wallyjaz

Joe, I had a TBI in 93 while in the Army, I got a 30% discharge and moved home. I started college Fall 94 on my own. I had a Chemistry tutor the next year (Fall 95) that asked me why I did not go to the VA, that was the first time anyone had told me that I was eligible to go to the VA. I went to Voc Rehab and they accepted me without even testing me. I failed about 10 science classes while in Voc Rehab and my counselor never said a thing to me. The only time I ever saw my counselor was at the beginning of the semester, I would give him my receipts, and he would get a check cut for me. I'm not sure my counselor knew what TBI meant, or maybe he had one too, but Voc Rehab didn't do much for me besides pay for stuff. You should be able to get extra test time, note takers, and other accomodations through the school's Office for Students with Disabilities. The VA never mentioned any of this to me, this is stuff I learned over the years. One thing with me, I went to college because I couldn't really work. I had speech and coordination issues, plus a TBI. I didn't really have a goal when I went to college, besides hope my brain got better. Today I am learning about Executive Functioning and goal setting at the VA. I have a BA, but a crappy job history, and I still have most of the problems from the TBI, but Voc Rehab considers me completely rehabilitated because I have a BA with a 2.3 GPA with no major. Make sure you have people help you stay focused and don't sign anything saying you are Rehabilitated without having some other people look it over and tell you what they think. Once you agree that you are rehabilitated, you can no longer get Voc benefits. I have a BA and I work at Home Depot part time, I've been looking for a job for over a year, but the VA considers me a success making $200 a week. Its not my brain injury causing anything, its always some other reason.