[NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

[Andy B.]

I do, but he insists that we go anyways. I explained everything to him and
it isn't good enough. Oh well, it probably is something he can put down on
paper.



-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
via NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 11:39 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

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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