[nagdu] The Intersection of Blindness and Mental Health

[Jewel]

Dear all,
I belong to a group for blind people who also have mental illness and
I am starting a project to create a guidebook on how to work with
blind clients in the mental health profession. We are looking for
people interested in helping with this research-based guidebook. Some
of the topics we may include are:
*Offering assistance and sighted guide
*Behavior around a  service dog
*The use of canes and guide dogs in psychiatric hospitals
*The legal rights of blind clients in the psychiatric system
*The legal rights of professionals and hospitals
*Inclusion of blind people in activities (hospitals, PHPs, support
groups, individual therapy)
*Making accommodations for accessible technology in hospitals and
partial hospitalization programs
...and more

If you are reading this on the NAGDU list, I apologize that only part
of this message pertains to you. I included you on the message because
of the topics about behavior of professionals around guide dogs (they
never seem to know what to do) and the use of guide dogs in the
hospital (some hospitals will refuse to allow a service animal in
their facility).
So if you have any interest in this project, please write to me at
herekittykat2 at gmail.com. If we get enough people working on it
seriously, we could make this a staple guidebook in mental health
offices and hospitals. Until then, there's a long way to go and a  lot
of research to do!
Jewel