[nfbwatlk] [Wcb-l] setback

[Carl Jarvis]

Interesting position on the part of the OTC director.  Have you solicited 
the intervention of your VR counselor?  Have you spoken to the Client 
Assistance people?  Jerry Johnson?
And have you contacted the WCB Advocacy Committee?
Did you request that the OTC's position be given to you in writing, 
identifying why they cannot continue with your training while your wrist is 
in a cast?
Were you told that blind people with broken wrists can't take care of 
themselves?  Good Lord, we worked with a woman, over 65 years of age, in a 
wheel chair, paralyzed on one side from a stroke, living alone in her home 
and doing pretty darn fine.

Carl Jarvis


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin LaRose" <kevin at kevinlarose.net>
To: <wcb-l at wcbinfo.org>
Cc: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 1:35 PM
Subject: [Wcb-l] setback


> Up until last week, I was continuing to make great progress at the OTC. We
> were just about to start doing mobility routes in the business district of
> Columbia City, and cooking was going to get interesting. Last Wednesday,
> however, I suffered a setback. I collided with a fellow student in the
> hallway, and I fell and broke my wrist. I am having surgery to get it
> repaired on Wednesday at Swedish Hospital. I was disappointed, to say the
> least, in how this incident was handled by the OTC staff. I felt like I 
> was
> capable of taking care of myself. I was able to shower, dress myself, and
> even took out my garbage on one occasion. However, the OTC director was
> convinced that I was not able to take care of myself and would be a
> potential liability. We had a very discouraging talk Friday afternoon.
> Actually, it wasn't much of a two-way conversation. The bottom line of the
> "discussion" was that I was told to leave the apartments and go back to my
> mom's until my surgery. T ome, this felt like custodial treatment of the
> worst sort. As I indicated earlier, I had already determined that there 
> were
> things I could do using my one good hand; and I could probably have 
> figured
> out strategies to make other tasks work as well, but they were not willing
> to even give me a chance. I have been laboring under the impression that 
> one
> of the major goals of this program was to foster independence. Their
> reaction to my accident makes me wonder if that commitment is fully there 
> on
> their part. If this is coming across rather harshly, it's because I cannot
> remember being angrier about anything for a long time. Right now I am
> finding it hard to not question OTC's commitment to me and my success. 
> They
> certainly did not seem to show much confidence in me or my abilities in 
> this
> instance.
>
> Thanks for reading, I just had to vent.
>
>
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