[nabs-l] VR thoughts/what do you all think?

[justin williams]

I think for you a meeting with your counselor and her supervisor is in
order.  You definitely need to ask directly why your concerns not being
addressed.  Be very direct.  Bring up all of your concerns.  Write them down
and be organized.  Don't forget a thing.  Everything in thie email, bring
up.  
You can maybe get a friend or relative to help you learn the parts of campus
that you need.  Aybe using the mobility guy at the end of December would
have been alright; it would have gotten part of the job done.  However,
just be aggressive, and use your skill.  Oh, and there is always cap.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 3:49 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] VR thoughts/what do you all think?

Hi all,

Okay, so I'll confess that part of the reason I'm writing this email is to
vent about my current circumstances, but more importantly than that I am
interested in seeing how other states or parts of the country run their voc
rehab services.  I apologize if this email sounds venty, as in order to
explain what I'm talking about I'll need to give specific examples, but I am
really interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter based on your own
experiences.

The thing that makes me the most uncomfortable with the voc rehab system in
my state is that the councelors don't necessarily know much about blindness,
let alone what a blind student truly needs to be successful.  My councelor
fills her job capacity in terms of knowing how to do the paperwork, but my
own mother has told me that when they chat as I'm signing papers and my mom
brings up something relatively fundamental like a conversation about
navigating campus or something, she'll notice that what she says goes over
my councelor's head.  This has caused a few concerning events in terms of
the authorizations that have been made for me.  In December for example I
requested orientation and mobility training so I could go through my second
semester schedule, as there were a few buildings I would need to use that I
had not been to yet.  I got in touch with my O&M guy and we planned to set
up a time in January.  I emailed my councelor and told her this, but then my
O&M specialist emailed me back and asked if I would be on campus after the
first semester ended in December, because that was when training was
authorized.  I had to email my councelor and tell her that the reason for
going with January was that campus closed the last day of finals week, and a
few days prior to the start of the second term I would be back on campus and
most of the academic buildings would be reopened.  Another time for this
same semester I requested a Perkins Brailler, specifically specifying that
the traditional braillers were much sturdier and more reliable than the
plastic ones and justifying my request.  When I got a call from my vendor
she first informed me that the braillers were out of stock until February,
half way through my semester, and then asked me what color I wanted.  I told
her that the new brailler was not what I thought I was getting and she got
in touch with the councelor.  I ended up getting a traditional anyway on the
grounds that although the new generations were out of stock, there were
plenty traditionals available, and I needed one as I am taking math this
semester.  I know the system isn't there to grant my request, but it
bothered me that I justified my reasoning why for both events and that my
councelor, who doesn't necessarily know what I need, ignored it and wrote
authorizations which would not work.  The kicker, which really shows that
the councelors don't know much about blindness or the equipment students
use, is after I got off the phone with the vendor, I suddenly wondered if
the councelor authorized braille paper to go along with it.  I called the
vendor back and found that paper was not included in the authorization, so
the vendor had to call the councelor back and get braille paper added so I
could actually use the brailler.  I mean, to anyone who really knows the
basics of blindness, ordering paper for the pencil-equivalent brailler seems
like a no-brainer.  I'm wondering why if the state employs people who aren't
necessarily knowledgeable about the consumers they serve why they don't make
an effort to educate and inform the councelors so they can better meet their
consumer's needs?

The other thing that bugs me is the communication problem.  I understand
that councelors are busy, that some travel between offices, and that because
of these things they're not always easy to get ahold of.  What I don't
understand are a few of the communication issues whichh could be easily
solved.  My councelor and I often play phone tag; once in the summer I
called her during the early afternoon hours and when my call was returned a
few days later it was before 8:00 in the morning before I was even out of
bed.  I tried using emails instead, thinking that she probably has computer
access more frequently.  Sometimes when I send her paperwork I'll also take
the opportunity to ask for clarification.  I've found that when she does
respond to receiving the paperwork she usually doesn't answer my question
from the same email.  Other times, like when I sent those emails about the
brailler and mobility authorization in December, I may not get a response at
all.

Repetition of paperwork is another frustrating issue.  In Ohio they've just
started making students fill out these forms once a month which report our
major, number of credits, where we're going to school, and how much class
was missed.  I understand the need for this, as perhaps there were issues
when students who dropped classes or changed their plans didn't report to
their councelors as they are supposed to, but if someone were to lie or
withhold information from their councelor why would they not lie on the form
as well?  And to those of us who are solid students who do what we're
supposed to, don't skip class and let our councelors know about the major
changes, it's just an inconvenience that is preaching to the choir.  We also
have to do these interviews with a professional in our field.  I've done two
so far, once over the summer for the pre-college interview and again last
semester.  This semester one of my music therapy professors is trained in a
specific type of therapy model that interests me.  The interview sheet we
have to go by has basic questions about the salary, what the job outlook is
like, etc.  I asked my councelor if it would be okay for me to come up with
my own interview questions which would build off of what I've learned so far
and that would take advantage of the opportunity to talk to this person
about their specific training.  She replied and said we had to use the form
every time.  To me, this seems really redundant.  I don't see the point in
asking different people the same questions and coming up with very similar,
if not the same answers; if we're going to do that, then why not just use
the same interview each time.  I also don't see the point of doing it if
gaining different perspectives on the field isn't an available option.
 I was talking to my mom about this, and although she reiterated that
although the system is dumb all students have to do it, she agreed with me
and stated that one of the systems worst flaws is that the expectation is so
low that they don't want you to learn from the things you do through them,
they just want the paperwork.

Seguing off of that, the last thing that bugs me, (I promise), and the thing
that bugs my mom the most actually, is that the system does not allow for
students to complete their paperwork independently based on their low
expectations.  When the monthly report form was distributed through email it
was attached as a pdf file.  As we know, pdfs aren't the best with
screenreaders, and more importantly aren't editable.
The state clearly intended for these forms to be printed and filled out with
a pen or pencil, which does not align with independence as most blind
students in the voc rehab system would not be able to do this without
sighted assistance.  I emailed my councelor and asked if it would be
possible to get a word copy of the document so I could fill it out myself.
Like the braille and O&M emails, that message did not get a response.  This
isn't the first time I noticed it; when I was a sophomore in high school and
just getting set up with voc rehab they would send print forms about job
interest and searching to my house.  A friend and I went to our councelor (a
different one from the one we have now), and asked if we could get text or
word files instead of the print copies and she didn't really understand why.
We explained that we obviously couldn't read the files ourselves or write on
them, but using our notetakers or laptops we could complete them if given an
accessible copy, we even told her she could just email us the file as an
attachment.  She really didn't know what to do about this.
It boggles me how a program designed to train blind students to be competent
and independent adults won't even allow them to do something so simple as
their paperwork on their own.  Are their expectations of blind students
really that low, and if so them giving money to college students who do the
bulk of their work independently is hypocritical.
(If they even know that we do most of our work independently without someone
to hold our hand and scribe all our assignments for us).  My mom thinks that
the system is just still stuck in the 80's or 90's when not many blind kids
successfully completed college, as opposed to now when a lot of them do, but
that is no excuse.  If they're that stuck in the past then something far
worse than their low expectations is wrong with the system.

Sorry for the venting rant, but if any of you have thoughts or commentary on
this or your own situations please feel free to compare and write about it.
I'm really interested in hearing other people's experiences.

Thanks,

--
Kaiti

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