[nagdu] Signed up by family?

Fri Jun 19 19:12:45 UTC 2015

Wow what a nice feel-good story. How could someone sign someone else
up to get a guide dog? I don't understand.

On 6/19/15, Julie McGinnity via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Tracy and all,
>
> I have a lot of thoughts on this.  I think that PR like this does a
> lot more harm than good.  Here's why:
>
> 1. It promotes the idea that guide dogs are miracles or magical: I
> love the bond, the way I walk with a dog, but at the end of the day,
> he is a dog who loves to work, and we are a team.  We had to work hard
> to get where we are, and using a dog still isn't perfect.  Yes,
> getting a guide dog can change your life, but is it miraculous, the
> being that will solve all of your problems as a blind person?  No.  I
> don't think so.
>
> 2. The blind person is patronized: This should be obvious, but in
> order to make themselves look good, the schools make us seem helpless
> without their services.  In addition, in this case, the blind person
> is made to seem as though he didn't even make a decision on the
> matter.
>
> 3. Guides are portrayed as rights rather than privileges: Not every
> person should work a guide dog.  Not every person would benefit from
> one, and some people are denied dogs because of poor mobility skills
> or other reasons.  What happened to the blind person working hard on
> their cane skills to go to guide dog school?  For something that comes
> with so much responsibility, getting a dog surely seems like a simple
> process.
>
> 4. They support the myth that blind people must have guide dogs to
> travel: This is similar to number two, but now I direct your attention
> to the society at large.  Cane users are asked why they don't have
> dogs, treated differently, and there are blind people who resent guide
> dog users.  I believe that this kind of PR leads to this behavior.
> Blind people buy into the idea that they can't without their dog, and
> boom!  Resentment from other blind people who choose not to use a dog
> and a misinformed public.
>
> I should also add that there are other factors that influence these
> things, especially the notions of the public.  These are just some
> ideas I've had.
>
>
> On 6/19/15, Tracy Carcione via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi Minh.
>> I respectfully disagree, but perhaps the loved ones we each have in mind
>> are
>> different.  I think my husband would benefit from having a guide dog, and
>> I
>> think he'd do well with one, but he says he's not interested.  Trying to
>> nudge him along would just annoy him and make him dig in his heels.  The
>> most I can do is point out ways my dog helps me, or ways it would help in
>> some situation, and even that I'd better not keep harping on.  I strongly
>> believe it's a choice a person has to make himself.  Family and friends
>> can
>> advise and encourage, but that's it.
>>
>> The GDB newsletter is PR, and I'm sure it's not entirely accurate, but I
>> think we have every right to expect even PR to treat us as intelligent
>> adults who can and do make decisions for ourselves. I understand that a
>> school might feel some sloppiness is needed, but they can go too far, and
>> then we should speak up, or at least point it out.  JMO.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of minh ha via
>> nagdu
>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 12:06 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Cc: minh ha
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Signed up by family?
>>
>> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> 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
>>
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>
>
> --
> Julie McGinnity
> National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president,
> National Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
> Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President
> graduate, Guiding Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014
> "For we walk by faith, not by sight"
> 2 Cor. 7
>
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