[rehab] Justification Letter

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

It's a good letter.  I think Eddie's comments are also useful.

In Oregon, mentioning to your VR counselor -- or especially to the VR
Director -- that your goal is to become a contributing taxpayer results in a
surprising level of hostility from them even said in writing in pretty much
the way you did.  Which seems pretty clear and noncombative to me, and is
really why the VR system was created in the first place.  /smile/

I do find it interesting how you focus on the issue of confidence building
and how you did not receive that at the Lighthouse...  I'm up here in
Oregon, so have no notion of what really happens there in the Sunshine
State, and I don't really knkow you, so I'm not commenting on you so much
when I say that.

It's just that, in addition to a tendency towards physical abuse resulting
in injuries at our State's Living Skills Center, the way the counselors and
staff -- and directors and even the administrator if you are stubborn enough
to see what happens up the ladder when it's time to do that -- talk to their
clients in a way than can only be termed "verbally abusive."  Then they will
assure you that it is their job to give you confidence!  They also have a
nasty habit of refusing to answer questions at all, and to answer
dishonestly.  This, for me at least, creates an utter lack of confidence in
them.  I am fortunate to be one of those people with a natural
self-confidence apart from external validation, and I'm old enough and
experienced enough that I can withstand the really aggressive, rude and --
in person, behaviorally aggressive and intimidating -- treatment without
being undone by it.  I know myself, including my real faults and where I
need to work to improve or to pay attention to not let those get the  better
of me.  I also know my strengths...  Anyway, blah, blah.  The abuse, the
black mail of insisting consumers put up with it in order to earn the
resource and services the agency can be counted on *not* to provide anyway,
is really appalling to me.  Among other things.  For them to then insist in
sticky-sweet voices that they just want to give blind people confidence
makes it difficult to maintain anything like an appropriate expression or
manner.  /lol/  I manage, but I have to focus on my facial muscles
specifically and set my emotions aside to do it.  And to maintain an even,
reasonable vocal tone and use professionally appropriate language and
phrasing if I feel a verbal response would be useful.  Good grief!
Apparently, what they want is cowering because my ability to keep my cool
under pressure does not result in a reduction of their hostility; rather,
the opposite.

Thus, I am glad to hear someone else address the confidence issue and how
another agency is counterproductive when it comes to that.  Being a newly
blind adult is pretty tough on one's world view and identity, I noticed when
I was in that phase.  What one needs most, if one is naturally
self-motivated and self-confident -- as you must be, given your educational
background and other accomplishments -- is adaptive skills to maintain one's
ability to function, and the tools to use them.  Which, at least in the case
of Oregon, is what the agency was created by law to provide.

Actually, I'm almost entirely self-taught because I was out in the sticks,
and I had a life to live and all and a job to do and everything.  Only
getting a warm body out for an assessment at the work place didn't really
happen, and they kept insisting the first thing I needed to do was come for
12 weeks of training...  Not true, BTW.  And they didn't seem to have what I
needed, once I had worked through their vague non-answers to my questions.
I only caved and went to them for assessment because I had reached the point
where I needed a Braille display -- a high-end one because of my career work
-- and couldn't figure out how to get them to my work site to work with my
employer on getting that...  Etc.  Sigh.  So that mistake has cost me real
money and lost income to the tune of somewhere in the 6 figures so far, and
it's going to carry on.

Okay, rant over.  /smile/  Back to checking out the local job market, now
that I'm recovered enough from the injuries and have been able to finish
giving myself the braille competency and what not to go looking for work by
my ownself like I'ave always done.  It's not too encouraging out there yet,
but there's getting to be more available.  Yay!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of RJ Sandefur
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 3:00 PM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List
Subject: [rehab] Justification Letter

Need help with writing this justification letter to my councilor. I don't
know if I'm getting my point across. RJ