[nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?

Mon Jan 2 14:04:37 UTC 2012

Marion,
I don't see "client" and "patient" as the same.  Lawyers, accountants,
professional trainers, and many others have clients.
But it's a quibble on my part.  I just don't like being called a
"consumer", and I never will. I was born a citizen; now I'm a consumer. 
Bah!
Tracy

> 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
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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