[nagdu] Woman with guide dog says civil rights were violated

[Mardi Hadfield]

Hi every one,  I have often been challenged with my guide dog. You would
think that because I am sitting in a wheelchair, there would be no problem
as I would think  that the public would just think my dog was a service dog.
I am constantly asked if my dog is a service or helper dog. Most of the time
I just say yes and continue on. If a person chooses to engage me in
conversation, I try to explain that she is a guide dog. I used to get,"you
don't look blind" I thought, because I wore glasses , because they did help
with my vision to some extent. When I finally ditched them because they were
no longer of any help, I still got the "you don't look blind". Well, I guess
I don't know what a blind person is supposed to look like. I also get
hassled because my dog is a Siberian Husky, and supposedly, Huskies are not
guide dogs. Then there are those who hassle me because I used to just be in
a wheelchair with a service dog and suddenly I am claiming blindness. I have
been told that I can't possibly have all these disabilities all at once,
even though I have documentation for all of it. I was once told by a Rehab
councilor, that I should just pick one and stick with that. I don't know
what breed of dog this woman has, but maybe it is an unusual breed. I also
know that the more confrontational you are with the offending person, that
does  some times make the whole thing worse. I have been guilty of this in
the past and have learned to curb my self when needed. However, If I am not
the one pursuing the confrontation and I am still being denied, I will stand
my ground. I am careful what kind of language I use as I don't want to be
the offensive  one . Maybe this woman used offensive language? Maybe she did
not. I hope she does pursue it further and I hope the outcome is a good one.
Perhaps that will help others in similar circumstances. Have a great day,
Mardi and Nala, semi-retired, and Shaman gdit

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http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/