[nagdu] Signed up by family?

minh ha minh.ha927 at gmail.com
Fri Jun 19 16:05:50 UTC 2015


The GDB newsletter is a promotional email that they send out to
everyone, so obviously some details are blurred a little bit. I don't
think I've ever seen marketing material from any guide dog school that
truly portrays the guide dog process accurately or adequately. What
probably happened was they discussed it, but he needed some extra
pushing from his wife. And personally, as someone who is in a long and
committed relationship, I would do the exact same thing if I whole
heartedly believe that the person that I love truly needed a guide
dog, but was too afraid to do so himself.

Maybe it's a different process for those who lose vision later on in
life. The adjustment period can last a really really long time and
some blind people just require that extra nudge to get them going
again.

Minh

On 6/19/15, Lisa via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Tracy,
>
> I completely agree with you. Of course it's great when others encourage a
> person to  consider getting a guide dog. But it's just the same as getting
> someone a puppy for Christmas, only even worse. It's meant as a nice gift or
>
> idea but it's not thoughtful.
>
> You have to be 100% sure that you would like to share your life with a guide
>
> dog. There's so much you have to learn and plan. In the beginning, there are
>
> so many things that can be challenging and exhausting while becoming a team.
>
> As everyone on here knows, it's not like getting somebody a cane. You have
> to be willing to get up in the middle of the night when doggy has got
> diarrhea because he's eaten something wrong. That's just one single example,
>
> I could probably think of 100 others.
> The decision to apply for a guide dog has to come from yourself because you
>
> will be the one responsible for your guide.
>
> Well, of course we don't know whether the wife and husband had been talking
>
> about the possibility of getting a guide dog before. Maybe the husband knew
>
> about his wife signing him up and it's just a nice story for the public. But
>
> if not,I think it's irresponsible and I don't see why a guide dog program
> would want other people to sign their relatives and friends up because it's
>
> likely they're facing a lot of difficulties then.
>
> Just my humble and spontaneous opinion :-)
>
> Lisa
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tracy Carcione via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 5:25 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Signed up by family?
>
>
>>I just got the GDB newsletter for the general public, and there's a bit I
>> think is odd or over-the-top or patronizing, really.
>>
>> So-and-so suddenly lost his sight, and found ways to go on for years, but
>> felt something was missing.  Then "his wife stepped in and signed him up
>> for
>> a guide dog, and, before he knew it, he was at GDB, being matched with
>> his
>> new partner."
>>
>> Really?  I've sometimes wished I could "sign someone up" for a guide dog,
>> but it takes a real commitment from the person to get through the
>> training
>> and the first few months of adjustment, at least.  It's not a decision
>> someone else could take for me, or me for someone else.
>>
>> When my brother fell down a manhole using his cane, my mother did sit him
>> down and tell him he should get a guide dog, like his sister.  He decided
>>
>> it
>> was good advice, and has been happy with the decision, but, if he'd
>> decided
>> otherwise, there wouldn't be a darn thing anyone could have done about
>> it,
>> even if they'd wanted to try.
>>
>>
>>
>> The GDB piece just seemed weird to me.  Why would they even want to
>> encourage someone to sign up someone else?  What makes them think I have
>> a
>> keeper, who can make life-changing decisions for me?
>>
>> Has anyone actually heard of such a thing happening?
>>
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nagdu:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/dreamymarmot93%40yahoo.de
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/minh.ha927%40gmail.com
>


-- 
Minh Ha
Boston College | Lynch School of Education '16
minh.ha927 at gmail.com

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence




More information about the NAGDU mailing list