[nagdu] Consumers
Cindy Ray
cindyray at gmail.com
Mon Jan 2 00:37:21 UTC 2012
Well, actually consumer is pretty generic and used in most cases. Still, if I am in the library, for instance, I would rather be called a borrower than a consumer.
Cindy
On Jan 1, 2012, at 6:31 PM, t21114 at optonline.net wrote:
> Hi Marion,
> Well said. My co workers and I call the people we help consumers.
> Marilyn and Anna
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marion Gwizdala
> Date: Sunday, January 1, 2012 7:14 pm
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>
>> 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"
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
>> Users"
>>
>> 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"
>>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide
>> Dog Users"
>>>>
>>>> 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"
>>>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide
>> Dog Users"
>>>>>
>>>>> 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"
>>>>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide
>> Dog Users"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 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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