Returning a Puppy for Dog Guide Training: Factors That Affect Grief in Puppy Raisers and the Decision to Foster Again

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-300
Author(s):  
Amy L. DeWitt
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Recovery Time ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Emotional Difficulty ◽  
Assistance Dogs ◽  
Cross Tabulation ◽  
Organizational Integration

Introduction: Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) breeds, raises, and trains dogs to serve as guides for people with visual impairments (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision). Their puppy raising program enlists volunteers to foster puppies for a year or more, providing socialization, basic skills training, and comfort, so they will grow into confident dogs. The volunteers must ultimately return these dogs to Yorktown Heights, New York, to begin training. For raisers, the emotional toll of this parting can be great. Methods: Utilizing the 2017 GEB Puppy Raiser Survey data, this study analyzed factors that might affect emotional grief and the decision to continue to raise puppies. Cross-tabulation and ordinal regression analyses examined the associations of puppy raiser demographics (i.e., gender, age, marital status, and employment), organizational integration (i.e., number of dogs raised for GEB, perceptions on how well GEB supports raisers in returning a dog, belief that they are part of the GEB community, and formation of friendships), and goal attainment (perceptions on how well GEB communicated progress in training, whether they raised a dog accepted for guide training, and whether they attended a graduation ceremony) with self-reported emotional difficulty, recovery time, and likelihood of raising another puppy. Results: Although the demographics of the raiser had minimal effect on emotional difficulty, recovery time, and likelihood of raising again, factors that measured organization integration and goal attainment were associated with grief and continued participation. Discussion: Raiser demographics are not strong predictors of grief and continued raising; however, a welcoming organization that communicates effectively will inspire volunteers’ commitment. Implications: With a growing need for assistance dogs and puppy raisers, identifying and addressing the challenges that these volunteers face is critical if skilled and dedicated raisers are to be recruited and retained.

Low Vision Services in an Agency: Structure and Philosophy

1975 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 241-248
Author(s):  
Eleanor E. Faye ◽  
Clare M. Hood
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Medical Director ◽  
The Other ◽  
Special Services ◽  
Full Discussion ◽  
Loan System ◽  
Training Services ◽  
And Training

The development and present structure of the comprehensive Low Vision Service of the New York Association for the Blind are used as the basis for a full discussion of the operation of such a clinical service, including its positive and negative features. The clinic is administered by a medical director and by an administrator who coordinates the work of a staff consisting of ophthalmologists, optometrists, low vision assistants, volunteers, registrar, and receptionist. A separate Optical Aids Service stocks low vision aids which it sells by prescription to clinics, doctors, and patients within and without the agency. Referrals for special services are made to the other departments of the agency. Also described are the low vision examination itself, follow-up and training services, and the aid loan system.

The Visually Impaired Driver in New York State

1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 228-232
Author(s):  
Norman J. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
New York State ◽  
Lens System ◽  
York State ◽  
The Third ◽  
Road Signs ◽  
Third Phase ◽  
Usual Manner

Describes a three-part driving program for low vision persons. Potential trainees are first interviewed to detect problems that may interfere with success. Suitable candidates are then trained to quickly detect and recognize objects through a bioptic lens system. In the third phase, a mobility instructor gives training in various aspects of the automobile and driving, and the trainee is quizzed on road signs and markings while riding as a passenger. Students successfully completing all three phases may then go on to obtain a Learner's Permit and take driving lessons in the usual manner.

Goal Attainment and Non-Goal Occurrences as Underlying Mechanisms to an Athlete’s Sources of Enjoyment

1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary L. Stein ◽  
Tara K. Scanlan
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Basketball Players ◽  
Goal Hierarchy ◽  
General Goal ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Environmental Events

The present study examined a conceptual framework developed to organize and explain an athlete’s sources of enjoyment. The framework consisted of two potential underlying mechanisms: goal attainment and non-goal occurrences. Goal attainment are experiences that athletes set, strive for, and achieve. Athletes have two functionally related goal levels, labeled universal and general, which form a goal hierarchy. Non-goal occurrences are environmental events that take place but are not a priori set as goals. Participants were 13- to 16-year-old high school and park league baseball and basketball players who answered a single postseason questionnaire. Stepwise regression analyses indicated partial framework support. General goal attainment predicted both universal goal attainment and seasonal enjoyment, universal goal attainment failed to predict seasonal enjoyment, and non-goal occurrences showed no relationship to either universal goal attainment or seasonal enjoyment.

scholarly journals Sustainable Museum Access: A Two-way Street

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Levent ◽  
Joan Muyskens Pursley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Program Development ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
The Past ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Museum Programs ◽  
Audience Development

<p>Many adults who are blind or have low vision are reluctant to visit museums because of disappointing or less-than-welcoming experiences in the past. To attract visually impaired people to your museum, the authors urge you to make outreach and program development a "two-way street," to solicit advice and criticism from a variety of people who are blind or have low vision. In addition, they share issues raised at focus groups they conducted as part of Art Beyond Sight's Multi-Sight Museum Accessibility Study and its Project Access New York program.<br /><br />Key words<br />Accessible museum programs<br />Blind <br />Focus groups<br />museum audience development<br /><br /></p>

Perceptual Assessment in Low Vision: Evidence for a Hierarchy of Skills?

1989 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Overbury ◽  
G.L. Goodrich ◽  
R.D. Quillman ◽  
J. Faubert
Keyword(s):  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Visual Skills ◽  
Perceptual Assessment

This study examines the possible existence of a perceptual hierarchy which is systematically affected by the onset of adventitious visual impairment. Eighty people with partial vision were tested prior to beginning a visual skills training program. Four perceptual categories were examined. These included COPY/DRAW, TARGET MATCH, FIGURE-GROUND, and READING tasks. The results indicate that there is a demarcation of difficulty between the simpler and more complex levels of the hierarchy. Additionally, this crossover takes place at the figure-ground level, with the strongest relationships occurring between reading-related tasks such as letter and word searching as well as the reading of text and the individual's performance on figure-ground discrimination. The implications of these results in light of previous work in this area are discussed.

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