Category: Daily Living
Hey all. So after a lot of research into the different options, I have decided to go to the Colorado Center for the Blind for training in a couple months. I am really nervous about this, not knowing what to expect from it really, but I think it will be a good experience for me. If anyone has gone through the program and can give me an idea what to expect, that would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone lives in the area, let me know. I am also looking forward to making a new group of friends while I am out there as well.
have you received the go-ahead from your state's rehab agency as far as their financial support for adjustment to blindness training at CCB? Finding the right center for you is one thing, but the other frustration is asking rehab, (especially if you live outside the state where the center is located), for funding to attend the adult comprehensive program. I have not gone through CCB myself, but I understand the frustration of dealing with all the hoops you have to jump through to get to where you need to be. My state definitely is in need of a makeover when it comes to helping blind adults.
Yeah, I can't imagine any of the state counselors in Ohio that I have met over the years letting someone go outside the state.
Anyway, good luck. I understand being nervous, but I'm sure you'll learn a lot and be more confident in your abilities once you have gone through the training.
If you have to justify this to someone else, it's going to force you to really consider things and get rid of the "I don't know" factor. My daughter wanted to go to a private college instead of a publicly funded one, she had to convince her frandpa and me of why. And just like a blind person in this situation won't be able to use blind vs. not blind as reasoning, she could not use "Dad's an atheist so he doesn't understand my belief and following my heart". Justification is justification, and it's done meritocratically.
Explain to them why the taxpayers in your state should pay to send you to another state's expensive program, why any program in your state is deficient for the returns on investment you hope to achieve.
My personal opinion, you'd be better suited to find you a private financier, since state tax dollars being pumped out of state to interstate corporations is particularly unpopular among taxpayers, and tends to attract political attention these days.
In either case, your ability to convince someone to fund you is going to do one of two things: strengthen your case and your personal resolve to make good on this investment, or cause you to change your mind in favor of a different approach.
Bear in mind, just like I told my daughter, where finances are involved, investment has to create a greater return, and often the initial path one hopes to embark on isn't the one you end up using. You should watch the television show "Shark Tank" where people have to justify their innovation or business idea to potential investors. You'll notice how often they have to change course -- either get a different investor, or change their end product to make it financeable.
It's possible my daughter could have failed to convince me and her grandpa that this particular private (Christian, in her case) college was better suited than the state university who has a good program in her area. Had she failed to convince us, then despite what the popular narrative states, it would not have been because we're such evil atheist types that persecute poor little believers. And if you fail to convince the state, it's not because the State is against blind people or blind independence.
In either case, it's not the state's job to find a financier for what you want, it's yours. If you can convince the state that it's in the state's interest to pay an out-of-state corporation to fulfill this service for you, then that's you doing the convincing. Not the state. If the state doesn't buy your argument, perhaps someone else will, or you will have to modify your plans in keeping with the financing you can acquire.
Such is the life of *everyone* who seeks financing from someone or something besides themselves. Yu're going to have to do this same thing with private health insurance ompanies when you work and a family member needs something the insurance company doesn't want to pay for. Or when you want to get a loan on a house that the bank doesn't want to finance. Or when you want your boss to approve of an innovation he or she may like, but the investors don't yet think is profitable.
You're on the market, we all are.
Oh and if you can properly manage this, that's one huge step to being financially savvy, one aspect of being individualistic, freethinking, Libertarian (if you wish) and independent. Personally, if you were my son or nephew, I'd be suggesting you look for a private financier instead of the State for the political reasons I mentioned earlier. And if the state doesn't give you what you want, it's possible you can find an alternative center they'll pay for. I, for instance, out-and-out refused my daughter's first attempt at wanting to go to a Christian, in this case unaccredited, college. And yet the second time, she figured it out and the one she came back with will work.
So it's important that whoever you talk to to get financing, if they deny you, that you understand why it was they denied you.
Go watch Shark Tank. It narrates well, you'll know what's going on as a blind person. Watch episodes via Netflix or Youtube or wherever you can find it. And when you sympathize with the small business person who doesn't get what they want, say "That's so unfair," until it's out of your system. Exactly what I told my daughter, and then you have the clear head necessary to stand tall and make a proper case for why the party should invest.
Just don't forget your target audience; What return are they going to get from their investment? And why is this (presumably more expensive) out-of-state option their only way to get that return? They might, for instance, agree it's a good investment but they're on a budget and so can only afford to send you in-state. Or advise you go raise money elsewhere and they supplement. I'm not good at getting government money, though. I'm usually trying hard to keep them from taking mine. *smile*
In any case, millions of people across this country have to do this to investors, bosses, insurance companies, and others all the time. Any of us that aren't independently wealthy have to prove to someone else why investment X for cost Y is the most effective option to return result Z. And we usually have to do so by demonstrating how if investment X is more expensive than some other related investment, Result Z is technically so far superior that it warrants stretching a budget to make it happen.
Feel free to write me privately if you want to run your pitch by me. I'm bnot a government man -- actually pretty non-statist to tell the truth, -- but I am a dad and have a daughter who has had to pitch me ideas that succeed based only on their merit.
Thanks a lot for your perspective, Leo. In fact, the state has little to no programs like CCB they could send me to, so I kind of am forced to go out of state. I always get nervous and a bit jittery when having to have these conversations with people like that, who are trying to fund me. So it should be an interesting discussion in a couple weeks. It takes them forever to respond to calls and emails as well, which doesnt help.
If it takes them forever to respond to phone calls and emails, that's because you're a small fish in a big pond. Only big fish in small ponds get the quick responses and the treatment like royalty.
So, are you saying they have no independence training in your state, or that your needs in this situation are so peculiar that the state has not heard of this before? It's got to be one of the two, if you're seeking state financing.
If it's the first one: They arlready know they have no independence training centers. So you'll have to go online and do research in your state and find out why. Why was this not factored into a state budget. And find out the results of former supplicants who have sought financing for out of state corporate training.
If they have no centers, but the state deems it financially sound to provide in-home training or some sort of localized training classes by day, you're going to have to find a way to convince them to pay for room and board outside the state for a "boarding" setting where you live and go to school there.
All this, only if the state has no training centers at all.
Now, if they do have a training center, but it doesn't provide what you need:
You now have to explain what your need is and how that center doesn't fulfill it. If your "government man," as it were, hasn't heard of your need before, you're going to have to communicate it in a way that person can understand. Again, "talking shop" isn't going to do the trick.
There's a famous rocket scientist, whose name escapes me, who said the following: "No theory is worth shit unless you can explain it to a bartender." Some of the stuff sent to me from certain blind organizations is frankly written in what looks like educator-speak. Which means I miss most of it except for the rhythmic, political dogmatic parts. Sort of like my photographer friend trying to read a white paper on network congestion in a corporate tiered environment.
Maybe your government person understands that talk, maybe they don't. But you'd better be ready to explain it as you would to a bartender.
Two other things I'll point out: two financing concepts. Explain the hot dog, and the concept of the $50 golf ball.
Explain the hot dog: What would you do if you opened a hot dog stand in an area where nobody knew what a hot dog was? How would you explain what a hot dog is, and why they should buy one? Or why the bank should give you a loan to open that stand?
Think that one through for the Why and the What, in context of the target -- in this case your government person waiting to be convinced.
The $50 golf ball: I see a ton of yuppies on the course always trying to improve their game. I go home and invent a golf ball that will really improve the player's game. Only trouble is, it's gonna cost the user 50 bucks in order for me to break even and make enough money to live on.
Yuppie or not, their reaction is likely to be: "Fifty bucks! it's just a damned golf ball!"
If this out of state corporation is going to cost a lot of money, that "sticker shock" might just be the reaction that your government financier is going to have, and it's going to be up to you to assuage that. Don't pull the car salesman trick and wait till the end to put up the price. Not saying you have to right out of the gate, but throughout your entire pitch be cognizant of what you're asking. You're asking for the $50 golf ball.
I know I touched on this earlier, but you need to know who your target is, and what they know and don't know. Perfect example: My daughter went and told her mom about her social justice / peace studies aspirations. Even her granpa, a retired professional in the education establishment understands this stuff. But not me: I'm nought but a hard sciences / applied sciences computer engineer.
She had to tell me what she meant by all of this. I still don't get a lot of it, certainly the social work part everyone knows and pays for. And her Mom has done some form of that type of work for decades being an educator in at-risk areas and working with women's issues.
If she hadn't been clear about what she meant, and I gone on an Internet search, I'd have uncovered all kinds of crazy. In fact, she was clear right out of the gate, "I don't mean all that weird stuff you see about social justice stuff on the Internet, Dad."
Honestly, the jury's still out, in my mind. But she has me convinced enough to go along with it. And she did so, not by trying to make me see things her way ideologically, but by proving that there's a big market for skills she would be acquiring specifically from this more expensive institution.
So my advice, bear all this in mind while you research and put together your pitch. It's always nerve-wracking to present in front of someone you don't know that well, so practice in front of someone else. Preferably someone "not in the know," because it will keep you from talking shop.
If you can find out why people have been denied before, play to that. Have answers to those questions ahead of time.
You want to know why your state has a pattern of not sending to centers, if in fact it does. And if it's even gotten requests from people to go to those before. You need ansers, because during your justification pitch, it's honest to say that you don't know, but having answers to questions is going to show you understand what's going on, even if those are answers they don't particularly like.
And always remember that money's in short supply, especially government money. And in the case of getting financing from an entity that isn't family and friends, that entity has a lot of people knocking at its door with their hand outstretched. So you want to be competitive, and promise a return that you will deliver, that will exceed everybody else's. Otherwise, the limited money is going somewhere else.
Training that doesn't yield market value and doesn't have accreditation attached to it is pretty easy for a financier to reject.
If you're gonna play, play to win, knowing you've got a lot of competitors on the same court.
My offer stands re: your pitch. If you want, send me it, I'll read it and ask questions. If you want, I'll go so far as to tell you how I'd respond financially as an uncle if a nephew were3 in your situation pitching it to me and I had the means.
You, as the client, have the right to choose where you would like to receive training, and if in-state programs or services are not enough for you, definitely tell rehab what CCB offers in comparison to your state, how the instruction is different from what is offered in your state, and how this kind of instruction will benefit you the consumer. Do thorough research on what programs, if any, are offered to assist the blind in your state, and explain why this is inadequate for you compared to Colorado.
Also, when writing your justification, never, ever use the word want, or phrases like, "I want." This is a need, and it is up to you to get what you need from your chosen center. drag your state NfB affiliate into it if you absolutely have to. In fact, i'd give them a heads up on what you'd like to do regarding adjustment to blindness training, and ask your state affiliate president if he or she has had to help people fight your state's rehabilitation agency for funding. Just my thoughts on the situation. I had to do this back in 2010, and a couple of other friends of mine from this state had to do it too, and all of us won our case to go to Minneapolis. While this can certainly be a stressful uphill battle, it feels awesome when you've finally gotten rehab to back down and pay for what you deserve. i fought with my state for a little over a year before they complied with my request for adjustment to blindness training in Minnesota. This is not to say that it will take that long for you, but it very well might. Don't give up, because that sends the message to rehab that they can treat anyone who requests this kind of instruction poorly. If you really need it badly enough, keep fighting for it.
Sorry Reyami, if I or anyone is asking the government for money we don't have the right. We have the obligation of justification. Rights are things granted to all citizens, things like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (well-being). Perhaps one could extend that to say right of personhood, autonomy, right of belief or lack thereof. But my rights end where your person or finances begin.
So while he has the legal opportunity to approach the state as a financier, he's got the obligation to justify why the money should go to this and not somewhere else. And if the state doesn't buy his argument, as an autonomous individual person he does possess the right of autonomy to seek financing elsewhere. But the right doesn't extend to the financing or training itself. That requires justification on his part, and justification is strictly meritocratic.
Remember, the state may even agree with his finding but simply not have enough money in the budget, or the state may find that there is adequate training for less money which either yields the same result or the difference in result is not congruent with the difference in price. None of that has to do with the denial of rights. Just like in my state over a couple decades ago, the blind commission and other state funding would not fund certain college degrees like religion or women's studies or other fields that don't by extension return an investment by creating a taxpaying citizen. That is, in fact, why people are paying state rehab agencies. At least that is how it has been pitched to the taxpayer. For people my father's generation to pay for people my age to get schooling, they had to be assured there would be a return on that investment, and you can understand that. You invest in a phone or a gadget or something, or your parents do for you, and you only make that investment because it will do what you want. If it doesn't make phone calls or some other shortcoming, you won't find it a good investment.
Financing always works that way, there are no exceptions.
As proof, even the mssion-minded faith-based crowd can get jaded atheist types like me to give them stuff, not by their notorious apologetic spin or the threats of Hell familiar from our upbringing, but by presenting cost to benefit ratios.
This doesn't make a financier devoid of compassion: compassion is just a signal emotion that lets you know something's wrong. It doesn't by extension mean the solution presented is the right one. That's where your justification comes in. Don't be fooled by the Hell of many of our childhood, or the illusion of rights to financing. Both are simply illusions.
Wow, all this to get trained to be independant. don't get me wrong, I'm glad places like these exist. The few people I know who have been fortunate enough to attend them have nothing but fantastic things to say. it's just too bad it's such a fight to gain the skills many people take for granted. We have a very very long way to go if it takes what essentially amounts to a business proposal to be worthy of such training.
Nick, I've been through CCB. It was quite a few years ago, but I still keep in contact with a lot of people out there, so if there are any questions I can help answer, let me know. Also, CCB should work with you to help you write your justification to your state rehab program. They're experienced in making those comparisons between themselves and what most states have to offer. Reyami gave you great advice: absolutely do not use words like, I want.
Leo, I think I know what Reyami was trying to say. If I'm not mistaken, years ago the only option one had was to get independence training in their own state, or if it wasn't available, the state could choose for the blind consumer where they got said training from. They can't do that anymore. Now we have the right to choose where we go or don't go for such training. It doesn't mean we don't have to justify it, but it does mean the state can't tell us which program we are or are not allowed to attend. They can make it hell to get there, though. It's a shame we have to fight so hard for this kind of thing, but we do. Good luck, Nick! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Leo, Reyami is correct.
These programs exist, because they serve us.
Without us, they have no job.
Of course, we have to give them strong reasons to give us what we need, but this is now a right, not a begging situation.
On college degrees, you would have to really justify why you wanted to do religious studies, but if you can prove it, you can get it.
I would strongly disagree with getting a proposal from CCB, and here's why: Never ever go the route of seeking a proposal from the target of the financing. No bank on the planet is going to justify a business loan because you can get a biased source to tell them they should.
Find an "independence training" outlet who evaluates these places and is unaffiliated.
Organizations like Consumer Reports exist for a reason. You don't go ask Ford or General Motors for their opinion on the best car. You check with independent sources.
So go to CCB to find out what CCB thinks. But go to an independent source to have their claims verified or debunked, probably an honest source would verify some claims and debunk others. Any time anyone is looking for financing, that's just how it works.
Leo, I didn't say have CCB write the justification letter, or even for him to let on to his state agency that he discussed said letter with CCB. They can give him suggestions about how other students have pulled this off without his state agency having to know about it. That's what we did in my case. As for getting some independent source to do all that, that just adds a lot more unnecessary steps to an already complex process.
Alicia is right. this guy is already having to jump through enough hoops as it is to try and get what he needs, and spending time to try and find someone unaffiliated with the CCB to help him out would certainly add to his stress levels, and probably make him lose sight of his goals.
I'm not affiliated with any blindness organization, nor do I believe in the stuff I used to about such training making one's life a "simple inconvenience" or however the NFB words it. I support people if they choose to go that route, but I also encourage them as leo and others have done, to look outside of that and see what kind of training they can get in their home environment.
Ok to the last two posts, I take your point, in particularly Alicia I stand corrected.
However, jumping through hoops and getting independent corroboration is exactly what everyone does when they need to seek financing. The more financing you need, the more you're going to have to corroborate.
if you go to buy a house, it's got to be appraised, and the bank doing the loan -- the financier, if you will, -- is going to want an appraiser not affiliated with the seller or the buyer.
Alternately, of course, these state agencies could contract independence services out to CCB or other organizations. If you want to have to stop doing the work everyone else does to get heavyweight financing, get your state agency to contract this work out to your affiliated organization, otherwise known as be a political lobbyist for that organization. If it's already contracted out, then you won't have to jump through hoops. Of course, then people start having questions the way we all do re: big bank bail-outs, the Federal Reserve, international farming of domestic defense technologies, etc.
As a Libertarian-leaning independent, I cringed while I wrote this.
Actually state agencies over spend.
They just need what they call justification.
If you get a legit source to justify, or you know how to write it yourself, they pay.
It is cover our ass, and they have a budget that has to be spent.
It isn't like regular financing at all.
If it were, they'd not pay full price for things like computers via their vendors, but ask you to do some shopping for the best price for the computer you require.
I was amazed at how much money gets wasted because they don't require price comparing.
I had a friend that received a computer system they paid 3.000 for, and it was worth 700 on the open market.
They had him buy it from the vendor instead of directly from the company.
You're right, Chelsea. It's all in what the individual needs and wants. In my case, I was familiar with my home environment. I didn't need training there. I needed training someplace I was completely unfamiliar with so I could learn transferrable skills, not just route travel, so I could go to a city I was unfamiliar with for either a job or school, or pleasure, and not be terrified because I'd never had mobility there. However, for some people, training in their home environments is exactly what they need, want, or both, and it should be available to them if at all possible. I have a blind friend who is a husband and father of four young children, and there's no way he could go to even our state center two hours away. He's unwilling to leave his family for that long, and I don't blame him. Yet our state agency doesn't provide adequate training in one's home environment, and that's a damn shame.
Hmm I've contracted for the federal grubbernment as a software dev before and they sure as hell did bid comparisons a lot. But interesting what you're saying Wayne, I'm not disputing. Obviously I'm not in the know, I've displayed my ignorance I guess. Most my life has been either straight up private sector or grubbernment contract work which paid half the private sector wage.
I did once get state services to buy me a couple things when I worked in the food program and just assumed price shopping was part of the deal lol they never challenged the fact I presented proofs ... I presented websites and data to show the lowest price for the items, as well as justifications. Just assumed they came along behind me and did their own cross-checking such as what I'd seen government bidders do before, so this is interesting.
Of course, all of this rests contingent on your state having that kind of money per customer, etc. You're saying they actually have the money which to be honest surprises me. But my biases re: government and financing are what they are.
Leo, I get what you're saying, but for me, when I was a youngster in school and just after, my hearing was good enough that I didn't need any special training. Now that it's crap, there are a lot of ways that I think going to the Helen Keller institute will help me, mainly in dealing with people and learning more about the resources available to me. However, even if I go and get this training at my state's expense, I'm not going to be able to really do anything special. I'm not going to invent some new cure for cancer or be the first totally blind and deaf guy to drive a car. I'm not suddenly going to jump on multiple busses unassisted and start a campaign to become the next mayor. Yes, I think the training will help me quite a lot on a personal level, but what exactly should I write in my justification letter to the state? How is my training going to come back and benefit them so that they earn all their money back and the likes? I sure wish the president had to pass this rigourous a test before he takes one of his 5 or 6 a year vacations, or before Congress votes itself a pay raise. No, I'm not crying that I'm entitled any more than anyone else, but damn. This, to me, is getting a bit out of hand. A lot of handicapped people already have a pretty hard time speaking up and saying what they want or even what they need, simply because it was drilled in to us that we should just go out there and be independent. You yourself have noticed this when you talk about how a lot of sighted people don't even hold themselves to the same standards of indepencence as a lot of us blind people do. But in a way, you're right. It's easier to just sit at home, drawing a check and letting someone else take care of us. If the state could have done what they needed to do, why haven't they already stepped up and done it? And yes, I get that you don't want us waisting your hard earned tax money, but there are much huger rippoffs out there than us. Just trust me on that one. The government rarely watches and stays within its own budget. How about how much money they put in to bailing car makers out of there latest crisis?
I personally don't go for this special training gobelty-goo but I say congrads all the same. I urge you, poster 1, to not allow yourself to be brainwashed by the good folks in co.
I don't believe many people know how the shoppings done.
In defence of the method, the vendors used do provide quality items, not junk.
The vendors also offer special setup, training on how to use the items, and other services your store with the best price doesn't.
Last, the vendors earn a living, so everyone wins sort of.
The problem is when the agency is short of funding. If it were managed better, maybe they'd have more funds to go around.
For these that don't need the extra services, buy the items from the store with the better price.
Others that need support, deal with the vendors.
But that takes to much time, so justification is all that is required.
Even on a personal level, it helps people, and for that, it works.
I want to add my experience from when I wanted a few things from the state while I was stuck at home in a small town. One of the things I wanted was a cassette player that would play both stereo and library 4-track tapes. Now obviously, this isn't a need, but only a want. I also wanted a typewriter. I guess I could have argued that the typewriter would allow me to stay in practice. When I told my counselor of my wants, she just started naming off what she could get for me. I told her about other items that would do the same thing, but would cost quite a bit less. She was pretty quick to tell me that she wasn't worried about that. This is back in 1993 or so. She said that after a certain price threshold, they found the cheapest bidder, but until then, they just bought whatever they felt would do the job. I take it that they balanced time and paperwork. It might have taken more time to go looking for the cheaper products. Whatever the reasoning, I ended up with products that cost well over what was necessary.
Now compare that to someone who really needs to know how to live and travel independently. It looks like my wants were a lot more important to them than someone else's actual needs. Just some musings.
Anthony you bring up good points.
And honest I'm not arguing against going to the center, I hope I'm helping
someone argue themselves and their state agency into paying for it. Because
often when challenged we end up deciphering how and why we get what we
need. A typewriter, I would say, was a need before we had computers. How else
are you to write a letter to the manager's office? Or write checks? (Ugh, I
remember those giant, lined ones).
Actually and to the point, your deaf-blind training seems easy to justify. Since
it's extremely rare and the Helen Keller center has it, then they're kind of a hot
item on the market, I should think. And what they give you is an improvement,
in your situation any improvement is going to be worth it. My father-in-law has
bone cancer, for instance, and has to get physical therapy paid for after
surgeries. Not to run a marathon -- nobody is claiming that, but for someone in
his situation, a reasonable justification is so he can get to places within walking
distance, into and out of the car, etc. And that's it, but at that age and with that
condition that is the most one can get, which makes paying for it all the
worthwhile.
So maybe I'm ignorant, but I suspect nobody is thinking a deaf-blind person
would be able to cross the street safely, but if you get any kind of tools and
information on ways to communicate, or ways to do things without both sight
and sound, that's a huge improvement. It's all in the reasonable expectation for
what one would expect to get out of the financing, and in your case, the rarity
of where you can get the help from. Yours actually seems really easy to justify,
but again I'm not very knowledgeable about how they do that. I doubt anyone
would be expecting a return on the investment to mean all the things you
thought they would like crossing streets or driving or other things you
mentioned. And since most people don't know much about having both
disabilities, and Helen Keller Center does, it seems that one should be easy.
Things like independence skills for the blind might be harder but that only if the
state already has a program for those. And if they don't, they'd have to farm it
out if this is a government requirement. Or if the person's specific requirements
are beyond the scope of that agency's ability to provide, they'd have to farm it
out.
It was my hope to cause the OP, and others, to see how justification of financing
works at least in the private sector, so if the state doesn't do it, someone else
just might. Red tape and government hoops are one thing, but a private payer,
especially perhaps using web or crowd funding sources also, might do what the
government won't, if it won't. But if the government is supposed to, then all one
has to do is prove the state's programme doesn't have what you need, and
they'll have to farm it out. At least that is what it sounds like based on what
Wayne and others are saying.
Might be harder with the government, I guess, because to private organizations
or a grant you would just demonstrate the need and the place that can meet it,
but for the government you'd have to prove the government place doesn't have
what it takes to meet it, unless the government in your state doesn't have a
place to do that. Like the Helen Keller center in Anthony's case.
Anyway my aim was to hopefully cause people to consider ways to justify how
to get what they need from a private payer if the government won't do it. But
sounds like others here are saying there's a legal situation where the
government may have to.
anyway best of luck to all with that.
Anthony, I hope you do get to go to Helen Keller. Not only will you get training that sounds like it can help you, but you can bother Scott while you're there. Grins. I've always thought it kind of sucked that HK is the only game in the country for those who are deaf-blind. As people who are just blind, we have a lot of different options, our state centers, or privately run ones. But deaf-blind really only have one option. I get it, since deaf-blindness is a minority within a minority, but I still wish you had more choice.
In Anthony's case he lived in a small town.
She had a budget that needed to be used to justify her job, so no, she didn't care what it cost.
If she isn't spending a specific amount of money, or helping a number of people, her job isn't worth a budget.
I know it is odd, but this is how it works.
I learned this in college doing a job for the colleges department of disabilities.
We were given a amount, or budget. If we didn't spend that budget, it was cut back, so we had to spend it.
After being taught at home to use money wisely, it was an experience.
I got everything.
Most of it was actually useful, and good, but some was just plain fun.
I had all the large music companies come to campus to show us their products. Smile.
Yeah. But at least HK has regional reps to cover every state, and as a student you don't have to cook your own food, and freeze or sweat your ass off walking to and from a bus stop every day. Lol.
wow are they that relaxed?
You live in a dorm building which also houses the caf. Caf food's not bad either. I was packin' on the pounds out there.
Actually, living in separate apartments, having to make my own food at night, and travel to and from the center via the bus and light rail was one of the reasons I liked it. It actually made me live the skills I was learning during the day. Iowa's center is set up like a college dorm. I'd already lived in one of those. I knew how to function in dorm life. I didn't, at that time, know how to take care of my own apartment, cook my own food, travel in unfamiliar places, etc. That was one of the arguments I used when pressing to go to CCB instead of IDB. The set up at IDB was no different than the college dorm I already resided in. CCB gave me an entirely different experience. That was just one of many, but I bring it up here because of what you said, Imp. But again, it's all about the particular individual's needs and wants.
Well, guys, thanks for all your input, suggestions and help. as it turned out, all I had to tell my state agency was that I had SSI, and they gave me a full ride, plane money and all. so now I have to just wait for notification as to when I can start. To give you guys a perspective, I am not going there to become more active in NFB, so I dont plan to get brainwashed by them per se. I did not have a very good home environment for training for independence. in their effort to support me, they overdid it, and thus I fell behind on the independence scale, so this is kind of something I am doing because it is the only way I feel I can gain the independence I need. I am also a very lazy person, which also contributed to why I never really tried much independence. So its also kinda a way to restart again and get to where I need to go.
Get ready, because laziness is definitely not going to help you once you get there. Not trying to scare you, just saying, it's a lot of hard work, but very rewarding. there are going to be times when you're going to wonder, "What the hell am I doing here," but chin up, learn from mistakes, and do everything you need to do to get through training. Best of luck, and please keep us posted on your progress.
Nice. It is always good to make a goal, and a start, so you are on the way.
Thanks for the update, Nick! That's awesome! I'm so glad your state didn't give you grief over it, as so many states do. Wonderful news! Let me know if there's anything I can do to support you as you go through training. I think one can go to an NfB center and not be, "brainwashed," as some would put it. But yes, of course you are going to be around your fair share of NfB stuff. In the end, get all you can from training, and make up your own mind about the NFB stuff later. You can handle all that however you wish after you graduate the program.
They don't have the same budgets the states had back in the 90's. But, I'd give my ears, what's left of them, to train at HKC. I'm really terrified I'm going to lose my hearing, and not know how to sign. But, I'm going to have to just read sign, as something came up to Interfere with my ability to sign well.
Anyway, glad you got in where you wanted to. Take care, and have fun.
Blessings,
Sarah
sarah, talk to Scott about training at HKNC, if you haven't already.