[nagdu] cane skills as prerequisite for guide dog

Albert J Rizzi albert at myblindspot.org
Sun Apr 4 16:30:33 UTC 2010


I will certainly make it a point to read that.

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 Jewel S.
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 11:09 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] cane skills as prerequisite for guide dog

Check out the article "Why do You Want to Make That Child Blind?" from
the October 2009 edition of the Braille Monitor if you're interested
in why/how legally blind children don't get the training they realy
need.

~Jewel

On 4/4/10, Michael Hingson <mhingson at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Actually, for many years the belief was that good TRAVEL skills were
> necessary to get a guide dog as far as the schools were concerned.  This
is
> still the case for the most part.
>
> However, with an aging population guide dog schools have come to
understand
> that each person's use of a guide should be examined on its own merit.
Some
> people will not use a guide to go further than down the street to the
house
> of a friend or to the local store.  Some guide dog schools have realized
> that the needs of the elderly who may not travel as much are just as
> important as those of younger persons.
>
> For the most part schools still wish to see good travel and orientation
> skills.  This does usually go along with good cane skills since the hard
> part is not using the cane but rather having the confidence to use it to
go
> anywhere.
>
>
> Mike Hingson
>
>
> The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
>      “Speaking with Vision”
>                  Michael Hingson, President
>                          (415) 827-4084
>                    info at michaelhingson.com
>                    www.michaelhingson.com
>
>
> for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
> http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of David Andrews
> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 8:47 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] cane skills as prerequisite for guide dog
>
> Tracy:
>
> As I understand it -- most of the Dog Guide schools say that people
> need good cane skills in order to be accepted.  It sounds like this
> isn't necessarily true, which I have always suspected.
>
> Dave
>
> At 01:32 PM 4/2/2010, you wrote:
>>Marion, I don't necessarily agree that good cane skills should be a
>>prerequisite for getting a guide dog.  It's a nice theory.  It would
>>certainly be helpful.  But I know too many people who don't have
>>spectacular cane skills, but do great with a dog.  Some of them are older
>>people, who started getting dogs when cane training was not very
>>available.  Some of them are from places where services for blind people
>>are not very good.  Some of them went blind as senior citizens, and quite
>>a few agencies don't serve that population very well, since they won't be
>>employed.  Should we tell these people they have to wait until they can
>>somehow get cane training?  I don't think so. I've met enough people for
>>whom the dog was the thing that got them back out, living their lives, and
>>I think getting out and living one's life is a great thing. I'm not
>>willing to stand in someone's way over whether or not their cane skills
>>measure up to some philosophical mark.
>>
>>Should we take good orientation as good enough?  Or should the guide dog
>>schools offer cane training to prospective applicants who they feel should
>>have it? They seem like reasonable approaches to me, and I believe they
>>are
>>the ones being carried out. Encouraging good cane skills is fine, but I
>>wouldn't make it a prerequisite for a guide dog.
>>Tracy
>
>
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