[nabs-l] Filing discrimination complaint re NIU TVI program with US Department of Education

Tue Jan 17 14:44:20 UTC 2017

Zach,

If you have already filed a grievance with your school and are not satisfied with the results of that process, filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education is certainly another option that is available to you. However, it is important to keep in mind that if the school has not completed its internal investigation as a result of your grievance, OCR will defer to them until that process has been fully completed.

I am happy to chat with you off-list about things you can do to move the process along.

...Gabe

Gabe Cazares
(410) 659-9314 x 2206
National Federation of the Blind

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carlos Montas via NABS-L
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 5:44 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Carlos Montas; iabs-talk at nfbnet.org; il-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Filing discrimination complaint re NIU TVI program with US Department of Education

Good morning  my name is Carlos Montas.  I am a vocational rehabilitation Counselor.  Please feel free to contact me off list.  I have a contact that may be able to assist you as your formal complaint moves through at ocr.  you can email me at carlos.montas at att.net  Sincerely,  Carlos Montas  

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 17, 2017, at 2:54 AM, wmodnl wmodnl via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I would, you went to a TVI program, one that should accommodate this population better. To all:
> Umass Boston has the best program, I guarantee it. Umass Boston is inclusive all over, you'll love it, come for a visit, bigly it's great, it's great, you know whad I mean. Those others are a horrible disaster and failing miserably. File, file, and then seek out The University Of Massachusetts At Boston for a great inclusive education. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Jan 17, 2017, at 01:24, Zachary N. GriegoDreicer via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>>   Happy new year. I flew all day to Chicago's O'Hare airport the other day from home and was starting to question why I was even coming back to Illinois for another semester after the appaling grade I got in classes I mentioned as being challenging and unpassable due to facing discrimination against all blind students last semester (fall 2016) to you in an earlier email. I had a good long time to think about this as I got further and further away from home, having the question of my voc rehab counsellor and many others of why I didn't transfer to somewhere back home if I'm not going to graduate with what I want to think about, and thought that my best course of action was to just complete the major I switched to after my email to you all last year was sent, especially considering that I can graduate with vocational rehab services undergrad major at the end of the 2017 fall semester. I'm frankly not satisfied with this, because this was planned for down the road, I could accomplish this major at a school much nearer home in an undergraduate path, and I came thousands miles to do the TVI program and am now at this point not even going to graduate with an education credencial. One of my friends suggested the other day that I am within my right to file a complaint to the department of education because a programa for TVIS teachers of visually impaired should most definitelya be accessible. I did file a complaint locally with the school as you guys suggested, but I am highly unsatisfied with how slowly it's progressing and am also highly disappointed in my current situation of being steered off a path that I really wanted to pursue. Nobody else around here has complained or is doing anything about it so I am going to and nobody can now disuade me. I'm not in Illinois just for any program and this is really upsetting that I'm having to do this and that other blind students attending the same program in hopes of the same degree just ran off into the distance and said nothing of it. I'd much rather this not b!
> ecome a legal issue so my friend said the department of ed route will do it and would be much less likely to result in lawyers getting involved. I'm also doing this to try and help, NOT to do a lawsuit. Once the complaint has been received by the department of ed will someone (or a group of people) in NFB be able to please provide representation to guide the school and/or department of ed to make the program accessible? I have hope of returning to this program is something is done about it before December which is my currently scheduled graduation date. Thanks.
>> 
>> Sent from my BrailleNote Touch
>> _______________________________________________
>> NABS-L mailing list
>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/wmodnl%40hotmail.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NABS-L mailing list
> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/carlos.montas%40att.net

_______________________________________________
NABS-L mailing list
NABS-L at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/gcazares%40nfb.org

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and compliance. To find out more visit the Mimecast website.