[nfbwatlk] residential orientation programs

[Mary Ellen]

Hang in there! I've seen a residential and a non residential program in
operation, and there is absolutely no doubt that the residential program is
the best alternative.
In British Columbia, we have neither a residential program nor a day
program. We have rehabilitation teachers and mobility instructors who visit
clients in their homes, sometimes. The difference is like the difference
between matriculation at a university and taking classes by correspondence
with no time table. In fact, the difference is even more striking. Those who
see teachers at their homes often must contend with their own doubts about
their capabilities and the protectiveness of families who want only the best
but don't know what is possible and so protect too much.
This is not news to any of you. The major difference between the United
States and Canada is that rehabilitation is a publicly funded program in the
U.S. Canada provides adjustment to other disabilities as part of the medical
system. If you become a paraplegic, the rehabilitation hospital gives
counseling and physical therapy to teach you how to transfer from your chair
and where to find the equipment you need to retrofit your car. I suspect it
isn't topnotch service, but the concept that such service is a right under
the health service is well established.
For those who become blind, or are already blind and need training, there is
one program only. That is the charitable service of CNIB. CNIB does receive
some government funding, but not sufficient to cover basic rehabilitation.
They raise funds through provincially sanctioned casinos and bingo games.
They run lotteries; they sell calendars. They produce public relations
materials which portray blind people as pitiable persons unable to cope at
all without the continuous support of the all knowing and all caring CNIB. 
Canada has an international reputation for its compassion, a reputation
which is largely deserved. But Canada does not include orientation to
blindness among the civil rights of its blind citizens. 
So what does this have to do with the fight in Washington State to keep the
residential component of the orientation center open? It's simple. Several
of you have rightly pointed out that it will be next to impossible to
restart the residential program once it's gone. Whatever happened to giving
an equitable opportunity for training to people from across the state? With
the attempts to "integrate" blindness services with services for all the
disabled, and with the attempt to "include" people with disabilities in
employment programs for the general public, we will have to continue to
educate to keep even the imperfect programs we have in the United States. If
you want to listen to a cautionary tale about what life would be like for
blind people once these programs are gone, listen to blind Canadians. We're
already living the "integrated service" lifestyle, a lifestyle leading to a
ninety per cent unemployment rate.
So, please, hang in there. Blind people from across the border are counting
on you to demonstrate the value of residential rehabilitation services. Of
course, the NFB centers are the best examples out there. But blind British
Columbians don't even have a bad residential program to improve. We have
nothing at all. So keep at it. You're helping more than just yourselves.