[nagdu] rejected by teh lions club?

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Jessica,

Holey moley!  My first thoughts cannot be repeated.  My second thoughts...
Er...  Fill in the bleeps to your satisfaction.  Good grief.

Oh, I have heard the same thing when requesting assistance -- even when that
was the answer to a simple question -- of experts and others who are there
to help.  Complete with the God Bless type bit after the long-winded,
bizarre and factually untrue insults.

My conclusion based on my past 4 years dealing with people who are dedicated
to helping blind people live independent lives:  They are adamantly --
sometimes even violently -- opposed to signs of independence in blind
people!  Why this is, or what psychology is going on there to lead so many
of such people into the positions they're in, I have not begun to fathom.

Well, sorry you got such a brutal slapping around instead of information and
referral to possible resources even if the Lion's Club chose not to be
involved.

As far as possible resource assistance goes, my early investigations brought
pretty much the same result you just got.  Sorry I don't have better news.

How's your kiddo?  I thought of you this weekend, but was scrambling around
and didn't get a chance to e-mail you.  I bet you were doing a lot of
scrambling around with your pup.  /grin/

Hang in there!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jessica Pitzer
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 12:53 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] rejected by teh lions club?

Hi all,
following is an email I received in response to an email I sent to my
local lions club about asking for help with some of the costs of owner
training. I'm.. not quite sure how to feel right now except baffled as
we have some many owner trainers and I just embarked on this journey
myself.
Thoughts?
On 5/2/10, Rosemary Richert <rosemary at richertnet.com> wrote:
> Hi Bert,
>
> It is highly unusual, and questionably irresponsible, for someone to train
> their own guide dog.  The state only recognizes service animals which have
> been professionally trained.  Any other such dogs may be banned from
places
> which would otherwise allow access to service animals.  Necessary training
> of the dog is very comprehensive and time consuming.  And, subsequently,
> training of the blind person with the dog is, also, very comprehensive and
> time consuming.  For the person's training, alone, three weeks of on-site
> training with the animal determined best suited to their needs is
required.
> The blind person needs to prove their orientation and mobility skills
before
> even being accepted into a training program.  Without proof of the
adequacy
> of those skills, they will not be accepted.
>
> I served on the Board of Directors of Leader Dogs for the Blind for four
> years, and am the person who convinced the facility to become trainers for
> the blind/deaf community...to the best of my knowledge, it remains the
only
> facility with qualified instructors of deaf/blind individuals.  I tell you
> this, so that you may understand that I have a credible background in
these
> matters, and know whereof I speak.  I would strongly caution your Lions
> club, or any other Lions club, about considering involvement with a person
> who thinks they can train a guide dog for the blind on their own.
> Involvement under such circumstances could come back to haunt an otherwise
> well-meaning club.  It would make much more sense for this person to be
> screened as to qualifications; and, if qualified, be sponsored to a
> recognized service do training program.
>
> Thank you for your kind consideration.
>
>
>
> God bless.
>
>
>
> With Lionism at Heart, C
>
>
>
> PDG Rosemary

_______________________________________________
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/tamara.8024%40comcast
.net