[nfbwatlk] OTC Closure

Tue Mar 3 18:22:41 UTC 2009

Thank You, Dan. If I had read this post before, I would not have
bothered. You stated everything clearly and concisely. We miss you
here in Washington.

Kris

On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Frye, Dan <DFrye at nfb.org> wrote:
> Dear Friends and Colleagues:
>
> As a longtime former resident of Washington State who played an active
> role in policy development with the OTC as a member of a taskforce that
> worked to improve the center's programs and who served on the
> department's statewide Rehabilitation Advisory Council, I write to join
> the growing chorus of those among our organization supportive of
> maintaining a residential component at the training center. I note that
> our affiliate president has made it clear on this list that this is our
> state affiliate's position. I am confident of President Freeman's
> interest in and willingness to lead on this matter.
>
> The reasons for supporting a residential component at the OTC are clear.
> A residential training environment enables students to put into practice
> the skills that they acquire in class in a living situation that will
> compel their independent exercise of responsibility. Putting learned
> skills to work at home is usually not successful because the relaxed
> atmosphere and family living arrangements don't generally lend
> themselves  to learning in an effective way. In a properly run
> residential program, more learning can occur in the informal environment
> of living with other blind people than can sometimes occur in class. I
> would venture to say that a training program without a residential
> component--if it is to be a comprehensive one--need not exist at all. (I
> am aware that many OTC students are day-only students even now, and I
> think they are probably poorly served for this policy.) Additionally,
> the absence of a residential component practically deprives access to
> such a comprehensive course to blind consumers across the state.
> Further, the absence of a residential program--and consequently a
> comprehensive adjustment-to-blindness course--diminishes one of the
> principal distinctions and justifications for blindness-specific
> rehabilitation provided by the Washington Department of Services for the
> Blind.
>
> It is needlessly cynical to suggest that the Federation, one of the
> strongest advocates for proper adjustment-to-blindness training, would
> relish the gutting of a statewide training program as a means of
> promoting our three privately administered NFB centers. Our centers are
> currently operating at capacity, and waiting lists exist for at least
> two of these centers for admission. Since we could not hope to serve
> fully the demand for services that exists in Washington State, and since
> as has been stated by others, many--for a variety of reasons--will not
> choose or be permitted by the state to seek training elsewhere--it is in
> our best interest to preserve an in-state quality training program. It
> would be disingenuous, however, to suggest that greater efforts will not
> be made to help those who want training at an NFB center to get it if a
> residential option is eliminated, and that is exactly as it should be.
> But I don't expect that our advocacy efforts in this regard will be much
> easier in the absence of a residential program. The economic times are
> tough, and the choice provisions in the law are vague and subject to
> considerable legal debate if an agency wants to challenge the matter.
>
> What am I saying, then, that's new. I try not to post if I am just
> echoing other sentiments already expressed. Here is what I think. If we
> are going to exert the collective effort to maintain a comprehensive
> residential training program for blind people, we are also obligated to
> exert the collective effort to see that this program is as good as it
> can be. If any lack of enthusiasm has been perceived on this list for
> maintaining a residential program, it can probably be attributed to
> thoughtful deliberations about how to help make the existing program
> better and understandable pessimism about previous efforts to achieve
> this goal that have been abandoned or ignored in practice. Without a
> residential program to work on, we cannot hope to help improve it, but
> improve it we must. Many of the hard recommendations made by the joint
> taskforce of several years ago--which had representation from both the
> Council and Federation--have been abandoned. These ideas, at a minimum,
> need to be revisited and implemented. If the hard resolve to create a
> quality center does not exist among the current agency administration
> then the blind of Washington State need to find a way to gain control of
> the agency and help the Governor find new leadership for the Department
> of Services for the Blind. It's as simple--and difficult--as that. But
> the effort--no doubt long in coming--will ultimately be worth the
> investment of time and energy. Those who receive quality
> adjustment-to-blindness training in the future will benefit from our
> efforts today and over the months and years to come. Let's first
> preserve the residential component of this critical program and then
> work to make it the best it can be.
>
> While I appreciate that hard priority decisions must be made during
> difficult fiscal times, I earnestly believe that a high-quality
> adjustment-to-blindness training program is and should be the
> centerpiece and top priority of any blindness-specific rehabilitation
> agency. I do not propose, without further access to information, other
> ideas for slashing services, but cutting out what ought to be the heart
> of an agency created to serve blind people is definitely not the place
> to start.
>
> With Kind Regards,
>
> ***********************
> Daniel B. Frye, J.D.
> Associate Editor
> The Braille Monitor
> National Federation of the Blind
> Office of the President
> 1800 Johnson Street
> Baltimore, Maryland 21230
> Telephone: (410) 659-9314 Ext. 2208
> Mobile: (410) 241-7006
> Fax: (410) 685-5653
> Email: DFrye at nfb.org
> Web Address: www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/>
> "Voice of the Nation's Blind"
>
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