[nagdu] Guide dog school that offers guide dogs to children between the ages of 11 & 17 years old.
Ashley Coleman
amc05111 at gmail.com
Sun Jun 2 21:17:44 UTC 2013
The organization that gave me this impression was the school from Canada
who serves teenagers.
AC
On 6/2/2013 4:57 PM, Janice Toothman wrote:
> Hi Ashley,
> Can you specify which organization you are referring to that gave you
> a negative impression?
> Janice
> On 6/2/2013 2:10 PM, Ashley Coleman wrote:
>> Hi there,
>> I received my first guide dog at the age of 20.
>>
>> In response to this topic I have to say that I have heard nothing but
>> negative from this organization. There was a student who attends the
>> same University as myself and people were telling me how the handeler
>> was treating the dog, and at one point I was told that that was the
>> way the dog was supposed to be treated, and I disagree.
>>
>> The handeler eventually had the dog taken from themself.
>>
>> Ashley
>>
>> On 6/2/2013 12:56 PM, Rebecca Sabo wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> I got my first guide dog when I was 18. I thought I was ready for a
>>> guide dog at that time. I retired the dog when I was at the
>>> Colorado center for the blind in Colorado. I waited a couple of
>>> years to get another dog. I am on my fourth dog. I do not no of
>>> anyone who got a dog at a young age. You have to be ready to take
>>> care of a guide dog . It is like having a child.
>>> BeckySabo
>>> On Jun 1, 2013, at 8:39 PM, rhonda cruz <rhondaprincess at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> hi i got my dog when i was 22. years old. and it worked out good.
>>>> i have never seen a younger person get a dog. from a program. i
>>>> only have older friends. that have them. but i think it is up to
>>>> the person.
>>>> it is like taking care of a kid.
>>>>
>>>> On May 31, 2013, at 8:28 PM, Nicole Torcolini wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> First, let me say that I know someone who received a dog at a
>>>>> young age (I
>>>>> cannot remember the exact age) from a Canadian organization,
>>>>> probably the
>>>>> one mentioned in this article. I cannot remember the whole story,
>>>>> but I
>>>>> think that, eventually, there was some sort of problem with the
>>>>> dog, but it
>>>>> was the dog, and not the person. So, although I agree that the
>>>>> cases where
>>>>> getting a guide dog at a young age may be few, they do exist.
>>>>>
>>>>> In general I think that it could probably be said that, as you
>>>>> lower the
>>>>> age, the number of cases were getting a guide dog works out well
>>>>> gets lower
>>>>> and lower. I agree that eleven is too low, but I also think that
>>>>> sixteen is
>>>>> also a little to high. I think that people should at least be able
>>>>> to be
>>>>> evaluated for a guide dog around thirteen or fourteen. Sometimes,
>>>>> there can
>>>>> be more things that need to be worked out before a person can get
>>>>> a dog than
>>>>> the person thought, and having a year or two to work those out
>>>>> would be
>>>>> nice.
>>>>>
>>>>> I agree that having a dog around other people, especially kids,
>>>>> might be
>>>>> hard for a child. Most children are still in elementary school at age
>>>>> eleven, and elementary schools usually have at least first graders
>>>>> if not
>>>>> kindergarteners.
>>>>>
>>>>> The whole thing about people talking about only the dog I think is
>>>>> not
>>>>> always a problem. JMHO, if someone wants to talk just about my dog
>>>>> and
>>>>> nothing else, then I don't want to talk to them. I have met very
>>>>> few people
>>>>> who insisted on talking about nothing but the dog, and, for most
>>>>> of those
>>>>> people, I have gotten it through to them that the dog is not the main
>>>>> concern at the moment and that there are other things that need to
>>>>> be done.
>>>>> Even for those people who start by talking about the dog, they do
>>>>> not seem
>>>>> to mind when I change the subject; they sometimes change it
>>>>> themselves.
>>>>> Would this be the same for a child? I really cannot say. I think that
>>>>> younger children may want to stick more to the topic of dogs, but
>>>>> I think
>>>>> that teenagers would not so much.
>>>>>
>>>>> I definitely agree that good O&M skills are a must before getting
>>>>> a guide
>>>>> dog. That does not just include knowing how to use a cane but also
>>>>> knowing
>>>>> where you are and which direction you are pointing relative to your
>>>>> surroundings. I do see how a child might try to avoid using a cane
>>>>> just
>>>>> because having a dog is cooler. No, I don't necessarily like my
>>>>> cane, but
>>>>> that has nothing to do with the fact that the cane means that I am
>>>>> blind.
>>>>>
>>>>> I don't really know what to say about things not working out with the
>>>>> family. I think that there would need to be some kind of
>>>>> information for the
>>>>> family, and some way for the representatives from the guide dog
>>>>> school to
>>>>> talk to the child about how things are going without parents
>>>>> skewing the
>>>>> information. Sometimes, when I have to keep reminding people about
>>>>> things
>>>>> about my guide dog, I joke about sending them to the guide dog
>>>>> training just
>>>>> so that they can learn the rules.
>>>>>
>>>>> I do agree that responsibility for the dog can be a problem, but I
>>>>> think
>>>>> that it should be considered on a case by case basis. Perhaps a
>>>>> strongly
>>>>> recommended prerequisite for a child getting a guide dog is that
>>>>> the child
>>>>> has to be able to take care of a family pet almost independently
>>>>> before
>>>>> getting a guide dog. When I was eleven, my family got a pet dog, and,
>>>>> although I did not do everything, I could do most of the tasks for
>>>>> taking
>>>>> care of her on my own. Had push come to shove, I would have found
>>>>> a way to
>>>>> do the other tasks. But my parents have always encouraged my
>>>>> independence,
>>>>> so I certainly see where it could be more of a problem of parents
>>>>> wanting to
>>>>> help too much. Perhaps there could be some sort of paperwork for
>>>>> the parents
>>>>> as well saying that the dog is the responsibility of the child and
>>>>> the
>>>>> parents are not supposed to help too much. I do definitely agree
>>>>> that this
>>>>> is important for a good working relation with the dog, especially
>>>>> in the
>>>>> first few months.
>>>>>
>>>>> I agree that it needs to be the choice of the child to get a guide
>>>>> dog. It
>>>>> most certainly was me, not my parents, who decided that I would
>>>>> get a guide
>>>>> dog. They most certainly were not against it, but it was my
>>>>> decision, and
>>>>> they have always been mostly supportive of letting make my own
>>>>> personal
>>>>> choices.
>>>>>
>>>>> I also agree that having a child get a guide dog because the child is
>>>>> supposedly safer is not a valid reason for a child to get a guide
>>>>> dog,
>>>>> especially if the parents expect the dog to protect the child.
>>>>>
>>>>> I do agree that some people are probably not mature enough at
>>>>> thirteen or
>>>>> fourteen to get a guide dog, but I am sure that some do exist.
>>>>> Again, it is
>>>>> something that needs to be considered differently for each situation.
>>>>>
>>>>> It is not *horrible* to wait till you are sixteen, but I certainly
>>>>> would
>>>>> have enjoyed a guide dog a little sooner than I got one. I find
>>>>> travel that
>>>>> much easier and more enjoyable with a dog rather than a cane.
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhaps one way of trying to make sure that the dog was actually
>>>>> used as a
>>>>> guide dog and did not just become a pet would be to have stricter
>>>>> vision
>>>>> requirements for younger children as I feel that younger children
>>>>> are more
>>>>> likely to use (or try to use) any remaining vision that they have.
>>>>> This gets
>>>>> back to that a person needs to have accepted his/her blindness before
>>>>> getting a guide dog.
>>>>>
>>>>> I also don't like that people think that children can be more
>>>>> independent
>>>>> just because they have a guide dog. There is nothing that keeps a
>>>>> parent
>>>>> from reaching over and holding on to his/her child if the child
>>>>> has a dog
>>>>> any more than if the child has a cane. I am an adult, and people
>>>>> still try
>>>>> to hold onto and direct me when I am using my dog.
>>>>>
>>>>> Returning to the point about children having to tell people,
>>>>> including
>>>>> people older than him/her, not to pet the dog, I can definitely
>>>>> tell where
>>>>> this would be a problem. However, if it is junior high and not
>>>>> elementary
>>>>> school, I would think that the school staff could come to
>>>>> understand the
>>>>> rules, even if it had to come from someone other than the child,
>>>>> such as a
>>>>> rep from the guide dog school.
>>>>>
>>>>> As a closing case, I will say that, although I reference my
>>>>> experiences in
>>>>> this email, my experiences certainly are not those of every blind
>>>>> child.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nicole
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Deanna
>>>>> Lewis
>>>>> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2013 5:05 AM
>>>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
>>>>> Users(nagdu at nfbnet.org)
>>>>> Subject: [nagdu] Guide dog school that offers guide dogs to
>>>>> children between
>>>>> the ages of 11 & 17 years old.
>>>>>
>>>>> What do you all think about this...
>>>>> Deanna and Pascal
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> MIRA - The only organization in the United States dedicated to
>>>>> providing
>>>>> guide dogs to blind children and youth between the ages of 11-17.
>>>>>
>>>>> MIRA: from the Spanish "look", "to have one's sights set on", was the
>>>>> nickname of a favorite guide dog trained by Eric St. Pierre,
>>>>> founder of MIRA
>>>>> Canada. MIRA Foundation USA takes its name from its collaboration
>>>>> with MIRA
>>>>> Canada, a nonprofit organization founded in 1981 upon the belief
>>>>> that all
>>>>> individuals, regardless of their physical challenges, should be
>>>>> able to set
>>>>> their sights on the same goals as those people born without
>>>>> handicaps.
>>>>>
>>>>> Today, MIRA Canada is recognized as a global leader in the breeding,
>>>>> selection, and training of guide and service dogs. MIRA USA was
>>>>> created in
>>>>>
>>>>> 2008 as a legally separate entity, but with close ties to MIRA
>>>>> Canada, where
>>>>> our dogs are currently trained.
>>>>>
>>>>> Our mission is to offer blind children in the United States
>>>>> between the ages
>>>>> of 11-17 the opportunity to receive guide dogs free of charge, to
>>>>> provide
>>>>> targeted educational outreach to promote public awareness, and, as we
>>>>> continue to grow, to offer support services to the adult
>>>>> population of blind
>>>>> and their families.
>>>>>
>>>>> It is our experience that blind children, for the most part, are
>>>>> highly
>>>>> adaptive, fiercely determined, and seek to have many of the same
>>>>> opportunities as their sighted peers. Although a cane provides an
>>>>> adequate
>>>>> degree of mobility for the blind and severely visually impaired,
>>>>> there
>>>>> remain some serious limitations. For example, it is impossible to
>>>>> navigate
>>>>> with a cane when there is no tactical information such as what is
>>>>> provided
>>>>> by sidewalks. A child living in a rural area is severely
>>>>> challenged by this
>>>>> restriction.
>>>>>
>>>>> Furthermore, a cane tends to be isolating, whereas a dog provides
>>>>> a social
>>>>> bridge to the sighted community. Not only are dogs social
>>>>> creatures, they
>>>>> also provide stability and a level of protection through their visual
>>>>> awareness training that a cane could never replicate.
>>>>>
>>>>> Finally, a guide dog provides a young blind person with a greater
>>>>> level of
>>>>> self-reliance at an early age. Although a very young student is
>>>>> not going to
>>>>> be out on the streets alone with their dog, having the ability to
>>>>> navigate
>>>>> without holding a parent's hand is crucial to developing maturity and
>>>>> confidence. The student's freedom and mobility are especially
>>>>> enhanced in
>>>>> the school environment with the assistance of a guide dog.
>>>>> Although there is
>>>>> no cure for blindness, there can be hope, and we at MIRA witness
>>>>> it every
>>>>> day through the service of a MIRA guide dog.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.mirausa.org/
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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