offer
> > them to us, we have to ask and know that they are out there.  The
> Commission
> >
> > here in NY does not like the NFB.
> >
> > Cheryl Echevarria
> > Independent Travel Consultant
> > http://Echevarriatravel.com
> > 1-866-580-5574
> >
> > http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
> > Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
> > Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel
> CST-1018299-10
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
> > To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> > <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 6:38 PM
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Inc.
> >
> >
> >> 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."
> >>
> >>
> >> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----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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> >>> mail.com
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
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> >>>>
> >>>>
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> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> -- 
> >> Follow me on Twitter at:
> >> www.twitter.com/wcmerritt
> >> My blog:
> >> http://wayneism.blogspot.com
> >> My websites:
> >> www.wayneism.com
> >> www.whitecaneday.org
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> org
> >>
> >>
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> > il.com
> >>
> >
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