Voc Rehab Question

[trez]

IF A VETERAN IS SCHEDULAR 100% CAN THAT PERSON GO BACK INTO VOC RE-HAB TO GET A MASTERS DEGREE ??

I ALREADY RECEIVED AN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE I'M CURRENTLY WAITING FOR MY NEXT RATING DECISION TO COME DOWN CURRENTLY AT 90% AND I'M VERY WORRIED. MY VIETNAM FRIEND TELLS ME TO CHILL OUT I HAVE ONLY 10% MORE TO GO FOR SCHEDULAR 100% REALLY WORRIED

AND NERVOUS.

BUDDY A MINE SAID YES I WILL HAVE TO RE-APPLY TO VOC REHAB IF THEY SAY NO I COULD ASK FOR EXTENSION????? HE SAID THEY STILL SAY NO APPEAL AND APPEAL???? I WAS SICK AFTER I LEFT SCHOOL IT WASN'T MY FAULT BUT I FINISHED ANYWAY AND GRADUATED

FEELING A LITTLE BETTER THESE DAYS MY RIGHT EYE IS GONE FROM BLINDNESS AND MY LEFT HAND HAS ATROPHY FROM IN SERVICE INJURY MY LAWYER HAS REQUESTED SMC BUT I DINT KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN

ANY COMMENTS ON THAT

THANKS

1 OTHER QUESTION

CAN A VET APPLY FOR TRICARE ??? WHAT IS TRI CARE AND WHO IS ELIGIBLE THANK YOU FOR ANS MY QUESTIONS I APPRECIATE YOUR HELP AND TIME THANK YOU!!

[john999]

The people in voc rehab I delt with were not even old enough to remember Vietnam. I do think that the Vietnam Era vet is seen as an unfortunate burden for the nation. The VA probably thinks it is our patriotic duty to just shut up and die. The average RVN vet is in their late 50's or early 60's. I don't see any "welcome back Vietnam combat vet" signs hanging in the parking lot at the Tampa VAMC. The best thing you can get from the VA if you are an RVN vet is P&T. Take the money and don't look back.

[william n]

B) I feel the same John, ur right on the money, unfortunately...The Voc Rehab Coordinator for St. Pete(bay pines) is Joe Giles, a retired Master Sgt. Marine Corp. (Nam) A great guy and confidant.(he wrote me a letter for TDIU) However he's looking for property in Tenn. right now as he's ready to retire from the VA. He is ready to get out he said as the time has come, before the crap hits the fan. Whatever that means...mmm B) William

Edited August 23, 2008 by william n

[libertyeconomics]

I have had this problem where I haven't been able to GET INTO the Voc Rehab program. I am now 31, and all the VA has to do is keep wasting time, and then they will use my age against me? This seems to be just like the VA.

[john999]

If you are 31 and have a less than 100% or TDIU then I think you should be able to get voc rehab. What I was saying is that for guys who are near to retirement age and have severe disabilities the VA is probably not going to want to do voc rehab on them. It is possible to force them with enough persistence. The thing is you face age discrimination inside and outside the system. It is illegal to discriminate because of age but employers do it all the time. If I was 31 and not too disabled that I could not work I would try voc rehab. If the rehab people said I was not a good candidate I would put in for TDIU. If you can't be rehabilitated then how can you work and support yourself? I had trouble getting voc rehab when I was 30% because I had a job at the post office. I hated the work and wanted something better but at age 50 what could I do. You know the door sort of slams shut on you after a certain age in many careers. I also had some on the job injuries and this was the kiss of death.

[libertyeconomics]

See, my problem is the VA uses what it says are NSC issues as the excuse to withhold education benefits from me. In short, here is what I have been through: I got the anthrax shots shortly before getting out of the Marine Corps. I have had health problems (real health problems, which are verified when lab tests and scans are actually done) ever since getting the anthrax shots. I went to the VA and said I believe my health problems are secondary to my anthrax shots. The VA medical side then began to write derogatory notes about me into my medical record literally because I dared mention the anthrax vaccine. In fact, I have a copy of a memo that the VA wrote about me which literally stated that the VA employees had to start a "psycho-social" profile because I spoke about the anthrax vaccine. Thus I can't get SC for those health problems. The benefits side of the VA, thanks to the medical side, says that I am "too disabled" to go to college because of......."mental illness." Where does the "mental illness" come from? The fact that when I dared mention the anthrax vaccine, the VA would chart into my medical record "delusional thinking."

It is so bad that if I go to the VA medical system and say how depressed I feel about not getting help for school, the VA will chart: "delusions of a persecutory nature." Albeit, they won't bother to state what these delusions are. You see? I am "delusional" for telling the VA about what the VA itself is doing. Thus the benefits side can take those notes and further use those to....withhold education benefits.

I am now stuck in a trap in terms of dealing with the VA. If I even attempt to try to explain anything, no matter how polite I am, that also gets labeled as "anger." What is interesting is that I was literally flagged by the VA for asking for help for my depression. Think I am embellishing, I am not. My Congresswoman's office even found that one out. It was explained to me that I am flagged FOREVER. If I make it into old age and I am in a wheelchair, I will still be flagged by the VA. This proves that it has NOTHING to do with behavior. I have one speeding ticket from 1997 as the only offense of any kind. I have never threatened anybody, nor have I ever harmed anybody. In fact, I have never raised my voice at anybody except for over the phone many years ago. I am by nature a very timid person, especially in person. My step dad who is a disabled veteran actually kicked a VA nurse and was flagged for one year. I, on the other hand, have been told that I am flagged FOREVER.

That said, the VA has referred to things like me writing a WELL-WRITTEN, POLITE letter giving a play-by-play of how the VA is withholding my education benefits as THREATENING. No vulgarity, no profanity. I even signed the letter cordially at the end. The VA didn't even bother to respond to my letter. No. They just call it "threatening." In fact, I chose to correspond through a letter precisely so that the VA would not be able to morph what I said into a "delusion" or something worse. What do they do? They ignore the substance, and call it a "threatening" letter.

I bring all of this up because I think I know what is going on. The VA sees me as a "political" opponent--so-to-speak. I have empirical evidence of VA misfeasance. I have cognitive skills. Just see my website www.NoAnthraxVaccine.net I can write clearly and proficiently. The VA is more concerned about political opponents than they are real security threats. If the VA has engaged in misfeasance against a veteran, the VA must do EVERYTHING in its power to keep that veteran discredited. I guess I should take the VA's behavior as a positive sign that I must have a pretty good case against the VA.

Cordially,

Mark Anderson

If you are 31 and have a less than 100% or TDIU then I think you should be able to get voc rehab. What I was saying is that for guys who are near to retirement age and have severe disabilities the VA is probably not going to want to do voc rehab on them. It is possible to force them with enough persistence. The thing is you face age discrimination inside and outside the system. It is illegal to discriminate because of age but employers do it all the time. If I was 31 and not too disabled that I could not work I would try voc rehab. If the rehab people said I was not a good candidate I would put in for TDIU. If you can't be rehabilitated then how can you work and support yourself? I had trouble getting voc rehab when I was 30% because I had a job at the post office. I hated the work and wanted something better but at age 50 what could I do. You know the door sort of slams shut on you after a certain age in many careers. I also had some on the job injuries and this was the kiss of death.

[libertyeconomics]

Speaking of my Congresswoman's office, a problem I have encountered is that there seems to be a lot of "information sharing" going on even BEFORE signing a privacy release form. I knew that because of what my Congresswoman's office was telling me. Albeit, the information is VA slander and libel. I had to remind my Congresswoman's office that I have not appointed or designated anybody at the VA as my spokesperson. If they want to know what I feel, think, and believe, they should ask me. Pursuant to the VA's ledger that it has created on me, you would believe that I am a raging violent psychotic who is incapable of articulating a single coherent thought. Yet, I have never even been in a fight. By the time the VA gets done slandering me, I stand little chance of getting any help from anybody.

So my Congresswoman's office wasn't helping me. And then my Congresswoman's office wanted me to come in and sign a privacy release form....AFTER the information sharing had begun. As I look back on this, I think they wanted to cover their own arses. So my Congresswoman's office began to flirt with the idea they were going to help me, even telling me about things they had discovered which prove that what I was saying was correct, which tells me that somebody inside the VA did leak some truth about what was happening to me--e.g., how I, as a 40% SC veteran for my shoulder (see picture of what it looks like here: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/29685...054090710lSGyou ), was literally being turned away by the VA, unable to even get appointments (Las Vegas VAMC).

So my Congresswoman's office acted like they were going to help me. My Congresswoman's office even said to me, "We have to get your benefits back." This means that it wasn't only in my mind, but I, as a 40% SC veteran, have been so targeted by the VA that, objectively, my benefits are being withheld. But as soon as I would bring up any objective issues to get resolved, I would immediately be interrupted and told that I should go to the VA for an appointment. In other words: they didn't want to actually resolve any issues, they just wanted me to go BACK to the VA. For what? I can only imagine so that the VA could get me into a clinical setting in order to "finish me off," by giving some kind of diagnosis that could potentially cause me to lose my right to vote, etc. So, while my own Congresswoman's office admitted there is a problem here, my Congresswoman's office seemed to be playing the role of gatekeeper.