[Quietcars] Woman's fight to enter Iowa Department Training Center Accepted, but no dogs allowed!

[Jennifer Applegate]

I am not sure that I fully understand this.  I know that at Blind Inc. there
were some students with guide dogs.  They didn't use them during school, but
they came and left from the school with them.  If the woman was using the
dog instead of the cain then that's wrong.  Most people who get a dog have
to be really good at mobility with a cane outside before the can get a
seeing eye dog.  A person has to be confident in there mobility, because the
dog doesn't know where you want to go.

-----Original Message-----
From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of michael townsend
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:18 PM
To: seeingeye-l at list.web.net
Subject: [Quietcars] Woman's fight to enter Iowa Department Training Center
Accepted, but no dogs allowed!
Sensitivity: Personal

Another view on this story.

Mike T


desmoinesregister.com
February 20, 2009

Woman's bid to take dog to classes rejected

By GRANT SCHULTE and MOLLY HOTTLE
gschulte at dmreg.com

Stephanie Dohmen's six-year fight to take a guide dog to training classes at
the Iowa Department for the Blind suffered a setback Thursday in Polk County
District Court.

Jurors rejected the Des Moines woman's discrimination lawsuit and sided with
a department policy that bans the use of visual aids, including seeing-eye
dogs, in the program.

Dohmen and her dog, Lilly, were caught in a decades-old argument that has
divided blind Americans into distinct camps: those who prefer guide dogs and
those who consider the animals a poor substitute for learning to function
with only a directional cane.

Dohmen, who is legally blind, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Her
lawyer, Roy Irish, declined to comment about the verdict.

Supporters of the state program who testified at Dohmen's trial praised the
verdict and defended the ban on guide dogs.

"Iowa's orientation program profoundly changed lives," said Joanne Wilson, a
former commissioner of the U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration,
which oversees programs for the blind nationwide. "It works. It's a
cutting-edge program and a model for other states."

Another former commissioner, Frederic Schroeder, said training programs for
the blind should accommodate participants when possible, but "cannot be
required to alter the fundamentals of the program."

Dohmen, whose blindness was caused by a medical condition several years ago,
attended the training program for several months in September 2000 and then
was turned away when she tried to re-enter with Lilly in June 2002.

"They shouldn't even ask me if I use a cane or a dog," Dohmen, a certified
nursing assistant, said at the time. "They said that having a dog, I
wouldn't know what blindness was like. But this is my choice. Lilly is my
cane."

The department, represented by the Iowa attorney general, argued that
training without assistance of a dog or other aids is the most effective way
for the blind to learn new skills.

Grinnell lawyer Peggy Elliot said she expected a jury to side against
Dohmen.

"It's been dragged on and on and on because people are feeling sorry for
her, when she really just doesn't have a case," Elliot said.

Elliot, who is blind, said people should instead focus on the fact that the
department initially offered Dohmen services. Students with partial vision
are required to wear eyeshades to limit any visual cues.

The six-month program teaches students how to cane-walk on public streets,
read Braille, use computers and handle everyday tasks.

Additional Facts

Dog controversy

LEGAL OPINION: A 1981 opinion from the Iowa attorney general said the
Commission for the Blind can set certain conditions for the purpose of
training.
FAIRNESS: According to the opinion: "The commission's rule does not limit
such access; rather it represents the commission's policy that students
participating in the commission's training program shall not have the
assistance of guide dogs."
POSTSCRIPT: "We, of course, take no view with respect to the wisdom of this
policy," the opinion concluded. "That is a question that the Legislature has
left in the sound discretion of the commission."

Mike Townsend and Seeing Eye dog Brent
Dunellen, New Jersey  08812
emails:  mrtownsend at optonline.net; 
michael.townsend54 at gmail.com
Home Phone:  732  200-5643
Cellular:  732  718-9480
 


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