[nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free

Fri May 14 14:16:44 UTC 2010

yes it is everybody's choice of cane or dog or sighted guide.

never said they were helpless, nothing of the sort came out of my mouth.  I 
just said that if someone soley relies on one option then the person is less 
independent because they relied on a dog, instead of using all options 
available to them.

Cheryl Echevarria
Independent Travel Consultant
C10-10646

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, May 14, 2010 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free

> Here here
>
> 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 Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 10:04 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free
>
> Isn't it each individual's choice though? Why do you get to tell someone
> he/she is less independent if they use assistance when you may not?
> Assumming that they have actively chosen this method or that they do it
> based on other circumstances, why is it your or anybody else's job to
> tell them they are doing something wrong?
> Aren't you doing the same thing as the reporter by saying that people
> who choose to use other assistance when their dog is sick or retired are
> helpless? They aren't helpless, they have used resources and decision
> making processes to solve a problem differently then you would.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of cheryl echevarria
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 8:26 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free
>
> Michelle:  Totally understand, some of us walk faster with a dog and
> feel
> more independent, but at the same time, what happens with those people
> that
> when there dog retires or gets sick, they can't leave the house or have
> to
> wait for someone.  I use my cane and always keep up my skills, I don't
> always take the dog so that I can keep up my skills.
>
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
> Independent Travel Consultant
> C10-10646
>
> 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: "Michelle" <m-johnson at bigpond.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 7:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free
>
>
> > Sorry, but although I agree with some of the stuff you said, there are
>
> > other
> > bits I disagree with. Without trying to be rude of offensive, sure
> most
> > blind people aren't pitiful, but some are. And excuse me, but I'm one
> of
> > the
> > blind people, the few I might add, that despite being instructed by a
> > professional instructor, getting around wasn't as good a deal as when
> I
> > got
> > my guide dog. I had trouble with my white cane, it didn't stop me from
> > bumping me into stuff most of the time, because as a total, how can I
> know
> > when to suddenly put my hands up to protect myself all of a sudden? My
> dog
> > prevents that and rarely lets me bump into things. Being blind isn't
> so
> > easy
> > for some, and I don't like how some people on here have decided that
> just
> > because they get angry with the stuff in the article and the like,
> they
> > can
> > say that blind people aren't so pitiful. As a whole they're probably
> not,
> > but please don't forget the ones who are having trouble, despite all
> the
> > help! (Stern but not intentionally rude and judgmental).
> >
> > Michelle
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
> > To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> > <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 1:44 AM
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free
> >
> >
> > >    I'm sorry, but this whole perception of the pitiful blind person
> > > whose
> > > life would be depressing and worthless without a guide dog only
> serves
> > > to
> > > reinforce the assertion that such organizations as Mira Foundation
> are
> > > less
> > > interested in disseminating accurate information about blindness and
>
> > > more
> > > concerned with saying whatever they need to say in order to gain
> support
> > > for
> > > their cause! I have never counted steps in my 30 years as a blind
> person
> > > and
> > > can't even tell you if I know a blind person who does! And why did
> this
> > > guy
> > > run into light poles? Perhaps because he had absolutely no O&M
> > > instruction
> > > before getting a guide dog!
> > >    Such drivvle only serves to marginalize those blind people who do
> not
> > > use a guide dog, which happens to be the vast majority of the blind!
> > > Furthermore, the schools that do not give guide dogs to young people
> do
> > > so
> > > with very sound reasoning. However, one thing better than a poor
> pitiful
> > > blind man is a "poor pitiful blind child" to get donors to dig
> deeply
> > > into
> > > their pockets! Ugh! JMHO!
> > >
> > > Fraternally yours,
> > > Marion Gwizdala
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > From: "Ginger Kutsch" <gingerKutsch at yahoo.com>
> > > To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users'"
> > > <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > > Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 8:22 AM
> > > Subject: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free
> > >
> > >
> > >> Man's dogs will set blind kids free
> > >> Published Thu, May 13, 2010 05:02 AM
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> SOUTHERN PINES -- As a blind man, Bob Baillie walks down busy
> > >> Broad Street often enough to know it is 75 steps from the corner
> > >> of Pennsylvania Avenue to the first dip in the sidewalk. When he
> > >> hits the first crack, it's 60 steps to the corner.
> > >>
> > >> This intimacy with the concrete would be impossible without
> > >> Devon, a 110-pound Bernese mountain dog who works for cookies and
> > >> ear scratches. Before Devon, Baillie would knock into light
> > >> poles, wander into traffic and curse the surgical accident that
> > >> left him in the dark three years ago.
> > >>
> > >> Freed and inspired by his wet-nosed companion, Baillie, a
> > >> Southern Pines businessman, decided to connect blind people
> > >> nationwide with their own guide dogs, focusing on children as
> > >> young as 11. In a little more than a year, his Aberdeen-based
> > >> Mira Foundation USA has arranged trained animals for an
> > >> 11-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, and five North Carolina
> > >> teenagers wait in the pipeline.
> > >>
> > >> "I thought it was a wonderful idea," said Cricket Bidleman, the
> > >> 11-year old, in San Diego. "I'll be a lot safer at school, and
> > >> I'll have a friend to talk to at home."
> > >>
> > >> Baillie's work is expensive and uncommon. Guide dogs cost roughly
> > >> $60,000 once training is complete, putting their help beyond the
> > >> reach of many families. Also, guide dog groups often require that
> > >> blind children be 16 or at least in high school before getting
> > >> dogs, making rare exceptions.
> > >>
> > >> For Baillie, it's a chance to lift depression out of his own life
> > >> and fill a gap for potentially hundreds more. He hopes his
> > >> foundation will grow into a charity that places 30 dogs a year,
> > >> one wagging tail at a time.
> > >>
> > >> "Very few of us get the opportunity to really do something for
> > >> human beings," said Baillie, 66. "Just the fact that you can get
> > >> up in the morning, grab your dog and go for a walk by yourself."
> > >>
> > >> In North Carolina, more than 200,000 people report visual loss, a
> > >> definition that runs from total blindness to serious difficulty
> > >> seeing even while wearing glasses, according to a 2008 report
> > >> from the American Foundation for the Blind.
> > >>
> > >> Of that group, more than 11,000 are ages 5 to 17.
> > >>
> > >> Blind children aren't typically thought to be mature enough to
> > >> handle a guide dog before they're 16, though exceptions have been
> > >> made for 14-year-olds, said William Krol, spokesman for the New
> > >> York-based Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind.
> > >>
> > >> "When you're a guide dog handler, you have a commitment not only
> > >> to yourself, but also to your dog," he said.
> > >>
> > >> Sally Bidleman, Cricket's mom, argued that guide dogs should be
> > >> provided according to need and ability rather than age. She tried
> > >> every agency in the country, she said, before finding Mira.
> > >> Cricket navigates the halls of her school, including the stairs,
> > >> on her own each day. When her dog arrives this summer, the school
> > >> will hold an assembly to orient Cricket's classmates on how to
> > >> approach her companion.
> > >>
> > >> "It's like somebody getting eyes, almost," she said. "It's like
> > >> getting another sense."
> > >>
> > >> 'You'd rather be dead'
> > >>
> > >> Baillie's blindness struck three years ago during what was
> > >> supposed to be a simple bypass surgery. The incision cut an
> > >> artery, he said, and he lost blood to his eyes while he bled. He
> > >> knew the surgery might be fatal but never received any warning
> > >> about blindness. To date, Baillie has received no compensation
> > >> and believes he will have to fight to get any.
> > >>
> > >> "Taking a choice between croaking and being blind," Baillie said,
> > >> "for the first couple of days, you'd rather be dead. Try crossing
> > >> the street with your eyes closed."
> > >>
> > >> Before the surgery, Baillie worked in both dentistry and real
> > >> estate. For the first year, he struggled with a cane, forcing
> > >> himself to listen to traffic - a requirement, he said, for
> > >> getting a dog.
> > >>
> > >> "He would just plow into things and he never slowed down," said
> > >> Kathy Szyja, his director of operations at Mira. "He needed this
> > >> dog to keep him safe."
> > >>
> > >> Devon came from the Mira Foundation in Quebec, and while Baillie
> > >> was there, learning to walk with him, he learned that children in
> > >> America rarely get dogs. When he asked about it, he said, he
> > >> heard an it's-always-been-that-way explanation. So borrowing the
> > >> Canadian name for his own group, he started Mira USA.
> > >>
> > >> 'Dinner in the Dark'
> > >>
> > >> It operates as a nonprofit out of an office in Aberdeen with
> > >> minimal staff. Fundraiser meals and runs boosted its treasury.
> > >> Now, to raise money, Mira hosts dinners (there's one on Friday)
> > >> where the guests eat blindfolded. The dogs all come from Mira in
> > >> Canada and a lot of the expense comes from flying eligible
> > >> children to Canada, and the trainers to their homes. As Mira
> > >> grows in Moore County, Baillie hopes to train dogs there.
> > >>
> > >> For now, he and Devon rise each morning and make the three-mile
> > >> trek from his horse-country house to downtown Southern Pines. For
> > >> the first mile, there are no sidewalks. Before they reach a
> > >> sidewalk, Baillie and Devon cross four streets.
> > >>
> > >> But on Broad Street, everyone knows them.
> > >>
> > >> "When you see a person walking up and down the street with a
> > >> cane," Baillie said, "you're not likely to say hello. But when
> > >> you walk up and down the street with a dog, let me tell you, it
> > >> makes a huge difference. People driving by will roll down their
> > >> window and yell, 'Hey, Devon!' Never mind Bob."
> > >>
> > >> Staff researcher David Raynor contributed to this report.
> > >>
> > >> josh.shaffer at newsobserver.com or 919-829-4818
> > >> Source:
> > >> http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/13/v-print/479987/mans-dogs-s
> > >> et-blind-kids-free.html
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
> > >> Morristown, NJ
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
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