[NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

[Tracy Carcione]

Call me cynical, but I suspect your specialist wants you to attend the
class so he can mark on his paperwork that he did something for you, so
he's thinking up reasons why you should do it.  I've been out of rehab for
a long time, but can't you just say no?  It's your life and your time, and
you don't need to be wasting it on his whim.  If you want, explain how you
will be spending those 3 weeks in some more productive way, and the things
you are doing to expose Alec to work situations.

There are plenty of non-dog users who know all about how it should be
done.  I just blow them off.
Tracy

> Hi,
>
>
>
> I came across an interesting predicament. At this time, I am working with
> an
> employment specialist that works for my state blind rehab agency. During
> our
> normal mettings, he advised we attend an employment class taught by
> another
> state agency. We agreed to attend a session or two for the general
> experience. During the first session, which lasted about 1.5 hours, Alec
> tended to be somewhat annoyed that people were required to get up and move
> about to interact with each other during an ice breaker activity. The
> conference room is small and contained about 20 people.
>
> While everyone was sitting down during lectures, Alec whimpered every so
> often. He also wanted his space and moved his back end out away from my
> left
> side. I only assume he wanted to face the direction of the speaker. I
> attempted to get him back to my left side. In most cases, it worked.
> However, a few times it didn't work very well. After a point, I let him
> lay
> where he was at the time. Besides, he wasn't bothering anyone or getting
> into trouble. When the session finished, I informed the specialist that
> the
> class probably wouldn't meet my needs, and we most likely shouldn't
> continue. The employment specialist disagreed and started telling me that
> I
> should attend the remaining 3 weeks because it is good practice for Alec
> to
> be involved in social events such as employment class, staff meetings, job
> interviews, and the like. Naturally, I agreed that Alec needed to be
> involved in social events. On the other hand, seeking them out just to get
> practice is not what we need right now. Alec gets enough practice in
> interviews, staff meetings, and committee meetings to understand what I
> expect. I attempted to explain that dogs will do what dogs do the best.
> The
> main concern is keeping them under control at all times, not expecting
> them
> to act like robots. He will never stay perfectly quiet during a meeting,
> he
> will never lay down and be perfectly still like an inanimate object, and
> he
> will most likely want to visit other people for some time. Unfortunately,
> the specialist insists on the practice and doesn't understand how dog
> guide/handler relationships work. What do I do to put out the burning
> flame
> of this problem?
>
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