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

[Albert Sanchez]

What does this have to do with quiet Cars?
A.S.
Al's Piano Tuning & Repair
215 John Avenue
Greenville, NC 27858-4113
252-757-3023
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "michael townsend" <mrtownsend at optonline.net>
To: <seeingeye-l at list.web.net>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:17 PM
Subject: [Quietcars] Woman's fight to enter Iowa Department Training Center 
Accepted, but no dogs allowed!


> 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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