[nagdu] Guides at NFB training centers

[Cindy Ray]

I love to preach, I really do. I am a frustrated candidate for the ministry
in the Presbyterian Church (USA.) So now I'm going to preach.

First of all, the NFB centers are centers that base their mobility on the
use of a cane. If you are to use your dog to complete this program, and you
say you are already very good at traveling about with that dog, then what
criteria do they use to determine if you have passed that part of their
curriculum.
If you go to a school, you are often required to take specific coursework to
fulfill their requirements. Sometimes you can pass out of some of the
coursework, but not always. I attended a United Methodist seminary. The
Presbyterian Church required me to take theology and worship at Dubuque, but
I was still required to fulfill the seminary's coursework in these courses
because they felt they needed the proof I met the same standards as their
other students. This kept me there an extra semester.
I was a student at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in the 60s. When I
decided to get a dog, I didn't go to The Seeing Eye and tell them that I
didn't need as much training because I had cane travel ability. I wouldn't
go to Pilot and argue that I didn't like how they did things because The
Seeing Eye did not do them the same way. I had considered at one point going
to the Colorado Center to see about their vending program until I decided
that this just wasn't what I wanted. I had a dog then, but dog or not, I
would have done whatever they required because it is their right as holder
of the curriculum to ask me to do it.  
I am not as secure with the cane as I used to be, but I once came to grips
with that fact between dogs and took a little trip to a bank to prove to me
that I could still do it. I think it is true that many people truly aren't
confident or competent wwith the cane, and we should all be. How does a
center know that you aren't actually couching your fears of using the cane
in objections to the cane curriculum There was someone using a dog once at a
hospital where I was, and when the dog wasn't well, she expected personnel
to lead her places she needed to go. If you do as the NFB curriculum asks
you to do, then all leave that center pretty close to the same page. If you
won't do that, then you have two choices, and all know what they are. If you
argue the point and win, no one can measure the training I think. 
I am not sure that anyone can say that his/her dog had to retire early
because of going to a center. I think if the dog is there with you and you
are giving it daily work, it will probably work out fine. So all the people
say "amen."
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com

From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Debby Phillips
via nagdu
Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2015 5:08 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>; nagdu at nfbnet.org
Cc: Debby Phillips <semisweetdebby at gmail.com>; dandrews at visi.com
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Guides at NFB training centers

Wow Dave, that sounds pretty arrogant to me.  Could it be that it's hard for
folks who have not used dogs to fathom that someone would learn to use a
cane and hate it? I hate banging into all the crap around me that my dog
leads me around.  Why is that such 
an odd concept for some people to accept?    Debby and Nova

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