My account with Dept of Services for the Blind was closed for having MAV

@nonew3 (1941)
United States
September 20, 2010 4:27pm CST
Yep, you got that right. I just found out on the phone that the reason why my account with Department of Services for the Blind was closed earlier was because I had "vertigo issues," my then-undiagnosed Migraine Associated Vertigo, which is one of the reasons why I am functionally blind (due to its sudden visual auras and the fact that its often sudden and profound vertigo is often triggered by looking at anything that moves--visual stimuli--, forcing one to close his eyes to stop the spinning). So, in all actuality, my account with DSB was closed because one of the reasons for my functional blindness was a "wrong" reason. (If I had solely other reasons for the functional blindness, such as macular degeneration, my account might not have been closed because that would have been considered a "right" reason.) Neurologists, ophthalmologists, family-practice docs, and other doctors out there, please take note of this because it shows what can, and does, happen when doctors continually keep failing to correctly diagnose and successfully treat MAV. One of the things that can happen is that a visually-impaired person is denied the servies that the person desperately needs.
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1 response
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
21 Sep 10
I'm so sorry nonew, let me see if I understand... because you are only blinded occasionally during a migraine they closed your account? Is there any organization for vertigo issues that can help you?
@nonew3 (1941)
• United States
21 Sep 10
I have multiple disabilities. MAV is not my only disability that causes my functional blindness. I also have classic migraine headaches (with and without auras) and convergence insufficiency. The convergence insufficiency is constant, but the other two work to temporarily diminish or temporarily completely obliterate any remaining use of my vision when they kick in. And, no, the migraine and vertigo organizations have been of absolutely no help whatsoever in this regard. What it amounts to is that DSB does not close accounts for having convergence insufficiency, but does close accounts if any part of the functional blindness is caused by a migraine or vertigo condition. I am right now in the process of re-applying for both Department of Services for the Blind and Vocational Rehabilitation now that both the MAV and migraines are well controlled with the right medication. What all this has meant is that because I have migraine conditions going on (MAV is a migraine condition that causes profound sudden vertigo and vision problems; it is the same mechanism as migraine but with different symptoms) as part of my overall functional blindness, I was kicked out of DSB in 2005. (The reason I was kicked out of Voc. Rehab in 2000 was because of domestic-violence issues.) So it meant that, during all those five years, I had to struggle on my own to try to find my own training in how to function independently when my eyes and vision act up. Since DSB refused to teach me Braille, I had to go to Hadley School for the Blind, a correspondence blind school, for help in that area. But, there is nothing in this entire county to help with things like how to use a blind cane and other blindness-related things, outside of DSB. So, whenever my eyes would act up too badly I was forced to go to bed, even if it was at 1:00 in the afternoon.
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@nonew3 (1941)
• United States
21 Sep 10
By the way, I was originally accepted by DSB based on my poor functional vision due to the severity of my convergence insufficiency, as was documented by a functional-vision specialist.
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@nonew3 (1941)
• United States
21 Sep 10
Also, part of the problem is that if I am forced to use my eyes too much in spite of having the severe convergence insufficiency, it triggers my migraine conditions. When the counselor from DSB comes here in the first week of October (I don't know the exact day and time yet), I will give her a packet of information on MAV, and will probably also print off and present to her some information on classical migraine (the kind with visual auras) and convergence insufficiency (CI), and explain to her how overuse of eyes with CI can trigger the migraine conditions, and how learning and using blindness skills can actually help in this regard. I will also explain to her that the blindness of visual migraine auras is very real, and how blindness skills are needed when they hit. To kick someone out for having migraine conditions is, in my opinion, extremely cruel.
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