[nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?

Sun Jan 1 16:28:25 UTC 2012

I kind of have a problem with being called a guide dog consumer.  Doesn't
that sound disgusting?  It's not the ideas expressed that bug me; it's the
language.  But then, I have a problem with being considered a consumer
rather than a citizen, in a broader social context.
I'd say I'm a guide dog client, customer, or handler.  I'd never call
myself a guide dog consumer. I love my dogs; I would never consume them.
Tracy

>     I agree that most training programs have very paternalistic approaches
> and policies as it pertains to their relationships with consumers. Many
> programs view the blind people with whom they work as beneficiaries and
> seem
> to tell them they should be grateful for what they get from them. This
> sometimes not too subtle message is accepted by the blind person who feels
> indebted to what has been given them. Adding to this attitude is the fact
> that most programs do not charge a fee for their services.
>     The reality, however, is that we are consumers. Guide dog training
> programs solicit funding from the public and from private foundations with
> the expressed purpose of providing these services to the blind. These
> donors
> support the work of the training program and those who work for the
> training
> programs are paid to provide these services. The Chief Executive Officers
> of
> guide dog training programs are paid 6-figure salaries to run these
> nonprofit organizations whose sole purpose is to provide guide dogs to
> blind
> people. As the recipient of these guide dogs, we are the consumers of
> these
> services, no less powerful than the consumers of the goods and services of
> any other for-profit corporation. Just as is true with any other company,
> blind consumers can shape the way a guide dog training program does
> business
> through our voices.
>     A few training programs transfer ownership to the consumer upon
> completion of training; most do not. Some of those who do not condition
> their custody of the dog upon specific requirements, such as providing
> annual vetrinarian reports, and reserve the right to repossess the dog. To
> the best of my knowledge, none of those programs that retain ownership
> and/or the right to repossess the dog have any policies concerning due
> process. The failure to adopt due process policies can result in
> repossession without cause.
>     Lest anyone believe a program would not do such a thing, please read
> the
> article in the April Braille Monitor about a Fidelco consumer who had this
> very thing happen. This story is only one of many about Fidelco consumers
> who have been treated this way and Fidelco is not the only program that
> engages in this sort of behavior. I know of consumers who have been
> threatened with and actually had their dogs repossessed because of
> anonymous
> complaints of abuse, neglect, or out of control dogs with absolutely no
> objective evidence of such issues. One program that has changed their
> policy
> from ownership to custody once repossessed the harnesses of a couple in
> Florida who obtained their dogs prior to the change in policy based upon
> the
> allegations of an administrator with the Division of Blind Services who
> asserted that the couple had been banned from the Orientation & Adjustment
> Center because of their dogs' behavior. In a conversation with the
> program's
> Director of training, I was told that, if they did not have ownership, the
> dogs would have been repossessed. When I contacted the Director of the O&A
> center to inquire why the couple was barred, the Director didn't have a
> clue
> what I was talking about. He told me the couple had not been barred and
> they
> had no issues with the couple's dogs. The administrator who filed the
> complaint was demoted. Due process policies would have prevented this
> unjust
> action.
>     I am currently working on another such issue with a consumer from the
> same program. Anonymous complaints have been filed that the consumer is
> neglecting his dog. The vetrinarian has asserted the dog is healthy and
> there is no evidence of abuse or neglect. In spite of this, the program is
> attempting to remove the dog and has no due process for the consumer.
>     The membership of NAGDU has endorsed a guide Dog Consumers' Bill of
> Rights to protect us from those who would attempt to deny us our basic
> rights without due process. I encourage each of you to read the Bill of
> Rights and ask the training program from which you received your dog to
> abide by it. You can read this Bill of Rights by going to
>
> http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm11/bm1106/bm110609.htm
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at shaw.ca>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 11:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>
>
>> Lyn, I used to allow my dog the run of the place when I ran a business
>> for
>> 13 years.  All my dogs new to either return to my office, or go to the
>> receptionist's station when folks came in.  There were only two of us in
>> the office and all my dogs knew the chain of command--the pecking order,
>> me, receptionist, and dog though the latter were reversible.  Most
>> customers, if they learned I had a dog guide, would ask to see him/her
>> and
>> as long as all behaviours were unobtrusive, I would allow it.
>>
>> Doug: Just another happy tail!
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 7:35 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>>
>>
>>> The Executive Director of our blind center lets her dog wander around
>>> and
>>> it even almost went outside alone!  I was tempted to take the dog and
>>> put
>>> him in a room downstairs and wait for the ED to go nuts looking for her
>>> dog! Hahaha!  Meanie me!
>>>
>>> I keep Landon in harness and with me or tied to the table if I'm
>>> wandering around doing stuff.
>>>
>>> Lyn and landon
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Sheila Leigland" <sleigland at bresnan.net>
>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 11:30 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>>>
>>>
>>>> Doug actually i think you are right on this one. I know of someone
>>>> that
>>>> would take a guide dog and let it walk around because oh It likes to
>>>> see
>>>> everyone but I was told by an employee of a buisness that the dog took
>>>> off out of the door and she had to go catch the dog. They wondered why
>>>> I
>>>> didn't let my dog wander and I told them it was improper behavior and
>>>> not to accept improper behavior like that.
>>>>
>>>> Sheila Leiglan d
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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