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

Fri May 14 16:29:11 UTC 2010

Well said.

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 Linda Gwizdak
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 12:11 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Man's dogs will set blind kids free

Hey guys,
The important thing is that people get themselves around. NFB former 
president Ken Jernigan put it real clear in an article I think he wrote 
sometime in the 1980s - I saw it in the mid 1990s.  He said that there are 
many ways a person can be independent no matter what method they use. 
Sighted guide, dog, white cane. He said that independence is determined by a

person's ability to use whatever resource at whatever appropriate time the 
person chooses.  The article was written when someone criticized Jernigan 
for using a sighted guide while walking to a meeting during a convention. 
He knew how to use a white cane but he also needed to converse with the 
person while enroute to a meeting so he went sighted guide with the person 
so they could converse.

I think too many people, myself included, tend to judge people when they use

another form of mobility than what we prefer for ourselves. The important 
thing is that people use what is at their disposal to accomplish a task.

I have also seen and heard critisism of the members of NFB for some members'

intolerance of those whose skills are less than stellar.  People are 
individuals and have varied skill levels for whatever reason. Whether you 
get yourself around by sighted guide, paratransit, cane,or dog - the 
important thing is that the person is getting himself around, period.

So, please, let's quit giving people a hard time about their skill levels or

mobility methods.  We all have bigger and better things to work on and we 
need to embrace all blind people as we all endure the same discrimination. 
BTW, I am not afraid to use my cane and leave my dog at home at times. 
(grin!)  I also go sighted guide at times as well when I deem it 
appropriate.

Thanks,

Lyn and Landon
----- 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 7:06 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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