[nagdu] Signed up by family?

Shannon Dyer solsticesinger at gmail.com
Sat Jun 20 17:33:03 UTC 2015 

I really like this post, Julie. So much of the media’s portrayal of guide dog handlers is skewed, and, sadly, a lot of this comes from the guide dog schools themselves. Obviously, they need donations from the public. They need volunteers too. However, blind people should be portrayed as intelligent, competent adults who have chosen to work with a guide dog. There’s nothing wrong with showing how a dog has enhanced someone’s life, but I’ve always resented the point of view that says we are nothing without our dogs by our side.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts so eloquently.

Shannon and the Acelet
> On Jun 19, 2015, at 2:38 PM, 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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