[nabs-l] Voc Rehab request denied

Thu Apr 11 01:28:37 UTC 2013

Yes I have also found this to be the case for the most part with voc rehab.

I was in school several years ago and requested a copy machine so I could
do all my large printing because the teachers were not putting in thier
book orders in time for APH to large print the books. They denied it at
first but I stood my ground. I showed them that over time this was actually
less expensive and I would be more successful in my courses having large
print form day one and on demand.  I got the copy machine and it really
worked well for my needs.

In this case none of the Arizona eye doctors can do what the one's in
Indiana can. I am only asking for the cost of the exam and the contacts.
The contacts which they approved to buy will not be any cheaper if the A
doctor orders them. But what they will be is the wrong color and darkness
since none of the AZ doctors have adequate means to find the right color.
Some achoromats actually use one color in one eye and one in another. They
did not even offer to pay a portion based on what the AZ vendors would
charge them.

The supervisor is the one who is the problem. The hard part is the
counselor being the middle man so she is not adequately explaining my needs
and why this would be the right choice.

I filed an official appeal. Then I got a call from the ombudsman saying my
counselor told her I no longer wanted to proceed with the appeal. I said
that was not true. I do want the appeal.

I submitted a 15 page document stating my cse including what each of the AZ
doctors said they would do. One picks the color based on a few "most
popular" colors yet most eye doctors have never seen an achromat or fitted
them with the right color filter.

I already spent $1000 out of pocket for script glasses, script sunglasses
and trying to back off the darkness of my contacts by 30% I only needed
these for school or work. While I was unemployed I just used contacts with
script since I wasn't doing any close work. The 30% reduction wasn't
enough. I need to find a different color. The red makes it harder to read.
So it may turn out I need orange or magenta but I won't know that unless I
go to a place that can properly test for the right color.

I can say they did go with my choice for transportable cctv (the magnilink)
and for hand held cctv.

On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 5:26 PM, Robert William Kingett
<kingettr at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm sorry to say that there isn't much that you can do. For contact lenses
> you'll have to pursue that avenue yourself. Even though a rehabilitation
> agency for the blind is supposed to provide you with tools, or resources
> that you'll be able to do your work successfully in school or elsewhere,
> most agencies will only either a, go with what they frequently do, like for
> example getting clients jaws for windows even if they prefer window eyes.
> Why? Because that agency is used to getting JAWS and the like. Or, B, go
> with a cheap solution. Understandable, but unacceptable. Also, from my
> personal experience. Counselors seem to like newly blind people because
> they haven’t yet formed educated opinions about what's better, for them, in
> the adaptive technology market. Those kind of blind people are much easier
> to serve because they will take anything without question and don’t need
> anything anymore complex. Also, even though this is going on a tangent,
> they tend to lean just a bit more appreciatively to simple outcomes. What I
> mean by this is they like the clients with simple needs that can be
> resolved once and that's it and don't need ongoing service, upgrades, etc.
> these are just my personal opinions and don't reflect the agencies as a
> whole because there's some people who work in the field who are real gems,
> and they understand the client, not just understand their immediate needs
> and treat them with a pacifier until later when the client realizes a
> permanent, yet very expensive solution, or the like. Every person is
> different. As I have said, these are just some of the things that I,
> myself, personally, have noticed and they don't reflect every agency or
> every social worker. I’d quietly remind your counselor, not to mention her
> entire staff that this is a facility, a dedicated team, that provides
> vocational rehabilitation. VR accomplishes this by providing support and
> services to promote the acquisition of skills and experiential learning
> that will support the consumer in meeting his/her independent living and
> vocational goals as well as the technology to achieve and acquire such
> learning, or accommodations, not technology, sorry. I didn't have my coffee
> yet. Remember, they are there to provide, you, as a client, specific
> barrier removal including assistive technology or computer training, as
> well as Braille, use of low-vision devises for job related functions,
> and/or other blindness related skill training as well as employment, etc.,
> any kind of training or the tools/technology to acquire the training or
> job. Provision of rehabilitation counseling, as well as access to services
> and resources to support adjustment to blindness to achieve independence is
> given: This refers to the intellectual, emotional, and social adjustment to
> blindness and visual impairment as well as the provision of techniques,
> tools, and equipment which will enable the consumer to achieve independent
> living and travel functioning. You need those lenses to be able to do what
> you need to do and to function independently, use that word. Independently.
> That word will make a lot of people listen. Apart from that, I’d say tell
> their board staff. Provide a logical case with fact sheets and all this to
> present your case saying why you need these lenses. Make a clear case, not
> an emotion filled one. That isn't what you need and that won’t get you
> heard at all. present your case, first, to your counselor, and if she says
> no again, tell her, in plain English, no metaphors, no if’s, ands, or buts,
> tell her that you’re going to go up the chain of command because you were
> denied technology to allow you to function independently. Do this with her
> supervisor. Tell her the same thing. Tell her word for word. Don't change
> anything. Don't add anything or remove anything. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
> Yes, if you have to, contact the president. I hope that this helps you.
>
>
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