[nagdu] Guides at NFB training centers

Sun Aug 30 18:57:12 UTC 2015

What I am talking about could be done within existing Centers.

Dave

At 08:26 AM 8/30/2015, you wrote:
>So we need to make completely new training centers because of the
>questionable policies towards service animals  by the NFB centers?
>
>If there wee an attitude like this about guide dogs anywhere else NAGDU
>would oppose it but because it's our NFB centers we are supposed to support
>it lock stock and barril, no thank you.
>Well I suppose it could be worse.
>When I looked in to the Louisiana Center in 1995 I was told bluntly that the
>dog wouldn't enter the premices that your dog would stay in your apartment.
>
>You would do better to tell guide dog users just not to come to your centers
>but   then the centers would be expposed to justifiable Ada complaints I
>imagine, , so you're not doing that any more I suppose.
>
>Cordially,
>Dan W.
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Andrews via
>nagdu
>Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2015 10:33 PM
>To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>Cc: David Andrews
>Subject: Re: [nagdu] Guides at NFB training centers
>
>Raymond:
>
>What I am about to say probably won't go over well here.  Nevertheless, I
>hope people will think about what I say.
>
>Our three training centers and some others, teach skills of blindness, like
>travel, Braille and Technology, but they also teach us how to accept our
>blindness, how to prosper in a sighted world and other attitude-related
>factors.  I think it was Jim Omvig who said they are "attitude factories."
> From my time at the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, and working near
>BLIND Inc., for over 20 years, I would say this is true.
>
>Part of how they do this is through travel with a cane.  People are moved to
>using a cane, having it at all times, accepting it, being proud of it etc.
>For most people this is where the rubber meets the road in terms of
>adjustment to blindness.
>
>Our Centers are simply not just teaching skills and the cane is an integral
>part of the process.
>
>Now, could it also be done with a dog guide.  I don't know -- I am not a dog
>user, so wouldn't presume to say. I would think it might be harder because
>you are using the dog to make some decisions that a cane user makes.  Also,
>the public has different attitudes about dogs and canes, so don't know what
>a difference this would make.
>
>Anyway, our current centers do what they do in part through the cane.  Let
>them do what they do well.
>
>It seems to me that the service animal crowd should come together and design
>a training center that does good things using a dog.
>People have complained about our Centers and dogs for as long as we have had
>centers, and these lists.  Do something about it!
>
>Dave
>
>
>At 07:40 PM 8/29/2015, you wrote:
> >This is ridiculous. Teaching me how to travel better encompasses
> >teaching me to use orientation skills in conjunction with a guide dog
> >since that is my mobility aid of choice. Better cane technique or cane
> >usage for mobility does not help me as a guide dog traveler. As guide
> >dog travelers, we are required to assess our environment through our
> >feet, hands, sound shadows, and cuing our dogs to locate certain
> >landmarks. I don't see how cane travel translates.
> >Cane travel and guide dog travel are diametrically different, as Julie
> >J described in a previous post relating to Tom trying for a guide dog.
> >If the training centers don't have these differences in mind and cannot
> >adapt lessons accordingly, I think this is incredibly devaluing and
> >inconsiderate of handlers relationships and use of their guide dogs.
> >
> >After I got a guide dog, I received mobility training from an O&M
> >instructor around the city that I lived in. How useful would that
> >training have been to me if she had said, "Even though you've got your
> >dog, I'm gonna show you how to navigate the city using your cane."
> >What kind of sense does that make? The cane does things the dog
> >doesn't, and vice versa. I have to use certain techniques with my dog
> >that I never had to with a cane, and vice versa.
> >I'm not saying the training you'll receive will be useless, but part of
> >it will be a waste, considering there are important aspects of guide
> >dog travel you could concentrate on instead.
> >I understand that training centers teach much more than O&M. But I've
> >stayed at the training center here in Michigan, and the O&M instructors
> >there are perfectly fine with clients using their guide dogs. In fact,
> >my instructor at the training center recommended that I apply to get a
> >guide dog, a long while before I even considered it as an option.
> >--
> >Raven
> >Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
> >www.1am-editing.com
> >
> >You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
> >have or what you do.
> >
> >Naturally-reared guide dogs
> >https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs
> >
> >On 8/29/15, Michael Hingson via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I have not been to a center as a student, but I serve on one of the
> > > center boards and have talked to many people who have participated
> > > in the programs.
> > > My understanding is that centers will assist by permitting you to
> > > leave your dog in an office, possibly with staff, so the dog will
> > > not be alone.
> > > Remember that the reason, in part, for going to the centers is to
> > > learn better travel techniques which means developing better cane
> > > skills as that is what the centers teach. You WILL find this
> > > invaluable after your time at the center.
> > >
> > >
> > > Best Regards,
> > >
> > >
> > > Michael Hingson
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley
> > > Coleman via nagdu
> > > Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2015 5:11 PM
> > > To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > > <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > > Cc: Ashley Coleman <amc05111 at gmail.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Guides at NFB training centers
> > >
> > > Hi, I know that these centers do a great job in regards to teaching.
> > > Please make sure that your dog get as much exercise as normal. Also,
> > > live a radio or TV on so that your dog has something calming to
> > > listen to. Check with your trainers to find out when they would like
> > > you to use a cane. Honestly, I would rather work with my dog than a
> > > cane. I would have a difficult time leaving Landon behind in my room all
>day. JMO.
> > >
> > > Ashley Coleman,
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >> On Aug 29, 2015, at 19:07, Aleeha Dudley via nagdu
> > >> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Hello all,
> > >> I will be attending the Louisiana center for the blind in
> > >> September. I
> > > know what their policy on dogs is, but I would like to hear from
> > > those who have attended centers with your dogs. How was it? What can
> > > I do to reduce the stress on my dog from being left all day?
> > >> Thanks.
> > >> Aleeha
> > >>
> > >> Sent from my iPhone
>
>          David Andrews and long white cane Harry.
>E-Mail:  dandrews at visi.com or david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>
>
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         David Andrews and long white cane Harry.
E-Mail:  dandrews at visi.com or david.andrews at nfbnet.org