Has anyone successfully gotten an ergonomic chair through Voc Rehab?

[rel8ted]

I am trying to get an ergonomic desk/chair setup due to severe employment handicap. My voc rehab counselor says she has never heard of such a thing and she does not even know where to find a regulation on that. Just wondering if anyone has successfully gotten one and had some tips on ho they did it. It seems to me that should fall under special equipment, but want to make sure before I send her back the info cc her supervisor, regional director, and probably my congressman since she feels like it will take "months" for this to be approved :if she can figure it out"

 

I'm in online classes, so they can't say the school should accommodate it. She first told me I need a note from my doc, so I managed to get the physical therapist to make an exception for me and write a recommendation, then she said it HAS to be an MD, and stated she wasn't even sure how to process.  

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Edited September 1, 2018 by rel8ted

[broncovet]

Buck posted, 

Quote

I did get a sock puller upper & a fetch stick ,and  a set of headphones to help me hear my TV and a smoke alarm and a telephone that had a big red light on it when it rings.

Interesting.  Most of the time, I dont hear my doorbell, so I miss my mailman who often wants me to sign for things like medications.  The VA did give me telephone with a volume control.  No headphones, and no smoke alarm.  I paid for my first closed caption phone, but VA audiologists did write a letter saying that I would benefit from a close captioned phone.  (Captel gives you the phone but only if you have an audiologist letter documenting the need for it. This is not a VA program)  

I can not watch tv, even with hearing aids, unless it is close captioned.  Its too frustrating, and I wont watch it.  

[Buck52]

Veterans should not need to beg for these things  if a Veterans needs these things and helps him with a better way of life  that's what these VA  Programs are for.  but it seems after you get past the low level VA Employees   and the  top brass as there say   ...I guess they think they may get a bonus for denying the Veteran what he ask for..I mean look at the way the top brass did Alex   

about his greenhouse!

   they came out to his house and he met them  first thing one of the top brass said   where is your wheel chair? you don't look like your disabled ,  and their making it hard for Alex  he has to fight them   to help him get what he requested and to help him cope with his  S.C. Disability's  this is NO Way to treat a Veteran.  especially the top VA Brass.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Buck52

[Buck52]

21 minutes ago, broncovet said:

Buck posted, 

Interesting.  Most of the time, I dont hear my doorbell, so I miss my mailman who often wants me to sign for things like medications.  The VA did give me telephone with a volume control.  No headphones, and no smoke alarm.  I paid for my first closed caption phone, but VA audiologists did write a letter saying that I would benefit from a close captioned phone.  (Captel gives you the phone but only if you have an audiologist letter documenting the need for it. This is not a VA program)  

I can not watch tv, even with hearing aids, unless it is close captioned.  Its too frustrating, and I wont watch it.  

I never ask for these things my Voc-Rehab counselor got them for me, back in 2002

HE SAID IN HIS LETTER I WOULD BENEFIT FROM THESE ITEMS

. he never got me anything to help me hear the door bell? the only medications I need to sign for is my narcotic II pain meds.

The head phones work about a year  and they went out, but I do have  blue tooth hearing aids capability that are paired to our smart Samsung TV and the TV sounds comes through my aids , so the volume can be turn down on the TV for other members in the family that don't have a hearing problem

As for as the mail man ringing the door bell we have a sign on the front door during the day that reads knock loud or ring more than twice, hearing impaired Veteran lives here.  About the only one that comes to our front door  is our mail-woman.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Buck52

[Gastone]

Head still not working but here I go.

Bro I got a $3500.00 IL Dept purchased and a $1500 Lap Top with Printer early 18.

Got the HISA Award for the $6800 Grant from IL but haven't used it yet, been busy getting myBent Brain work done.

Apply on ur E-Ben for VA Voc Hab Appt., even though you're after IL. You are assigned a VRC who pulls double duty as VRC and ILC, works for me. After 1st office appt, a non-VA Disability County Social Worker does a home interview at the kitchen table.  Prepares multi-document list everything that comes to mind to help you, all part of the Hoops necessary.

The VR/IRC agreed with my request for a Laptop instead of desk unit if I can't work in my Den. Took about 2 weeks.

My IL met with me at a near Big Time Medical provider and tried every Lift Chair Available, heat, Massage complete sleep, and lift settings along, with a backup battery. The other thing was, Think its "Trendelenburg Reclining Setting" when you need to get your head below your feet edema begins in feet or legs.

For the little time and effort, I had to put into VA IL, I think you're missing the boat to a better quality of LIFE thanks to the VA.

I just have to figure how ALEX  (AskNod) "Obyone"  got the Greenhouse.

 

[FormerMember]

Getting your heart's desire in an ILP is elementary. You need the same ingredients as you do for a compensation claim. You need a service or a device to ensure you can accomplish ADLs, you need it due to your immense subset of disabilities (SC and non-SC alike) and you need a "nexus letter" from a licensed therapist pertinent to your field of desire. I went to some gal with about 20 initials after her name like MPH and RPM about three times. Medicare paid for the visits. I explained what I was doing and brought her veggies and fruit I produced each time as "examples". 

My situation may be a bit unique in that I have a skin disease from Agent Orange (Porphyria Cutanea Tarda) and cryoglobulinemia from my SC Hepatitis C which causes my blood to coagulate below 40 degrees. Add in severe fibromyalgia and you have the recipe for a heated ADA greenhouse. But that is not the end of the matter. §21.160 permits both SC and non-SC disabilities to be considered. Thus, my recent congestive heart failure, syncope and bad back from that aircraft mishap in 1971 all have to be considered. VA also destroyed my digestive architecture and my abdominal diaphragm in 2009-10 with 4 disastrous surgeries. I can't lift anything over 15 lbs. so I need hydroponic farming. If I sneeze, I sometimes have a 'Hershey squirt' accident. VA removed 95 cm. of my small bowel and food sails though at a pretty good clip.

In 2014, VA VR&E  tried to shrink the ILP down to one ILP per customer per life. Congress never wrote that. I took them to task and started piling on added requests after the BVA judge granted the greenhouse just to see if I could. About then, they decided to become vindictive and shrink the g-house down to a postage stamp. I fired back with the hydroponics, an incinerating portapotty due to incontinence plus a 15 lb.lifting restriction, and two years of the Veterans Benefits Manual. Remember. I help Vets so I need the latest in legal technique to be current in VA law. 

If one of you wants a computer, that's the absolute easiest one to win. You want to stay in touch with your brothers and sisters out there in Hadit.com land, right? Why, then, what better way than a brand new Dell with Dragonspeak (if you have PN)? Sure, expect some flak but they'll cave in. That's what VA OGC Precedent 34-1997 was all about-some old boy wanted a computer. He got it after a bit of a fuss. So did I. So did Gastone. I have an extensive ILP library of 'how to' on my site. Try these on for size if you're hitting the ILP wall.  https://asknod.org/category/independent-living-program/

As you folks can imagine, I'm not on the Seattle VR&E's Christmas card list any more. I do suspect that if there is a s--tlist, I'm near the top with Phil Cushman and  notables like Joe Fenderson and Roger Schafrath. My ILP motto has evolved over the last seven years. I've graduated from "Dare to be a Winner!" to "Dare to be an a--h---e". It seems to be working. Nobody can say I don't have their undivided attention now.

My next project is to find a needy Vet who is mobility challenged and needs a riding lawnmower. As most know, VA decided one day we're not entitled to "vehicles" other than a powered wheelchair. Since I already have a Cub Cadet to run around my property with and a tractor for farming, I sadly cannot enter this fight... personally. Which is not to say another of you motivated folks could not take this to the CAVC and win it for all of us. My idea in 2011 was that a greenhouse win would pave the way for others who wanted one. Remember, there is no dollar amount for an Individualized Independent Living Program (IILP). It costs whatever it costs. No VR&E counselor can ever look you in the eye  and say "Are you mad?" A tractor costs $15 K. Besides,VA ain't gonna buy you one so don't waste your time trying. We outlawed them in 2008. Vets were driving them to VFW bars in Indiana to avoid getting a DWI using their vehicles."

And for Heaven's sake, remember, if you do win, to order a riding lawnmower like a John Deere with a decent beer holder that won't tip over when you hit bumps. My Ariens beverage receptacle sucks. I suggest going to the dealer and test driving one down to your VFW to be absolutely sure... 

Edited September 3, 2018 by asknod

[broncovet]

7 hours ago, Buck52 said:

 they came out to his house and he met them  first thing one of the top brass said   where is your wheel chair?

If they asked me this, I would respond, "Please show me your medical degree, so that you can opine on my SC conditions..your "opinion" is a lay opinion only, and has no bearing on this issue.    (I dont think Alex is SC for condition(s) related to his knees, feet, or that he requires a wheel chair, so a wheel chair is irrelevant) .  Senator Mc Cain did not use a wheel chair, and he was 100 percent disabled.  Ask them if they would like to reduce Senator McCains benefits?  

It takes a "doctors" diagnosis, and a "doctors" nexus...as well as medical statements to demonstrate your condition has "actually improved".  Lay statements, such as those made by a Voc Rehab counselor regarding whether or not Alex uses a wheel chair are not probative.