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Celticess
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

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Joined: 15 May 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 90
Location: British Columbia, Canada

26 Jul 2007, 11:29 am

I finally finished all the paperwork. I had to apply for the Canadian Student Loan to qualify for the Students with Disabilities Access Grant. My app went through fairly fast but didn't show level of processing on their website. But the approval letter sounded odd and the numbers looked weird. One happened to be a coincidence as to what it meant. Anyways I phoned the disability worker/specialist at BCIT. He told me that he didn't normally deal with loans when he left his message back and gave me the info on the guy that does student aid stuff.

The student aid guy was very nice and explained things to me. He wondered why they were offering me such a small amount. I said I didn't care because I don't need it as things are covered I just need the equipment covered. He explained it is totally separate and the school can now apply for equipment. I'm now flagged as a student with perminant disabilities. So the adaptive equipment is covered and I have nothing to worry about that way. Just paper work needs processed. I do have to go to the school soon. Maybe I'll see if my son wants to go with me today or if he wants to stay while I'm out doing that. I have to get my student card and talk with the health benefits people there about the medical plan I have to see if they'll include him. Main use of it will to be to cover dental costs that aren't fully covered by my coverage before all this. So then I wont have to worry about how much extra I'll need to pay because the doc charges more than my medical covers for my dental.

So big relief it all got sorted out. After doing the student loan app just to get the proof that I qualify for the grant I had to prove I qualified as perminantly disabled. So because my last test was a little over 3 years I had to have the doc fill out a form. At the time the doc says "You know this isn't easy when you have like 20 things wrong with you." He asked me if I was going to include my past reports as he knows I kept copies and I said yes. He figured I'd get it because my stuff doesn't go away it stays and can get worse and in my case will. But anyways... I ship off the form from the doc and all my reports. I figured I probably printed out about 60 pages with all the report copies I sent. Mail for it didn't cost as much as I thought it might.

Since I have that flag now on my file I never have to send them that stuff again because they keep it in their system. So if I need more equipment later for some reason while at a course there I'm covered. So far I have to talk to BCIT more about what things I should have. We all agreed I need a laptop but also I didn't know they would cover Irlen lenses so finally my eye issues will get helped. I may tape some of the course stuff and I know I could get note takers but I don't need it as long as I tape. If the rooms noisy when working on somethings I may be able to opt for using the FM set to hear things better. Anyways it's cool and I'm looking forward to starting classes. My mom visited reciently and when we went out on the bus somewhere and got to talking to another passenger we found his son is in my course. So that was interesting. The guy thought it may take less time to get to my class than I think. I based my time estimates on reading the schedules. So I guess I should probably try riding transit during the times I will likely do it during school to see for sure. Either way I'm going to get a cellphone so I can check with my son and remind him when to go to school. He does pay attention to the clock but sometimes he gets focused on things. I'll try to have faith in he likes his attendance record showing very few away/late and he'll motivate himself even without my calling him. My son is proud of me though that I'm going back to school and is telling all his friends about it. He did the same when his dad took a course. :-)