[nabs-l] Guide Dogs, Training Centers, and NFB

[Nathan Clark]

I didn't think their computer training was all that good either. I spent more time doing basic things then the advanced skills. 


Nathan Clark

> On Sep 12, 2015, at 8:22 PM, Trevor Attenberg via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all a all y'all,
> 
> I must admit, computer training was probably the least positive of my class
> experiences at LCB way back in 2003. I came in an excellent typist, and
> quite capable with creating documents and navigating Windows with JAWS-this
> was before Voiceover mind you; but they had me spend weeks proving that I
> could do these things by way of essays I had to type up and get proofread
> within the constraints of an hour long class with multiple students. I
> didn't have my own computer at the time and wasn't allowed to proceed to
> other computer activities on their machines until I completed the prescribed
> tasks. There wasn't much time left in my training stint to cover the stuff
> that would prove really important in my future. This was not so much how it
> worked in Braille and travel, where I was able to leap ahead to activities
> based on my level of skill.  
> 
> That said, when I taught tech at BLIND, Inc. this summer, I was able to
> customize my lessons according to what the students wanted. As I was just a
> summer instructor, I don't know how exactly teaching varies in this regard
> from center to center. Regarding the situation for dogs, I am not quite an
> expert on what is demanded; but I know if you aren't teaching travel, you're
> not going to be very mobile during the day, unless there are field trips.
> There's not much use for a cane or pup in the kitchen, computer lab, etc. I
> know at BLIND, Inc. students and staff with dogs were able to take their
> dogs out during class breaks, when we are pretty much free to do what we
> want. I don't know if they want everyone to be using canes exclusively for
> simple things like going to the bathroom and what not, or on day trips. This
> might vary from place to place. Judging from my experience at BLIND, Inc.
> and Colorado, staff people are certainly permitted to use their dogs outside
> of regular classes. If a staff person isn't allowed to use a dog during
> classes like braille and tech, I can't exactly explain it, other than that
> the students need to use canes, and perhaps they simply want staff to
> conform to what the students are doing. At LCB, and probably for the most
> part at the other centers, a student's travel between classrooms, on field
> trips, etc. is all considered an aspect of mobility training, and thus canes
> are required. I can't answer for the centers as to the exact reason why
> canes are so favored; but my guess is that it has to do with the training
> and problem solving opportunities a cane offers and a dog does not. That is
> not to put down the utility of dogs as a travel aid. The policies are
> certainly not some institutionalized condescension towards dogs and their
> people. If that was the case, then there wouldn't be so many staff at these
> centers that use dogs. I believe Pam Allen (head of LCB) did use a dog for a
> while. In Colorado in 2000, almost all of my instructors had a dog,
> including Melissa (now Riccobono).
> 
>                As per the NFB, there's really no litmus test for
> participating in the organization. They think blindness shouldn't be a
> factor that will stop you in pursuing what you want in life, but you need
> not be a human drone, or some marathon-running, astrophysicist. I certainly
> don't agree with everything that is decided upon in resolutions, elections,
> and moves decided upon by the board members and whoever influences them.
> Like other organizations, it is what the members make of it, and from my
> experience, such people run the gamut from stooges that will make you gag to
> stars that'll make you feel inadequate. In my experiences, like at the
> conventions, I'll go to one event, where I detect nothing but a mob of dumb,
> snobby assholes (like myself), and I'll go to another event where I'll
> encounter some of the greatest, nicest, most inspiring people I've ever met
> (like myself). The latter situation together with the benefits I did get
> from the LCB are probably the biggest reasons why I'm still involved. The
> federation unfortunately currently draws in more people from some regions of
> the country than others, and that can mean lots of geographical and
> cultural-based baggage-you get cliques and pear pressure, but there it is.
> I've encountered the same thing in other big organizations. 
> 
> I greatly appreciate your attention!
> 
> Trevor          
> 
> P.S. Is there any way I can respond directly to a string of emails when I am
> getting the messages in digest form?
> 
> PPS, In the wise words of one Bill Clinton, "can't we all just get along?"
> Very sad that there is such a political schism in the blind world.
> 
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