DOG GUIDES AND STEREOTYPES

Getting a Seeing Eye dog was a step toward independence for many people. Although some had developed their own methods of using canes to find out what was ahead of them, the method of cane use which is common today was not developed until after the second world war. Before getting their dogs, most were led around by family and friends or, if they could afford it, paid guides.

But independence in travel was only one step. Other barriers prevented many people who were blind from entering into the mainstream of life. The general attitude of the day was that blind people were helpless. One result of this attitude was that when a person lost his sight, family and friends did everything for him, even cutting his food and putting away his clothing. Many people came to expect this kind of treatment, and they brought their attitudes and expectations with them to the Seeing Eye. Morris Frank called this attitude "blind-mindedness".

A surprise awaited them. No one was going to do things for them at the Seeing Eye. Students were expected to unpack their own belongings, eat neatly, and attend to their personal appearance. Many were used to being treated like children and were surprised when trainers and other staff called them "Mr." or "Miss". These practices were just as liberating as the experience of walking with a dog guide, and the resulting confidence was undoubtedly as essential a part of the success of graduating students as knowledge of how to work with their dogs.

Today, many students are uncomfortable being called "Mr." or "Miss," and the practice has been dropped in recent years. However, the role the Seeing Eye plays in helping students learn to respect themselves and gain the respect of others is still strong. Instructors are personable, and students are expected to be responsible for their belongings and encouraged to dress nicely for the noon meal, at which guests often join them. Some of these guests are staff members who may not work directly with students. Others are students preparing to work in the field of orientation and mobility who come in groups with fellow students and professors.

The Seeing Eye's respect and expectations for blind people distinguished it from some other agencies serving the blind. As Peter Putnam explained:

In 1929, Edward Allen posed the following examination question for his Harvard students: "Comment on the statement `What the public thinks the blind are, that they tend to become.'" Forty years later Robert Scott, a Princeton sociology professor, might have rephrased it as "What agencies for the blind think the blind are, that they will pressure them to become." Scott wrote a book, The Making of Blind Men, suggesting that agencies for the blind tended to make their clients blind, making them blinder than they really were by forcing them to conform to the stereotype of helplessness that justified the existence of the agencies. The message they conveyed to their clients was "Be helpless, so that we can help you." This is an oversimplification of Scott's thesis and an overstatement of the facts, but in the 1930s and much later, many agencies for the blind projected an unfortunate stereotype of blindness and tended to force it on their clients. As late as 1960, a highly reputable national agency mailed an appeal for funds that spelled the acronym BLINDNESS from the words Bewilderment, Loneliness, Insecurity, Neglect, Dependency, Nostalgia, Emptiness, and Sedentary Solitude. (142-143)

Today blind people are still working toward debunking these stereotypes--in our own minds as well as in the world. Thanks to the work of the Seeing Eye and other dog guide schools and, especially, to the graduates of these schools, the image of the blind person accompanied by a dog has become a symbol of independence and dignity.

Reference

Putnam, Peter. (1997). Love in the lead: The miracle of the seeing eye dog. New York: University Press of America.

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