[nagdu] Guide Dogs and childcare centers

Raven Tolliver ravend729 at gmail.com
Tue Sep 2 01:24:34 UTC 2014


I think it's weird that you just start at this place without some sort
of orientation. Before I worked at the animal shelter, I had to
volunteer there. I went through an orientation on how to work with the
dogs. During the orientation, my supervisor saw that I had a dog, and
afterward, we discussed what would be best for him. In this situation,
it was best to keep him in an office while I worked.
With kids, you might be able to keep her with you, but it's just an
idea about what to do if people are uptight about a dog of any kind
around their kids.
I would not volunteer anywhere that was uncomfortable with me being
blind or having a dog. I tried to volunteer at the Humane Society, and
they turned me down because they viewed me as a liability rather than
an asset. The volunteer coordinator feared I would trip or fall, or be
dragged down while working with a dog. Their loss.
Whether or not I disclose my disability before I make an appearance
just depends on where I'm going and what I plan to do there. If I need
accommodations on a computer that is beyond what I can do
independently, I definitely speak to someone before showing up or at
least before starting my volunteer or paid position there. If not,
then I just walk in the door and expect to be treated like anyone
else. If a concern comes up, then it is addressed then and there.
Really, I would just take my dog. If there's a problem, put her in a
room somewhere, provided she's not anxious about you leaving her sight
in strange places.
Also, you can educate people all you want about appropriate behavior
around a dog, but you cannot control them. I'm sure we've all had
people pet our dogs without our permission. I snapped at people in the
beginning, but my O&M specialist told me that I can't control people,
I can only direct my dog and ensure he stays focused. This will have
to work, especially if you are working around toddlers who are just
learning their manners and how to control their impulses.

On 9/1/14, Nicole Torcolini via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Different people have different opinions  on both disclosing your
> disability
> and disclosing that you have a service dog. For me, I had to disclose that
> I
> was blind before a job interview because the job interview involved using a
> computer, so not disclosing my blindness meant that there would not be a
> screen reader on the computer. Also, the potential employer already knew
> through other sources that I was blind, and they were not the type of
> company that would discriminate based on blindness. For a situation like
> this, it depends. There are pros and cons to both. Frankly, if it was me, I
> would disclose my blindness ahead of time. I highly doubt that they would
> have any type of policy that prohibits people who are blind from
> volunteering there, and, even if they do, it probably is not legal.
> Usually,
> you can tell when something is an actual policy and when it is just a bunch
> of crap that they have made up. Sometimes, you can get people to back down
> when they try to pull that kind of stuff on you and sometimes you cannot.
> If
> it was me, I would rather know ahead of time what kind of people with whom
> I
> would be working, and, if it turned out that they were going to give you a
> hard time about everything, then I would probably not volunteer there. I do
> think that you should tell them that you are bringing your guide dog. That
> way, you can work out any potential problems with allergies and/or fear of
> dogs. As has already been mentioned, depending on the age of the kids, it
> might be a great opportunity to educate the kids. You could even turn it
> into some kind of a game for them where sometimes your dog is in harness
> and
> sometimes she is not, and the kids are or are not allowed to pet your dog.
> And one final note about your dog. I know that all dogs are different, but,
> for my female black lab, I found that she found it very hard to resist
> giving the little kids doggy kisses one time that I was around little kids.
>
> Nicole and Lexia
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Joanne Michelle
> Stark via nagdu
> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2014 1:29 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] Guide Dogs and childcare centers
>
> Okay, this is going to be a rather lengthy message, so hang onto your hats
> ...
> Next week, I am starting a volunteer position with a local childcare
> center.
> This was probably a bad move on my part, but I let my fear of rejection
> solely based on disability dictate whether or not I should disclose my
> disability, and ultimately, I went against it. they do not know I have a
> service dog, and I have never visited this place before, so I don't know
> what it's like. I am not going to bring my black labrador retriever for the
> first day, at least until I've checked with staff to make sure none of the
> kids have allergies or a fear of dogs, just to be safe. Was this a good
> idea, or should I call before going in and let them know I'm blind? Maybe
> I'm just paranoid, but I don't know how they're going to react to me, let
> alone a dog in harness. I was told Ditra is good around children, and have
> seen for myself that she does well, but how do I go about explaining to
> little ones that she's a Guide Dog? I've heard some parents say, "That's a
> working dog," and the kids get it, but sometimes parents don't always know
> how to explain her job well to the children. the kids only know, "Don't
> touch that dog, it's working," but I can tell somehow that they don't quite
> understand exactly how she helps me. Suggestions for both of these issues
> are welcome either on here or privately. thank you.
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-- 
Raven
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it." - John B. Symes, D.V.M.
http://dogtorj.com




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