[nagdu] Fwd: 5 Reasons Why Guide Dogs Are a Terrible Idea!

[Marianne Denning]

Debby, I totally agree that we are eye doctors' failures and they
don't want to have us come through their doors.  I have an
ophthalmologist I see at times.  I want him to check the general
health of my eyes because I am at risk for other eye conditions.  I
told him up front that I am very comfortable with my blindness and
know he can't do anything but check the health of my eye.  We had a
very good conversation.  I don't think an eye doctor is equipped to
tell anyone they need to learn braille, get a dog...  They should make
referrals to people who have been trained to help someone make those
decisions or provide good information about options.

On 3/21/15, Debby Phillips via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> An interesting phenomena or actually the word is sad, is that eye
> doctors tend not to want to hear about how blind people cope,
> what we do, etc.  My husband and I have some friends, the husband
> is an optometrist.  I offered to go to his office and do some
> staff training.  He got really nervous and uncomfortable.  He
> said something like, "We have a hard time dealing with failure".
> For an eye doctor, whose goal it is to prevent blindness, they
> have a hard time when they can't prevent it.  And very few "get
> it" when it comes to offering good recommendations, for
> adjustment to blindness.  It's sad and frustrating, because they
> don't have to have all the answers, but it would be great if they
> would be willing to learn a few things so they wouldn't make
> statements like: "Well, I can't do any more for you, so you'd
> better go get a guide dog".  I'm working on our friend.  He's
> well thought of in the optometry community, so if ow can persuade
> him, maybe he can help to persuade others.     Debby
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053