[nabs-l] DSB delaying needed equipment

William ODonnell william.odonnell1 at yahoo.com
Thu Jul 22 18:04:18 UTC 2010


Please contact me off list.  In the subject, please put the words: first name, Last name, and DSB.  Thanks.


--- On Thu, 7/22/10, Jewel S. <herekittykat2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Jewel S. <herekittykat2 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [nabs-l] DSB delaying needed equipment
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010, 9:06 AM
> Dear all,
> 
> I am having serious issues with DSB here in North Carolina.
> I begin
> classes August 16, and have been working toward getting
> some needed
> equipment. This equipment is a netbook with JAWS, a
> refreshable
> Braille display, a VictorStream Reader, a Juliette
> embosser, a
> scanner, OpenBook scanning program and Dusxbury
> (spelling?), and JAWS
> for my home computer. I have been working very hard on my
> side to get
> this done in time for classes. However, I was reassigned
> recently to a
> new VR counselor (by new, I mean green...this is her first
> position).
> She did not even know who the assessment person *was*, let
> alone how
> to do an assessment referral, so after I saw one person for
> review of
> my home computer and basic needs, she did nothing with
> that
> information, despite him having stated that I needed an
> assessment
> with a particular computer teacher. It was not until I
> asked him what
> the next step was again that he said that my counselor
> should have set
> up the assessment (when I had talked to him the first time,
> he had
> said that my VR counselor would see the referral sent and I
> needed to
> just wait for the referral to go through).
> 
> Now, because of my counselor's delay in getting the
> referral done, the
> paperwork has not even been submitted for my equipment. At
> first, they
> told me it would take two to three weeks to get the
> equipment. Then
> they said one month. Now they are saying that it could take
> up to two
> months!
> 
> Classes start August 16, and I do not have any of the
> equipment I
> need. The only method of note-taking I have (other than
> getting a
> notetaker to take notes for me, which I'd rather not) is my
> slate and
> stylus. With my physical problems, I can only use a slate
> for a few
> lines at a time before my wrist and arm begin to hurt very
> badly, so I
> don't see that as a possibility at all. I do not even have
> a voice
> recorder, though I am considering whether I have the funds
> to purchase
> one myself (I am on a very tight budget these days).
> 
> I have suggested the solution of renting a laptop until my
> equipment
> comes in. However, my counselor seems to have taken that to
> mean that
> I am willing to buy a used laptop on my own. She has
> suggested places
> to purchase used laptops and said she will look into it
> also. When I
> asked her whether this would take the place of the laptop
> promised me
> by DSB, she didn't answer directly but told me that the
> laptop I would
> purchase would last me throughout my curriculum. But if
> it's used, how
> can she be so sure? And how does she expect me to pay for
> such a
> laptop?
> 
> Is this appropriate action on the behlaf of my counselor?
> SWhat should
> I expect to happen? If she is not doing things properly,
> who should I
> bring this up with?
> 
> As I said, classes start in a few weeks. I do not have a
> way to record
> the classes, type notes, read my books in class, or
> complete
> worksheets in class. I will basically be stuck relying on
> other
> students to take notes for me, read exercises to me, and
> will not be
> able to participate when the class reads the books. I might
> as well
> not even attend class, for all I will be able to do! From
> what DSB is
> telling me, it will be halfway through the semester before
> I get any
> of my needed equipment. Is the renting of a laptop a
> reasonable
> accommodation while I wait, or should I drop these classes
> and wait
> until next semester? I will not be able to participate
> appropriately
> in class without even a laptop, and my grades will be
> drastically
> effected by this.
> 
> Any advice, please?
> 
> Yours,
> Jewel Shuping
> Wake Tech Community College
> Raleigh, NC
> 
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