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

Wed Mar 27 03:44:04 UTC 2013

Kaiti and all,

First, I'm going to send you an email off-list that you can choose to
respond or not respond to. If you are at least interested, please take
a look at it.

Second, one huge problem with society today is that we're all
me-based. I want an O&M instructor. I want a counselor to talk to and
that will provide me with not only an assistive blindness device
(braille writer), but also the paper that goes along with it. I mean,
paper isn't that expensive and sighted students don't have paper and
pencils bought for them? Oops, nope? Never mind, we're blind. Sorry
about that. Anyway ...

My point to the above comments wasn't to bash you Kaiti. Not at all.
It was to get some heads thinking about the process that is known as
VR and the amount of waste that goes into it. If the NFB truly fought
for independence, then they would be working to legally reform the
rehab system if not abolish it completely in hopes of getting some set
of standards that establish a blind subset of rehab with counselors
specifically trained in the blindness field that do not have to meet
the same requirements as the rest of rehab and those that work for
them. Any individual that goes through some sort of blindness training
would know what a braille writer is. Anyone that goes through
blindness training would know that blind people require accessible
materials when speaking with and providing services for their
clients/consumers... Oh, and by the way I can't think of a more
offensive word. "consumer"! Ha! And do we all know who pays the
baboons that claim to help the blind find jobs? Oh yes, that's
right... the blind people that actually work! Oh, and everyone else,
sighted or blind that pays into the system. Hmmmm. That brings up
another point...

I happen to know your counselor. If I were to take as many vacation
days as she does, and if I never responded to emails or didn't bother
to read them enough to comprehend the point of those emails, then
should I be serving taxpayers? Hmmm... Logic tells me um, no. Which
means that there should be an oversight process to get rid of
incompetence that are the agencies that claim to service the blind in
Cincinnati, along with the sorry excuse of an individual that serves
the youth's rehab needs.

Ok, enough rambles. Time to actually get off my soap box and be
productive ... So, what is my solution to all of this? Kaiti, you and
not your mother needs to be up that counselor's butt every spare
moment that you have. Your mother is of course able to support you on
the sidelines, but her time of standing up for you with rehab is over.
They won't listen to one word she says. And it doesn't stop there.
Every single time that you receive an email with a response that has
nothing to do with what your question was, send your original email
and her response to her supervisor, and follow the appeals process
found in the handbook that they like to give out. Request a counselor
change. And get as much support behind you as you can from your
university and from national organizations such as the NFB. Because
the NFB truly does do a lot to help out the blind.

Joshua, I don't believe that the only good rehab counselors are blind
ones. In fact, I've met some sorry ones. I've met one that I would not
trust to tie my shoe, let alone teach me anything or prepare me for
the real world. Sorry, but I strongly believe that sighted people can
do just as well as the blind ones. But it takes some talent, and it
takes a determination to always keep your mind open to learn. Because
the second the job becomes just another "job" or the second they
figure out that they know every possible thing there is to know, then
they become terrible counselors. Joshua, if you believe that you can
do better than the counselors currently out there, then I wish you
lots and lots of luck. Unfortunately, the system is what's broken, and
not necessarily the counselors. I agree that there are some very poor
sorry counselors. But the system in which they have to work is even
more broken. I just hope that doesn't discourage you from doing your
all and putting a smile on the faces of the people you will serve.
Just don't be too surprised when you're not able to do everything you
set out to do.

At any rate, it's getting late and Nimer is done rambling now. If
anyone has any further questions or wishes to discuss this with me
privately, please give me a call at 5136465573 after 6:00 PM eastern,
or shoot me an email to nimerjaber1 at gmail.com at any time. These kinds
of topics interest me, and I am deeply saddened that many youth,
particularly in Ohio, end up stuck in a system that does more harm
than good.

Laters all!

On 3/26/13, Joshua Lester <JLester8462 at pccua.edu> wrote:
> Mike:
> I have a friend in Minnisota, who is originally from Ohio.
> She left Ohio, and moved to MN, because they have better services!
> I'm thinking about moving up north as well, because our services in Arkansas
> are pretty lame!
> Blessings, Joshua
> ________________________________________
> From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Mike Freeman
> [k7uij at panix.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 3:26 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] VR thoughts/what do you all think?
>
> kaiti:
> First, it is obvious that you live in a state that has a general rehab
> agency rather than one dealing specifically with blindness. This is
> unfortunate as you have discovered. However, knowing what you need and want
> and being able to cogently articulate your needs will go a long way toward
> fulfilling them. You've seem this in the case of the Perkins braillewriter.
> Second, why do you need an O&M specialist to show you around campus? Could
> not a friend or family member do the job? When you graduate and enter the
> world of work, you won't have O&M instructors at your beck and call. It is
> definitely helpful to develop the skill of learning new routes and places
> with minimal assistance. This is the essence of structured discovery
> learning. Could your DSS office help? This way, you wouldn't have to worry
> about rehab at all.
>
> Mike Freeman
> sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 26, 2013, at 12:49, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> 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
>
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-- 
Cordially,

Nimer Jaber

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