[nfb-talk] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog policydoesnot discriminate
David Evans
drevans at bellsouth.net
Sat Feb 21 03:21:12 UTC 2009
Dear John,
This follows standard NFB philosophy and practice that when a person is
"fully immersed" in Blindness, the skills be come the sharpest and the
proper lessons are learned by the Blind person.
AS mobility is taught with a cane, and not a guide dog, the training
concentrates on good cane and o and M skills that have very little to do
with a guide dog.
The blind person has a choice of where they want to go.
This is how the NFB center, and other teach the skills and if the Blind
person doesn't want to do it this way, they are free to go somewhere else
that does.
I had to insist on being tested, for canes skills, at the center I went to.
They did not want to do it, and did not think I could do it, without using
the little vision I had left, but I forced the issue and showed them by
wearing a sleep shade and being taken down town, where I had never been
before and crossing 12 very busy street corners during "Bike Week".
I found addresses and navigated some very tricky sidewalks, curbs and
obstacles I had never run into before.
I did it and after only 4 days of testing, they told me that there was
nothing else they could teach me and signed off on my OF an M training.
The only training I had had before this was just the good advice of my NFB
friends who set a great example for me to follow. I am applying for a guide
dog right now, but not because my canes skills are bad, but so I can make
use of the few advantages a guide dog can give me.
They learn routes very well and can recognize certain objects and features
that takes me more time to find and recognize with my cane.
They can be a help in crossing streets and dealing with "quiet cars."
I also have a balance problem, I never had before, and this makes me walk
to the left a bit.
The dog will help straighten this out.
I will also be able to use the dog as a training tool in classes I give to
transit drivers and shop keepers on how to deal with service animals.
I can live very well without the dog and have for over 45 years of my
blindness. I am just using my freedom of choice to make a change, but I
have already gotten the best grounding in Blindness skills I could ever get.
"Have Cane, Will Travel."
David Evans, NFBF
David Evans, NFBF
----- Original Message -----
From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 4:39 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog
policydoesnot discriminate
> I'm uncertain as to what is good about this. In general, refusing entry to
> a
> person with a guide dog is a bad thing. Did the NFB favor prohibiting use
> of a guide dog in mobility training? Why?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chad Allen" <chad at chadallenmagic.com>
> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog
> policydoes
> not discriminate
>
>
>> Great news!
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Wilson,Joanne (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)
>> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 3:25 PM
>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Jury finds IA Dept. for Blind's guide dog policy does
>> not discriminate
>>
>>
>> ----------
>> From: Brammer, Robert [AG] [mailto:rbrammer at ag.state.ia.us]
>> Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 1:53 PM
>> To: Brammer, Robert [AG]
>> Subject: Atty. Gen. release: Jury finds IA Dept.
>> for Blind's guide dog policy does not discriminate
>>
>> To News Editors. From Bob Brammer (Iowa
>> Attorney General's Office - 515-281-6699.)
>> Please find a release pasted below. This will be
>> posted soon at
>> <http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/>www.IowaAttorneyGeneral.org
>> . A jury entered a verdict Wednesday in this
>> case in Polk County District Court.
>> Best regards, Bram
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>>
>> For immediate release - Thursday, February 19, 2009.
>> Contact Bob Brammer - 515-281-6699
>>
>> Jury finds Iowa Department for the Blind's
>> Guide Dog Policy Does Not Discriminate
>>
>> Des Moines. A Polk County jury has
>> rejected a Des Moines woman's claim that the
>> State of Iowa Department for the Blind
>> discriminated against her by refusing her request
>> to use a guide dog while she attended the
>> Department's orientation and adjustment training program.
>>
>> The Department for the Blind
>> orientation and training program is a
>> comprehensive program that utilizes a totally
>> non-visual approach to teaching blindness
>> skills. Students with partial vision are
>> required to wear eyeshades to prevent reliance
>> upon any visual cues during training. Department
>> policies prohibit the use of any visual aids
>> within the orientation and training program,
>> including guide dogs. The Department has no
>> objection to guide dogs in other situations.
>>
>> Stephanie Dohmen, who is legally
>> blind, attended the program for several months
>> beginning in September 2000 and sought to
>> re-enter the program in June 2002 accompanied by her guide dog.
>>
>> Dohmen claimed in her lawsuit that
>> the Department's policy violated her rights under
>> the Iowa Civil Rights Act and under federal laws
>> that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.
>>
>> After a six-day trial, the
>> eight-person jury rejected Dohmen's claims in a verdict entered
>> Wednesday.
>>
>>
>> The Department for the Blind, which
>> was represented in the trial by the Iowa Attorney
>> General's Office, argued that a totally
>> non-visual approach - and training without
>> assistance of a guide-dog or other visual aids -
>> is the most effective approach for
>> visually-impaired persons who are learning skills
>> and techniques for dealing with blindness.
>>
>> The Department places no limitations
>> upon the use of guide dogs in other settings,
>> including in the Department for the Blind
>> building in downtown Des Moines. For example,
>> Karen Keninger, the Director of the Department,
>> uses a guide dog, and the dog accompanied
>> Keninger during her testimony at the trial.
>>
>> The orientation program typically
>> includes about six months of full-time training
>> in various problem-solving skills, such as
>> cane-travel on public streets, using Braille,
>> using computers, and dealing with many other situations.
>>
>> The Department for the Blind's
>> orientation and adjustment program was
>> established in 1959 and is considered by many to
>> be one of the most effective in the country.
>>
>> During the trial, the State
>> Department for the Blind presented testimony from
>> Joanne Wilson and Frederic K. Schroeder, each a
>> former Commissioner of the U.S. Rehabilitation
>> Services Administration, which oversees programs
>> for the blind around the country.
>>
>> "Iowa's orientation program
>> profoundly changes lives," said Wilson, who also
>> is Executive Director of the National Federation
>> of the Blind. "It works. It's a cutting-edge
>> program and a model for other states." Wilson is
>> a Webster City native and ISU graduate who went
>> through the Iowa Department for the Blind's orientation program herself.
>>
>> Schroeder said: "To me the central
>> point is that individuals have a choice in the
>> type of training they take. While programs must
>> and should make reasonable accommodations, they
>> cannot be required to alter the fundamentals of the program."
>>
>> - 30 -
>>
>>
>>
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>
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