[nabs-l] Voc Rehab Appeal

[Suzanne Germano]

I appealed a decision on March 15th and requested mediation. On April 11th
I emailed my counselor to in quire if she and her supervisor had agreed to
mediation. On April 12th her supervisor sends me a letter which clearly
shows he never read the appeal documentation and asked if I was agreeable
to the conditions of the letter or if I wanted ot continue with mediation.
Seeing that they are still denying the request and he clearly does not even
understand the request I had to fax him today saying No I do not agree and
still want mediation. I think it was a delay technique since I need the
approval by May 14th.

I simply do not understand why if their goal is to help us become employed
why everything is such a battle and nothing they do makes sense.

It was all I could to to keep form saying "clearly you did not read my
original request or my appeal with supporting documentation or you would
have never sent the letter you did"

This is part of what I wrote in the appeal

 "I am appealing the denial of services dated Feb 28, 2013 based on the
fact that the three contracted vendors in AZ cannot provide the service I
requested.

I have complete achromatopsia which part is severe light sensitivity. I
have been wearing red contacts since 1995 when I had them prescribed by Dr
Hagerston-Portnoy at UC Berkley who studies Achromatopsia.   Until January
2013 my vision requirements for the red contacts were for mainly outside
and very bright places (i.e. grocery stores).   However, since I decided to
fulfill a lifetime goal of completing my degree and returning to work; my
requirements have changed.  The current contacts are too dark and very
likely the wrong color for 8-10 hours a day of classroom and homework. The
classrooms are not extremely bright as many dim the lights somewhat for
power point presentations. It is still much to bright for no filter but too
dark for the reds I have. I have also noticed that the red makes reading
difficult. After much research I have found many achromats go with a
lighter filter or even a different color browns, magentas etc. I already
tried reducing the color by 30%, from my original red from 1995, through my
low vision specialist who provides the contacts. I paid $400 for the
contacts in addition to the exam just to find out that even this level is
not right for reading.

I requested for RSA to cover the cost of a very specialized low vision
contact lens exam and the contacts through Eye Associates in Indianapolis.
Dr Windsor and Associates work primarily with acromats and specialize in
being able determine the right color and percent color of the lenses. It is
an extensive 4 hours appointment in which I try on contact lenses of
several colors and darkness and see how they work for reading , and how
they work outside with my script sunglasses. What will be the best for the
average lighting I will be in during class and in study areas of campus."

I included documentation about each of their contracted vendors and how
they determine color. None of them did anything similar to Eye Associates.
They only use very limited color choices. The low vision clinic in Indiana
has several contacts to try. They spend 4-5 hours just determining color.
Some achomats even use one color in one eye and one in the other. The Drs
jsut use "the most popular colors"


So frustrating...