[nabs-l] Equipment Coming In

Kerri Kosten kerrik2006 at gmail.com
Thu Sep 2 02:20:08 UTC 2010


Hi Jewel:

I'm not the greatest with rehab either, (they really intimidate me)
but I just wanted to say I think Joe was kind of out of line in
assuming things about your situation and making statements like that
when he didn't have the full story.

I think with the situation, you did the right thing...you wouldn't
want to spend money going to school and not be able to perform at your
full potential and I don't think you were stopping yourself or
expecting too much out of Rehab at all.

It is wrong that they had to be such a pain about your stuff and
because of the situation you had to drop classes then three weeks in
they get you your stream.

All I can think to do is to stay on their butts about it, and maybe
after everything is settled write the supervisor explaining the
situation and how unhappy you were with it.

Keep up the good work and never stop advocating!

I just wanted to let you know though that I think with the situation
you were in the right to drop school for the semester!

Hope that helps!

Kerri

On 9/1/10, Jewel S. <herekittykat2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't think you realize the computer I'm using...this computer is
> over ten years old, doesn't have Microsoft Office (so I use WordPad
> only), and has NVDA only, whic can be a mjaor pain. I use this
> computer for internet use only, and it's not even reliable for that,
> since it can randomly freeze up and require a reboot. It has also
> completely crashed several times in the last year, requiring repairs
> that left me without a computer for a minimum of a week (and once, it
> was out of commission for a month, since I couldn't afford the
> repairs). Other than what little I can do on this computer, I have to
> go to the public library (which takes minimum half an hour bus ride
> and quite a bit of walking to get to) or to the community college's
> computer lab (which takes me two hours to get to). With my school
> schedule, I was getting home at 6:30pm after classes already, so
> staying after school really wasn't an option, and I was leaving at 6am
> just to get to school 10 minutes before class started, so early
> arrival was out, too.
>
> Don't assume that I wanted to postpone classes for my own reasons. I
> would do anything to be in classes right now, but now that I've
> dropped, I can't get back in. I *want* to be in classes, and I thought
> long and hard before dropping from classes, giving it a full week of
> trial without equipment. Between my physical condition deteriorating
> and my limited ability to participate in classes, it simply wasn't
> possible for me to stay in classes and work at my full potential.
> Sure, I could have stayed in and worked at less than potential, but I
> need to keep up a great GPA in order to get into the college I want to
> transfer to and get the grants and scholarships I need to attend that
> school. Because I am a visual and tactile learner, the audio books and
> recorded classes were difficult for me to work with. I needed hands-on
> learning, which I will get with the refresthable Braille display and
> the Victor Stream (which is audio, but allows me to spell words as
> needed, so I can write things down knowing the right spelling, like
> vocabulary and names).
>
> Please don't make assumtions like this when you can't possibly know
> the full story. You are putting the blame on me for not being able to
> accept my fate and work at less than full potential. I *will* work at
> full potential, and I will not allow other people to stop me from
> that. Me stopping me is a different story, but other people stopping
> me from being all I can be is not acceptable.
>
> ~JEwel
>
> On 9/1/10, Joe Orozco <jsorozco at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Jewel,
>>
>> How does that Darryl Worley song go?  Sounds like life to me?  You know,
>> I'm
>> not downplaying the necessity of equipment to successfully complete class
>> assignments, but between a recorder and a computer that appears to be
>> working reasonably well to write posts, I think you could have made it
>> work.
>> >From this position it sounds as though you were looking for reasons to
>> postpone class, and now you'll have several months to contemplate why you
>> should not give up too soon.  Circumstances will not be quite so forgiving
>> when your sustainability depends on a job salary.  You may liberally yell
>> at
>> me for assuming and for pretending to understand your situation, but it's
>> frustrating to see up and coming students generate much larger lists of
>> the
>> challenges than the abilities.
>>
>> Respectfully,
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> P.S. You can hear the song here:
>>
>> http://s0.ilike.com/play#Darryl+Worley:Sounds+Like+Life+To+Me:105008242:s315
>> 60646.12494198.9720862.0.2.233%2Cstd_a3cbac552e9145ca912afe1e8fdd407d
>>
>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jewel S.
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 8:38 PM
>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Equipment Coming In
>>
>> Hey all,
>> I got my VictorStream Reader today, and have it authorized for RFBD
>> already and have the process started for NLS books.
>>
>> DSB says that my equipment is coming in and as soon as all of it is in
>> (except the VictorStream, which was shipped directly to my apartment),
>> they'll deliver it and get me set up and start learning it. This from
>> the people who said they likely wouldn't have it until the end of
>> semester...I am so mad that I dropped my classes now, since it's only
>> 3 weeks into classes now. I wish I had waited until the final drop
>> date.
>>
>> So I'm saying Yay for my stuff, but Grrrrr that now I have to wait
>> till next semester to get going with school.
>>
>> In the meantime, I'm going to be on DSB's butt about this. In NC, the
>> funds are not released until August 1, which is two weeks before
>> school starts...this gives no time for equipment to get shipped in in
>> time for school to start. This means that any student who needs
>> equipment to be able to work to their full ability in class can't
>> start in the fall but must wait until Spring semester. That's
>> ridiculous, in my mind. I wasn't able to keep up with classes on the
>> first week even because I didn't have even basic tools, like a way of
>> taking notes that didn't hurt me more than it helped or a good
>> accessible way of reading textbooks in class. Now I have the
>> VictorStream, so that'll be good for next semester, and they already
>> have my laptop (though they won't release it until all of the stuff
>> comes in).
>>
>> Does anyone else have trouble with late funding release in their
>> state? My local president and state president are pushing me to
>> self-advocate this, but I'm having trouble speaking up for myself (I'm
>> a bit timid in person), and I'm really not sure what I should be
>> demanding. Any suggestions on what I should be doing here? I think I
>> need to advocate for the fund release date to be changed to allow more
>> time, and I know I need to advocate for more students being allowed
>> into the college prep class at the Voc Rehab (they have a 15 week
>> maximum, and there was  a really long waiting list for college prep,
>> so I was unable to get into the college prep class at all). I'm also
>> hoping to see if they'll let me back in the voc rehab for intensive
>> college prep training to make up for the training I didn't get when I
>> was there full-time. They do allow intensive training (one week of
>> working on one subject only), but it is usually computer training, and
>> there is only one teacher there who can teach a scanner, one of the
>> things I'll need to learn, and she's the one who teaches the college
>> prep *and* consumer education classes, plus she has an intern she's
>> supervising, *and* she teaches a cooking class)...they have this poor
>> woman way overworked., and they aren't helping the students meet all
>> their goals by having a limited college prep placements...
>>
>> It's all a bit mess, and any suggestions, ideas, or advice would be
>> gratly appreciated. And horray for my equipment coming in finally!
>>
>> ~Jewel
>>
>> --
>> ~Jewel
>> Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
>> Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>>
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>
>
> --
> ~Jewel
> Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
> Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>
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