a clean slate

I believe that everything that happens...just happens.  There is no purpose to it.  It is a clean slate.  Neutral.   It is what we are able to do with it that makes it purposeful. 

 

Curious Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: R. E. Driscoll Sr

To: Carl Jarvis

Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011 9:23 AM

Subject: Re: [acb-l] sleep shades, mobility and rehab

Carl:
Over the years many things have happened to me in my life.  Some of them were pleasant and some were unpleasant.  However, I have personally held (and believed) that almost everything that occurs has a purpose and, if we try with sufficient vigor, can be turned into something that will prove to be of value to that person.
Regards,
Dick

On 3/26/2011 9:25 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:

True enough Ken. 

That is a function of VR.  But I'm suggesting that it is not a function of the Orientation Center.  Most states do not have the staffing or funding to provide both services in-house.  For example, since I went through the Orientation Center long before computers, I might say to my VR Counselor that upon entering college I discovered that my 10 words per minute Braille was not going to allow me to take and retrieve notes from class lectures. 

Should he then displace a student from full time participation in the Center in order to send me back for additional Braille training?  Any time the instructor gives to me, is time taken away from another newly blinded student. 

I assessed my skills and solved my note taking problem by tape recording all my lectures.  This created double work for me.  I would sit up late nights revisiting the lectures and slowly Brailling out my notes.  But it did force me to improve my Braille skills, something I would need for the rest of my life. 

So my question is this, who is responsible for training you once you have your basic skills in place? 

Again, when I became lost on the vast campus of the University of Washington, I did not go back to my O&M instructor or to my VR Counselor and demand advanced training.  I called my dad and we spent weekends walking the campus until I had my routes down pat.  Should that have been a service provided to me by the agency?  Or was it time for me to put to work the rudimentary skills, and develop them under field conditions? 

 

As a Rehab Teacher, my goal is to provide you the basic information and skills and self belief that allows you to take charge of your life.  Part of that business of taking charge is problem solving.  Some of that we do on an individual basis, but much of it we can do collectively.  In our state we have a strong chapter of the ACB.  We constantly work with our agency and with our legislature and with our schools to provide the accommodations we need.  Even so, it's a struggle.  But so is all of life.  In fact, how dull life would be if everything came easy. 

 

Carl Jarvis

Carl and all.

This may work in some areas to send the blind students to community computer programs, but that doesn't always work. I personally believe that if someone completes his/her basic computer skills and wishes to work in the field of computer science, he/she will still require help from rehab. In dealing with vocational rehab, we shouldn't stop short of the needs of each client as long as they are reasonable. I've known several clients of rehab, both blind and sighted, in California who have been clients for 20 years and more. Now, that's ridiculous.

KEN

From: acb-l-bounces@acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces@acb.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2011 5:10 PM
To: Baracco, Andrew W; acb-l@acb.org
Subject: Re: [acb-l] sleep shades, mobility and rehab

Ashley, Andy and All,

Point well made Andy.  When I directed the training center in Seattle, I was under constant pressure by VR Counselors and clients to provide advanced training, usually in computer science.  I would point out that our mandate was to provide basic adjustment to blindness.  Once a student completed the training, they would possess the necessary tools to return to the real world and either continue their education or enter the job market. 

Carl Jarvis

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