[nabs-l] Voc Rehab Appeal

[Suzanne Germano]

What is DOR?

The doctors in AZ do not have all the colors of contacts to try on. In an
achromat filtering light and glare is the most important thing.


On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net>wrote:

> Good morning, Suzanne,
>
>         While I don't share in a belief that DOR can't work for you,
> should you make it work for you, yu were indeed sent on a wild goose chase,
> trying to identify which modifications will suit your visual acuity!
> Hope you found answers, and are able to make use of what you did find,
> that proves helpful.At 08:59 AM 4/18/2013, Suzanne Germano wrote:
>
>> 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...
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