[nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?

Mon Jan 2 00:13:50 UTC 2012

Tracy,
    I can kind of see your point if you view consumption only in the context 
of eating; however, as it pertains to economics,consumers are protected by 
specific laws that protect and empower us. The fields of counseling, social 
services, and rehabilitation have begun to use the term "consumer" in an 
attempt to shift the paradign away from viewing those with whom they work as 
clients or patients, as such language implies an imbalance in the 
relationship between those who provide the services and those who are 
served. Consumers have an inherent power through their ability to make 
choices about the services rendered, rather than being directed to which 
choices should be made.
    Economic consumption is founded on the principle of supply and demand. 
As consumers make their choices of which goods and services they will 
choose, those who provide the goods and services must either adjust to the 
demands of the consumers or face the consequences. As long as the blind view 
themselves as subjects, rather than consumers, guide dog training programs 
will treat us as beneficiaries who should be grateful for what we get with 
no say in how the services are delivered. Of course, this tactic plays very 
well with donors who want to help the poor blind person live a fuller - 
though not equal - life with those who have the benefit of sight. many guide 
dog training programs play to this sentiment, undermining the work of the 
National Federation of the Blind to communicate our message of empowerment 
and self-determination.

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2012 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?


>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
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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