Rather than leave my posts on my page at MyBO (Barack Obama), I'm going to repost them here - either as is or with minor changes. This is the first of such posts; it explains my journey through the years with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
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I began with Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) when I was 16. They agreed to pay for driving lessons at the local university where they had a modified van (which they did). From my memory, which is not always completely correct, they had also agreed to pay for van modifications after I got my license.
They never did.
I remember being very angry about that, and it ended up taking much longer to buy a van and modify it - which is beyond expensive. Admittedly it didn't give me a good impression of this agency that was supposed to help.
When people with disabilities graduate high school, you lose resources. In high school, you have teachers, counselors, and some even have someone specifically for transition from high school. Once you graduate, you are on your own as far as navigating the transition. This is scary for able-bodied teens, but when disabled you have so many more variables.
My first year of college had its ups and downs, but one of the biggest issues was who paid for my PCA (personal care attendant). DVR first began paying, but after a bit they stopped paying. Finally, I was told we had to switch that over to Medicaid. By then, I had no less than three PCA's quit coming to work, including one who never came to help me get up for a final exam.
They did pay for some of my tuition and all my books and supplies at both colleges (I transferred after my second year). After a couple terms at the second college, I ended up needing to drop out and move home. My health kept getting worse so I wasn't using DVR services. When I was finally ready, I made up a presentation to convince them to pay for art school. By this time, I had a new DVR counselor. I was told that for them to pay for anymore school they wanted to be sure I could make it. That's fair, though the way it was put across made me angry. The specific events of this time are sketchy, but I know they asked me to both see a psychologist - I couldn't go to anyone but "their" psychologist - and they asked me to sign a release of my medical records. I refused both, though I was willing to see a psychologist of my own choosing; I didn't trust what I saw as an "in-house" professional. I wasn't as lenient about the records; I flat out refused until a lawyer looked at the form.
That was when my case ended up being closed. They'll say it was because of missed appointments, but I say it's because I wasn't going to bow to their every wish.
DVR is supposed to help people gain skills for the workforce. What I saw was an agency that desperately wanted every client to go to a technical college. But everyone is different, and they need to embrace that and actually work with us to better our lives.