[blindlaw] New guy

[Nightingale, Noel]

Tim:

Each state vocational rehabilitation agency is required to have in place
an ability to grant exceptions or waivers to policies that arbitrarily
limit the kinds of services that can be included in an individualized
plan for employment, such as a rule that an agency will not pay for
graduate school.  

However, it does not sound like that is the stumbling block you are
facing, rather it sounds like your vocational rehabilitation counselor
has rejected your employment goal, in which case it seems that you need
to go through the appeal process, which the agency is also required to
have in place and should be on its website or in its policies or rules.

Noel nightingale
 Seattle, Washington

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of tim and vickie shaw
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:26 AM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] New guy


Hello everyone, My name is Tim. I am new to the group.  I am wanting to
start law school in the fall. Just keep running into obstacles at the
moment *sighs* hard not to get discouraged. Hoping maybe can get a few
good words and some guidance here. This is something I have always
wanted to do I guess really in the back of my mind, but something I
really didnt see myself ever actually doing. I want to do this so I can
handle ADA cases and works as an advocate for children that may have to
go through all that I did.   
 
I graduated from college in 2005 with a degree in Business Management.
Not having any work experience I have had a very tough time finding a
job. I worked for awhile for couple of companies that specialize in
providing employment and training to disabiled individuals and "help"
them. The frustrating experience working with these people only served
to strengthen my resolve that I wanted to work to be able to "fix"
things like this. 
 
I was desperate to get out of the situation I was in and decided to take
on teaching. I have gotten my certification in Special Education and
Business education but once again have been pumping my head for a year
trying to get work to no avail. I had planned on working as a teacher
whnile i went to law school. Due to my inability to find work in and out
of teaching I have decided to just try and move forward to going to law
school.
 
I live in Texas and here it is law that blind individuals recieve a
tuition and fee waiver as well as the government agency that works with
the blind provides textbook vouchers and assistance.  I called my
counselor at the Division for Blind Services to ask her about going back
to school because she is the one that will have to help me to get my
tuition waiver adn all of this, but she wouldnt even talk to me about
it. She said that she doesnt think its reasonable for me to go back to
school because how do they not know that they will give me the money to
and then when I get out still wont be able to find work. 
 
So once again, I have hit my head against a wall when trying to deal
with the very people that are supposed to be there to help. I am just
getting extremely frustrated and mean time my marriage is going to hell
because of my lack of being able to find word and seeming to jsut be
sitting in a rut. I am lost for what to do.
 
OK enough rambling, sorry for bothering yall with all of this jsut
needed to get it off my chest and see if anyone had any good words for
me.
 
 
Tim Shaw
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