[nfbmi-talk] regarding bigger issues surrounding college policy

Sun Jun 27 04:39:24 UTC 2010

Lydia,

Thank you for your kind words. While I do not know much about autism, I agree whole-heartedly with what you said about providing individualized services to individuals. In fact, I do not agree that the training center program should be the only way to measure a student’s ability to take part in college courses. While I understand the need for the student assessments, I do not believe they should be the sole factor in determining whether or not a student possesses the ability to succeed in college. Sometimes the best way for someone to learn something is to learn through their mistakes, but it seems as though this process has been taken out of our education system.

In addition, I believe mandating that all students must receive this assessment at the training center is in violation of the student’s right to make an informed choice as set forth in the federal Rehabilitation Act as amended. If the agency denies this right to a student when they choose another entity to provide the assessment service based on their individual needs, then I would believe they would not only be failing to provide individualized services, but would be violating the student’s right to informed choice as well.

I also do not see why a student would have to demonstrate their ability to successfully participate in college courses if they have already demonstrated this ability by attending college on their own without the support of the Michigan Commission for the Blind. There seems to be a trend right now where many college students, especially at the community college level, where older students are going back to school as a way to polish up their resumes while collecting unemployment. If an older student came to the Michigan Commission for the Blind, and they have been a student in the past, or have even successfully managed a household, then I do not believe they should have to go through the scrutiny of attending the assessment program at the training center. I think real world experience should qualify as an assessment tool.

I believe the Michigan Commission for the Blind should realize that not every student is the same. As a result, I believe that a good college policy should allow for exceptions without even calling them exceptions. Everything should be based on the client counselor relationship. There appears to be nothing in the Michigan Rehabilitation Services college policy about appealing to the services administrator for every little exception to their policy, so why exactly should it be included as part of the college policy for the Michigan Commission for the Blind?

So anyways, I guess these are just more thoughts to add to the whole college policy debate.

Elizabeth

> From: laschuck at juno.com
> Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:53:42 +0000
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] regarding bigger issues surrounding college policy
> 
> Hello list,
> First I want to commend Elizabeth. I have known her for a number of years, and want to say how exciting it has been to see her step up to this task that is so discouraging at times. Great job, Elizabeth!
> My main issue has been with the need to have a policy that shows trust of both the commission staff and consumers. Our policy toward anything in any area of disability should have a sense of trust in the consumer to want the best for themselves. Why would a blind student or any other student deliberately drag out their education just to bother the commission?
> That trust needs to extend to people who have developmental and cognitive disabilities in addition to blindness. This includes my daughter, Anna, but she is not my reason for pushing this. My reason has to do with the many blind kids I know from camp, and the youth I know in the autism community who need an individualized approach to their futures. As autism hits the adult rehab services setting in ever larger numbers, something is going to have to change, so that agencies can and will do what they are supposed to do to serve consumers.
> I have focussed on the time issue because it is such an obvious factor, but there are all kinds of things that will have to be considered. Is a high functioning autistic blind teen required to stay at the training center to do the summer college-readiness program, or to do the 2 week college assessment? I believe residence at the training center is required for one of those programs, or maybe both. Why does that have to be? Does a student with cognitive disabilities have to pass the college assessment in order to be part of a post-secondary experience made specially for students with cognitive disabilities? Does a student who wants to be a freelance writer have to go into a full college program just so he can take every course at the community college that relates to American History? If a student can succeed with a part time course load, but not full time, why should the commission take issue with part-time studies?
> What about food? No one would make a training center student with allergies eat foods that make him sick. Yet a training center student could be forced to live in a building with offensive noises, even just the flourescent lighting, because everybody has to live in the training center building. 
> I am arguing for a degree of individualization in everything that is not related to skills of blindness or academics. Some people could handle classes in a building with lights that make noise, but not if there is vacuuming in the hall or mowing during class hours. Those are just part of autism. People need other supports to succeed, and part of that support might be living off of the training center campus, or working by correspondence, or other creative solutions.
> I am not going on any longer here, but just want to say that I am not going to college meetings in part because I think this battle for truly individual approaches to rehab is going to come up and bite us again before too long, regarding every policy that is made...so I am saving my energy for a bit!! Lydia
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nfbmi-talk mailing list
> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nfbmi-talk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/lizmohnke%40hotmail.com

_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_1