[nfbmi-talk] State Mourns Death of Blind Vendor of Lansing

Christine Boone christineboone2 at gmail.com
Fri Mar 20 01:50:50 UTC 2015


The estate of Charles Glime may wish to file suit against the State of Michigan for Gross Negligence for its failure to provide Charles with appropriate instruction in cane travel, also known as "orientation & mobility", which could very likely have enabled him to avoid this tragic accident.  Training is available in other states both in the field and in long-term training facilities, that equips blind individuals with techniques that enable them to travel city streets as safely as do sighted persons.  Current cane travel training methods also equip blind persons to travel safely in rural settings, as well as nationally and internationally.  The Michigan Training Center for blind persons in Kalamazoo had begun to provide this kind of travel instruction to customers several years ago.  In order for this training to be effective, customers need to remain at the Training Center for a minimum of 4 months.  Sadly, under the administration of current BS for BP director Edward F. Rodgers and Training Center director Lisa Kissiel, most customers remain at the center for only 9 weeks, the length of each training session now offered at the facility. Those who sign up for a second training session must return to their homes for a 3-week time period during which the Center provides alternative no blindness skills training.  After just 9 weeks of training, a trainees momentum is at a critical point.  They begin the second 9-week course needing to re-learn a portion of the skills provided during the initial training session and are simply not able to gain the same level of skill as blind persons living in states where the most current training techniques are available.  Ed Rodgers forced the former Center director out by refusing to approve essential expenditures at the Center and subjecting her to disparate and harrassingtreatment.  Rodgers took this action, at least in part, because he wanted to institute the current staggered training system at the Center despite overwhelming evidence that it would dramatically and negatively impact the Center staff's ability to prepare most customers effectively for full participation in employment and community life.  

Those are my thoughts.  This is precisely the kind of tragedy that happens when an agency is entirely administered by unqualified personnel who are absolutely and completely ignorant of even the most basic operations of a legally compliant vocational rehabilitation agency.  
Christine

     .  Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 19, 2015, at 2:00 PM, Terry D. Eagle via nfbmi-talk <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Note: Charles Glime was struck and killed by a Jeep driven by a woman as he
walked to his apartment following attending a St. Patrick's Day party.  He
was struck near Walnut and Ionia streets.

State employees mourn blind Lansing man's death LANSING A 31-year-old blind
Lansing resident died Wednesday, but the impact he made at the State of
Michigan's Lewis Cass Building won't be forgotten. Charles Walter Glime
managed three employees at Cass' full-service cafeteria and was called
"Charles of the Cass" because of his drive to give patrons quality food and
service, said Sharon Ellis, the state's Americans with Disabilities Act
compliance director. "Everything he did was great; he was just exemplary,"
Ellis said. "Not just an outstanding example as an employee, but as a person
because he had the attitude 'So what I have a disability? I'm going to
accomplish my goals.' The Lansing Police Department wrote in a press release
Thursday that Glime died early Wednesday afternoon from injuries he suffered
when he was struck by a vehicle while walking in the area of Walnut and
Ionia streets on Tuesday night. Police said the incident took place at
approximately 8:30 p.m. and is under investigation. Ellis said Glime lived
in an apartment near where he was struck. She said he was a driven
entrepreneur who also took business and culinary classes at Lansing
Community College. "People are just devastated," said Ellis, who had known
Glime about four years. "Everybody in the building ate at the cafeteria all
the time because he was open all day and did all he could to make it better
and better. 


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