[Oagdu] Leader Dogs resolution.

[meandthedog at oberlin.net]

NAC. stood with lower wages and sub wages to the blind in so called slave
camps, or shall I say
shelter shops.I totally agree with the resolution Megan and MS. P>





> Good Morning,
> I wanted to pass this resolution along to you all, as I do know that we
> have a few Leader Dogs users on this list.
> I may be wrong, but it looks like Nagdu voted on this last night, and it
> was approved by Nagdu members. Then, it will be presented to the entire
> Convention tomorrow for an official vote. I am very interested to hear the
> comments from people at Convention about this resolution.
> Deanna
>
> Resolution 2015-05
> Regarding Leader Dogs for the Blind's Accreditation by NAC
> WHEREAS, in 1989 the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools for the
> Blind, later known as the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), was
> formed to create and promulgate standards for the operation and
> administration of guide dog training programs throughout the world; and
> WHEREAS, the IGDF today has over eighty member guide dog training programs
> around the world, including thirteen in the United States; and
> WHEREAS, US-member guide dog training programs include Guide Dogs for the
> Blind, the Seeing Eye, and Leader Dogs for the Blind, the three largest
> guide dog training programs in the United States; and
> WHEREAS, the standards of the IGDF are well known as a solid model for
> guide dog training program operation and administration; and
> WHEREAS, in January 2015 Leader Dogs for the Blind announced that it had
> received accreditation by the National Accreditation Council for Blind and
> Low Vision Services (NAC), an organization formed in the 1960s supposedly
> to create and promulgate standards for the operation of agencies serving
> the blind but which, in fact, has never provided a good model for the
> operation and administration of any agency; and
> WHEREAS, NAC has no expertise in the guide dog arena, and any attempt by
> NAC to accredit guide dog training programs can serve only to undermine
> the efforts of the IGDF; and
> WHEREAS, in the past Leader Dogs for the Blind, recognizing the worthless
> nature of NAC’s alleged accreditation, resisted attempts by NAC to
> accredit it and stood with consumers in opposing the shoddy and irrelevant
> standards NAC attempted to use to gain credibility among the ranks of
> guide dog training programs and their consumers; and
> WHEREAS, Leader Dogs’ past vigorous opposition to NAC accreditation was
> expressed in part through a letter from Harold L. Pocklington,
> then-executive director of Leader Dogs for the Blind, to NAC’s
> president, and published in the February 1986 issue of the Braille
> Monitor, which said:
> We believe we can handle our own affairs. If the dog guide training
> programs don't respond to your suggestions, it may be they don't believe
> the method of accreditation can be done only by you. We believe we can be
> our own judge of operation, without any help from NAC or a committee NAC
> might appoint. We are not indifferent, unaware, or apathetic. We just
> believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it; and
> WHEREAS, the purpose of NAC has always been to undermine and thwart the
> right of the organized blind to speak on behalf of blind consumers and
> Leader Dogs’ affiliation with NAC has the same effect in seeking to
> minimize the voice of the blind; and
> WHEREAS, Leader Dogs receives a significant amount of its funding from
> Lions International and from individual Lions clubs; and
> WHEREAS, any money spent by Leader Dogs in seeking and obtaining
> accreditation by NAC is a misuse of the support provided by its donors and
> can only encourage the efforts of an outdated and useless agency, NAC, to
> attempt to gain financial support from other guide dog training programs
> that it approaches in its attempts to convince them to accept its
> irrelevant and meaningless accreditation: Now, therefore,
> BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
> assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the city of Orlando, Florida,
> that this organization condemn and deplore Leader Dogs for the Blind’s
> accreditation by and consequent support of NAC; and
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that Leader Dogs for
> the Blind take immediate steps to terminate its accreditation by NAC; and
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on Lions International and individual
> Lions clubs to cease their funding of Leader Dogs for the Blind until it
> terminates its accreditation by NAC; and
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge all guide dog training
> programs to resist any attempts by NAC to accredit them and insist instead
> that all guide dog training programs in the United States support the
> legitimate standards and accreditation of the IGDF.
>
>
>
> --
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