[Ohio-talk] HOW DO WE GET IT DONE?

Sat May 16 12:15:50 UTC 2015

I like these comments.
You have food for thought.
I would say that this seems to be a topic that we should put more thought in
to. Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
Shelton via Ohio-talk
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2015 10:18 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Cc: Kaiti Shelton
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] HOW DO WE GET IT DONE?

I wouldn't hasten to say that comissions for the blind are stellar either.
I agree that lumping people who are blind without multiple disabilities in
with the general disabled population has significant problems but comissions
have their own issues, too.  I will say, though, that Michigan's comission
is significantly kinder to students; they'll pay full tuition for any
college in the state, then pay up to the price of Michigan State (the most
expensive college in Michigan) for students who choose to study elsewhere.
That, to me, seems much more fair than the least-cost model that Ohio
currently works under-even though students need to jump through hoops to get
that funding by attending summer programs held by the comission in high
school.  Not all students need to start in community colleges, and not all
students enter degree programs that allow for time to be saved by taking all
the gen eds first.  For those like myself who start classes for our major in
our first year and take them along with gen ed courses the entire time we're
in school it isn't practical or cost-saving to go to a community college
first and automatically add 2 years to your school time.

There is also a huge emphasis on money over the needs of the consumer and
how they want to achieve their goals.  I can understand that the state
shouldn't be paying for needless technology and services but when a consumer
has an educated reason behind their choices, like going to a training
center, the money always wins out.  This is true even though blindness
skills will make finding employment easier since the person will know how to
travel reliably from home to work, cook for themself, be organized, look
professional and be able to advocate with the NFB philosophy in mind, etc.
However, I can't say that I know comissions for the blind have done much
better.  If we are going to get a comission of our own, though, I think it
would take a ton of work at the legislative level.  We'd have to gather data
on the number of blind people who don't have other disabling conditions and
point out the flaws in the current systems available (E.G, cater more to
those with intellectual or multiple disabilities, do not support specific
independence goals which will ultimately make a person more employable,
etc).

On 5/15/15, Milena Zavoli via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Eric and all,
>
> I don't understand why Ohio, Texas and a few other states have chosen 
> to place blind rehab training in the same shoebox as all other
disabilities.
> It never worked.  We need to creat a Commission for the Blind here.  
> The Pan-disabilities umbrella has always short changed the blind.
>
> Ultimately, we need to build our own center to give the blind an 
> incentive to stay in Ohio.  Moving to an NFB-friendly state is 
> challenging to most, because for one thing, the counselors in Ohio 
> won't pay for out-of-state training.  Yes, we are told that we have 
> informed choice, but when it comes to paying up, that concept goes out 
> the window.  Counselors are breaking their own rules, and they don't 
> want to admit to it.
>
> I don't know how we can fund our new center.  Perhaps our legislators 
> will give us a hand if we can show that the existing private agencies 
> are not doing their job effectively. Perhaps someone more 
> knowledgeable on this list has some ideas on how best to proceed.
>
> Even if we don't get our new center right away, more qualified blind 
> individuals need to be hired at these agencies, such as the Cleveland 
> Sight Center.  There should be more blind people hired in rehab and 
> management, and the CSC does not appear to have either of these positions
addressed.
>
> By the way, let's get rid of this Cleveland Sight Center name.  This 
> is not a clinic or medical institution.  What's wrong with the 
> original name--Cleveland Society for the Blind?  Are they so 
> embarrassed about us blind folks or even the word "blind" that they 
> would eliminate it entirely from their lexicon?
>
> Additionally, regarding the Nebraska Center for the Blind's service 
> model, all information is found at:
>
> http://www.ncbvi.nebraska.gov/services/orientation-center/
>
> From the website:
> "Nebraska Center for the Blind has been approved by the National 
> Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB). This approval is 
> granted only to those Centers that meet strict standards for high 
> quality services, uphold a positive philosophy of blindness and high 
> expectations, adhere to Structured Discovery instructional 
> methodology, and are dedicated to assuring genuine Informed Choice for 
> all consumers. The Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually 
> Impaired adheres to these standards of quality assurance in every area of
its service delivery."
>
> Wouldn't it be great if we could express the same philosophy here in Ohio?
> May that day come soon!
>
> Milena Zavoli
>
>
>
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--
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma

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