[stylist] A Response to Matilda Ziegler's Readers' Forum

Sun May 8 21:29:48 UTC 2011

A few weeks ago someone argued that the style of her cane was more dependant 
then my cane.  Now we have someone stating that a guide dog shouldn't be 
used in every situation a blind person might find themselves.  Folks, I 
think it would behoove all of us to stay out of the judgmental department. 
No I'm not telling anyone that they shouldn't go to law school and then bbe 
chosen or elected to sit on the bench, I'm talking about the all too common 
flaw in people who think their way is the only or at least the best way.  No 
one here or anywhere has all the answers for the best way for blind people 
to conduct their lives.  Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 12:55 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] A Response to Matilda Ziegler's Readers' Forum


> Hi Marion,
> First let me say that I didn't realize the Ziegler still existed. I 
> thought
> they had discontinued it a couple of years ago.
>
> Thank you for writing on this issue. As a guide dog user, I would also 
> like
> to add that my personal experience with guide dogs makes me reluctant to
> leave my dog on any occasion. The relationship is such that it  motivates 
> me
> to want to be with my dog for both of our sakes even if I'm not requiring
> him to do solo mountain climbing, navigating busy city streets alone or
> whatever this person thinks guide dogs should be held in reserve to do. 
> Yes,
> the guide dog is technically a mobility tool, though I don't think of him
> that way. Unlike a cane, there is a bond between living beings, and I 
> would
> consider it the height of arrogance on my part to assume that I couldn't
> possibly benefit from his services or company in an upcoming journey, or
> that he would not benefit from being on duty. Suppose there was a fire in
> the restaurant. Am I really comfortable hoping that someone else would 
> help
> me? Would I really want to rely on the kindness of strangers or panicky
> friends? If I start leaving him home alone whenever I'm with others, will 
> he
> still work as well when I "need" him?
>
> As you point out in your response, he isn't leaving his cane home, and you
> have to get to the cab and into the restaurant somehow. I just wish that
> blind people could accept that each of us must be comfortable with our own
> mobility choices -- be they canes, dogs or sighted guides. It would be 
> nice
> if we could stop belittling one another about such things. It reminds me 
> of
> Stockholm syndrome where the prisoners in concentration camps begin to act
> like their captors toward their fellow prisoners.
>
> It also reminds me of 1971, when I got my first guide dog from GDF. My 
> rehab
> counselor at the time wrote a letter to then director of training John
> Byfield asserting that among other things, a blind "girl" -- I was 21 and
> had graduated from college -- shouldn't be out alone at night, and since I
> had some residual vision and had been getting along in the daytime, there
> was no need to give me a guide dog. I was legally blind with severe tunnel
> vision, had fallen into a construction pit and was navigating by staring 
> at
> the sidewalk during the day and watching the street lights at night. 
> Campus
> police often thought I was drunk.
>
> My counselor even went so far as to call the school, while I was there, to
> ask them to send me home. John Byfield, in his most professional and
> classically British mild-mannered way, declined. At the time, GDF was the
> only school experimenting with the unique challenges of training people 
> who
> were legally but not totally blind.
>
> Donna
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Marion Gwizdala
> Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 4:17 PM
> To: Stylist List
> Subject: [stylist] A Response to Matilda Ziegler's Readers' Forum
>
> Dear All,
>    Below are comments that appeared in the May 2 issue of the Matilda
> Ziegler Magazine and my response.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
> In response to Feature Writer Alena Roberts - Deciding When to Take Your
> Guide Dog With You
>
> I would like to express my opinion on the question posed by Alena Roberts;
> namely, when to take and when not to take your guide dog. I come at this
> from a point of view which Alena may not have expected--I am a blind 
> person
> who has always used a cane and does not want a guide dog. I have sometimes
> not understood why my dog using friends drag their dog along. Here is a
> scenario which is difficult for me to understand.
>
> You are taking a cab to a restaurant, maybe by yourself, maybe to meet a
> friend. You will then take a cab home.
>
> 1. You go from the door of your house to the cab.
>
> 2. You go from the cab to the door of the restaurant, where the host or a
> waiter/waitress helps you find a table.
>
> 3. You repeat the process in reverse, restaurant to cab, cab to home.
>
> You are not really doing any independent travel. Why, then, do you need 
> your
> dog? It seems to me that it's a lot of trouble and hassle to take a dog on
> such an occasion, not to mention that the dog may be in the way at the
> table, or in the cab. Why not use your cane?
>
> I don't even understand why Ms. Roberts says she "dislikes using a cane. A
> cane is merely a tool, like a hammer or screw driver. I use it when I need
> it, and I'm glad to have it. I can't even imagine wanting a dog.
>
> Tim Hendel
>
> Huntsville, Alabama
>
> Dear Editor,
>
>
>
>            I am writing in response to the comments made by Tim Hendel in
> your Readers' Forum of May 2. Mr. Hendel seems to contradict himself 
> several
> times, leading me to believe he has not critically examined his own
> position. On the one hand, he asserts that blind people, when traveling to 
> a
> restaurant by cab, are not doing any independent traveling. He supports 
> this
> position by stating that, once a blind person gets inside the restaurant,
> the host or waiter helps them find a table. And how does the person get
> inside the restaurant, if not independently? Though Mr. Hendel does not
> specifically state so, am I to assume that the "help" to which he refers
> might be a sighted guide? Are we to also assume that, should the blind
> person wish to use the bathroom while at the restaurant, this should also 
> be
> accomplished using sighted guide? Furthermore, when Mr. Hendel takes a cab
> to the restaurant, does he leave his cane behind like he contends guide 
> dog
> users should their dogs? A
> fter all, what need has he of a cane, since he is not doing any 
> independent
> traveling?
>
> Mr. Hendel engages in sanctimonious rhetoric when asserting that the cane 
> is
> a tool, "like a hammer or a screwdriver. He fails to recognize that the 
> same
> is true of a guide dog. I wonder if Mr. Hendel drives screws with a hammer
> and pounds nails with a screwdriver!
>
> If Mr. Hendel uses his cane when traveling by cab to a restaurant, his
> assertion that a guide dog user has no need for a guide dog is fallacious! 
> I
> appreciate his statement that he cannot imagine wanting a dog. Likewise, I
> cannot imagine not wanting a dog. I have had a dog in my life since I was
> four years old. When I lost my sight, a guide dog made perfect sense to 
> me!
> I also use a white cane and travel just as independently as with my dog.
> It's all a matter of choice which tool I use. Should I use a claw hammer 
> or
> a rubber mallet? The choice is based upon which is most effective for the
> job to be done. I also have a sledge hammer but I only use it when beating
> others over their heads with self-righteous indignation!
>
>
>
> Marion Gwizdala, President
>
> National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
>
> National Federation of the Blind
>
> President at NAGDU.ORG
>
> Tampa, Florida
>
>
>
>
>
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