[nfbmi-talk] College Policy now adopted

[laschuck at juno.com]

Hello Elizabeth and all who had input into the college policy, 
I want to encourage you Elizabeth, because the presence of the DLEG form in the policy does not mean that your time was wasted...it just means the battle is still continuing.  
I did not say anything about the policy at the meeting because I am looking forward to testing it out as Anna turns 18 this year and moves toward her own IPE.  We will have to see how they take her requests for financial support in a certificate program in music...and how they address her need for music software and a braillenote when she gets out of high school.  Some of this will happen in the next year, and I intend to keep accurate records on how it all happens, so I can testify next year when the policy is up for reauthorization.  But if you, Elizabeth, had not kept at it so hard all the past year, we would not have the stronger policy we have.  I intend to use the IPE process to its fullest advantage, and tell the Commission board all about how the college policy is unfolding in our family.  
On a related topic, I found it a bit distressing that my name was used as partial support for dropping independent living skills from the college evaluation.  Am I wrong, or missing something?  Seems to me that at least checking on a student's ability to live independently is a part of protecting the Commission's investment in a student.  And we know the schools are not teaching independent living skills very well, and that some (even very active) parents think that teaching kids basic living skills is too hard for families and should be done school.   This is a dilemma.  Will kids fall through the cracks when the commission no longer considers daily living skills as part of the skills of blindness necessary for college attendance.  I was (quietly) horrified.  Lydia