[nagdu] Stephen Kuusisto

Sherry Gomes sherriola at gmail.com
Wed Nov 12 09:47:53 UTC 2014


As someone who was and still am vocal about my unhappiness over what GDB
did, actually still grieve over the loss of some staff and nearly went to
another school over it, I liked reading this and seeing that others are
still protesting. The only thing wrong I saw was that GDB only rehired one
person of all the ones they tossed out like old trash. Unless in the past
couple months they've rehired the lot. 


Sherry


Sherry

"The day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends
and break all bonds of fellowship, when the age of men comes crashing down. 
But it is not this day! This day, we fight!
By all that you hold dear, by this good earth, 
I bid you, STAND! Men, of the West!"
Aragorn, Lord of the Rings, Return of the King

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Criminal Justice
Major Extraordinaire via nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 10:22 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Stephen Kuusisto

Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 10:19 PM
Subject: Stephen Kuusisto
Hi, all,
I know some will agree as much as disagree with this one, but there's a good
point in Stephen Kuusisto's writing on guide dog schools, the direction they
are going.
Bibi and MAR son Odie
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-kuusisto/whats-wrong-with-the-guid_b_6
135686.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green
November 11, 2014
Huffpost Green
Edition: U.S.  
The Blog
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature
lineup of contributors 
Stephen Kuusisto 
Poet, essayist and memoirist; Professor of Disability Studies, Center on
Human Policy, Law and Disability Studies, Syracuse University
What's Wrong With the Guide Dog Schools?
Posted: 11/11/2014 11:34 am EST Updated: 11/11/2014 11:59 am EST 
YELLOW LAB 
Its not easy to be an advocate for human rights because the engines of
neo-liberalism smog the village square. I think history will show this is an
age of ruinous acquiescence, a time when its easier to prefer convenience
over complexity -- a hint of Al Gore here -- truth is always inconvenient. 
Recently some of the schools that train guide dogs for the blind, non-profit
agencies all, have adopted the Bain Capital model of employee management,
laying off vital staff (translate "older" and "experienced" if you like) and
several have chosen to reduce staff retirement benefits by shelving long
standing retirement plans for 403B packages -- plans designed for churches
and non-profits. Almost no one can actually retire on a 403B plan -- they're
essentially "cafeteria" plans that allow employees to put aside money from
their pay checks in a temporarily non taxable and limited investment fund. 
There are roughly 12 guide dog schools in the United States and all are
charities. Each breeds and trains dogs for the blind. Because 80 percent of
the blind are unemployed (even 25 years after the adoption of the Americans
with Disabilities Act) the guide dog schools provide dogs to blind clients
free of charge. The cost of a guide dog is guess-estimated to be around
$40,000 per unit--that is, per finished product -- a successful dog and
person team. It's expensive work. Puppies must be bred, then raised until
they're old enough for training at about a year and a half. Training
requires 6-8 months of consistent, daily work by professional guide dog
trainers who teach dogs how to navigate country roads and inner city
traffic, all the while encouraging each and every dog to trust its instincts
and recognize it must often think for itself and countermand its human
partner's orders. 
Guide dog trainers have demanding jobs: they work in rain and snow. They
walk thousands of miles a year. Moreover they undergo a long and poorly paid
apprenticeship with a senior trainer to master the rare skills necessary
both to train exceptional dogs and work with blind people. When they finally
become guide dog trainers after years of brutally hard work they're still
paid rather poorly. The average guide dog trainer makes a salary roughly
equivalent to the earnings of a high school teacher. But the rewards of
guide dog training are great. You work with dogs, help people, and change
lives for the better. 
In former times a guide dog trainer could imagine having a career. Although
they were poorly paid, they could count on a solid retirement plan. In
general guide dog schools valued veteran employees who possessed long
experience working with the blind and their dogs. 
Enter neo-liberalism: "capitalism with the gloves off" as Robert W.
McChesney calls it. 
Two years ago "The Seeing Eye" (the oldest guide dog school in America)
suddenly fired over twenty long time employees -- trainers, field
representatives, even a veterinarian. The fired staff didn't even have time
to clean out their desks. They were simply told not to come back. 
Following suit, "Guide Dogs for the Blind" a famous school in California
eliminated staff. Later, after protests, employees there were reinstated. 
If you're blind and travel with a guide dog you count on veteran staff:
folks who know the complex and challenging circumstances of vision loss and
safe mobility. Moreover you want to be assured those who work with you --
support you -- are being taken care of. 
Now "Guiding Eyes for the Blind" -- the guide dog school from which I've
received three guide dogs, and where I once worked, where in fact I played a
role in hiring some extraordinary people, has announced summarily, without
warning, they're eliminating their retirement benefits plan in favor of a
second rate 403B. 
In this digital age with its "Instant Karma" public relations administrators
can say almost anything. When I posted my dismay about Guiding Eyes
treatment of its employees, one PR person wrote on Facebook that the new
retirement plan was long studied and it was necessary to ensure that guide
dogs can be provided free of charge to blind people. 
The guide dog schools I've mentioned have combined endowments in the
neighborhood of 700 million dollars. I'm not convinced cutting veteran staff
and making it harder for people to achieve a career is necessary at all.
What I am convinced of is that the justifications of neo-liberalism have
become the narrative template of management in our time. Everything should
be lean and mean. 
The alumni of the guide dog schools can't really protest. They're not cash
paying customers like college alums. Additionally many guide dog users fear
criticizing the schools will hurt them--they'll be branded as "difficult" or
"disloyal" or "uppity". 
Right now I'm finishing a book about guide dog life for Simon and Schuster.
I've been a loyal and upbeat spokesman for the guide dog movement for years,
appearing on national TV and writing widely on the advantages of traveling
with a professionally trained dog. 
I fear for my friends who train the dogs. I dare to say so.
MORE:
Guide Dogs, Blindness, Nonprofits, Workers Rights, Neoliberalism 
This Blogger's Books and Other Items from... 
Amazon
indiebound 
Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening
Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening
by Stephen Kuusisto 
Planet of the Blind
Planet of the Blind
by Stephen Kuusisto 
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