[Nfbf-l] Fwd: [fcb-l] another story on dbs chanel 6

[Bill Outman]

My first reaction to this is to wonder why there wasn't a written
educational plan and why this equipment wasn't included in that plan.  

Too many times we have issues with families having trouble working with the
educational system, and this illustrates the need for advocacy organizations
so there isn't the need to continually re-invent the wheel.  

Bill Outman 



-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbf-l [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Beth Taurasi
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 3:43 AM
To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Fwd: [fcb-l] another story on dbs chanel 6

Omg, this is horrible.  I don't know why people are having problems like
that.

Sent from my iPod

On Jan 17, 2013, at 11:07 AM, Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: "Montas, Carlos" <Carlos.Montas at dbs.fldoe.org>
>> Date: January 17, 2013, 1:02:43 PM EST
>> To: <carlos.montas at gmail.com>
>> Subject: FW: [fcb-l] another story on dbs chanel 6
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Carlos Montas
>> Senior Rehabilitation Specialist
>> Division of Blind Services
>> 1185 Dunn Avenue
>> Daytona Beach, Florida  32114
>> Phone: 386-254-3807
>> Fax: 386-239-6107
>> Email: carlos.montas at dbs.fldoe.org
>> 
>> From: fcb-l-bounces at acb.org [mailto:fcb-l-bounces at acb.org] On Behalf 
>> Of Easy Talk
>> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 6:20 AM
>> To: fcb-l at acb.org
>> Subject: [fcb-l] another story on dbs chanel 6
>> 
>> Tallahassee, FL - The parents of a visually impaired girl are raising 
>> new concerns about Florida's Division of Blind Services.
>> They say they're not getting the help for their daughter DBS promised.
>> They're so concerned, the family drove all the way from St. Augustine 
>> to Tallahassee to talk to us about it.
>> Victoria Parson is an 11 year old sixth grader.
>> Visually impaired since birth, Victoria only has limited sight in her
left eye.
>> She says it makes school work especially difficult.
>> "I do stress a lot keeping up with work and stuff and finding proper ways
to do things,"
>> said Victoria.
>> To help with that school work, Victoria and her parents entered into 
>> a verbal agreement with Florida's Division of Blind Services to have
Victoria use a machine.
>> The reader or CCTV machine scans and magnifies pages to help Victoria
read them.
>> Tammy Parson says as part of the August, 2010 deal, DBS agreed to 
>> take care of the reader's maintenance for three years.
>> But Tammy says it's broken down twice, hasn't worked for months and 
>> despite her best efforts to get DBS to fix it, it hasn't happened.
>> "They haven't called to say let's try something else, let's see about 
>> getting another one, let's take another route," said Tammy. "They 
>> just called and said they weren't fixing it or paying any more money and
that's it," she said.
>> What also troubles Tammy is she was told by her DBS case worker the 
>> machine was new, even though she gave it to her without a box.
>> However, when she checked after it broke a second time, she found an 
>> invoice showing DBS bought the machine in 2008, more than two years
before it was given to Victoria.
>> "I don't feel they were honest," said Tammy.
>> Additionally, the vendor listed on the invoice is not the same one 
>> who Tammy says she was directed to contact after the machine broke down.
>> She says that vendor told her she used to work for Blind Services, 
>> but quit her job to start her business.
>> As we reported last month, four DBS employees, including former 
>> Director Joyce Hildreth either resigned or were fired in the wake of a
private vendor scandal.
>> The bottom line for Tammy is getting Victoria the help she needs.
>> "I've called numerous times asking questions, never get any answers,"
Tammy said.
>> "I get the runaround or I'm told I ask too complicated questions," she
said.
>> "I think they should help me considering that I am visually impaired 
>> and my needs are going to be different from everybody else's," said
Victoria.
>> A Blind Services Spokeswoman tells us the agency can't comment on
individual clients.
>> However, she also says DBS is investigating the buying process for 
>> Victoria's machine _______________________________________________
>> fcb-l mailing list
>> fcb-l at acb.org
>> http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/fcb-l
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