Disability, Services, and Mountains of Paper Work: It's making me sick
Saturday, February 19, 2011
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I'm getting severely depressed again because of the volume of accountability paperwork.
It has been ongoing for 8 months now and the problems are still not solved. If the problem isn't with ODSP, it's with housing. I'm getting it from both. Now I live in fear of answering my phone if the ODSP or housing number comes up in the display, or checking my mail.
I've been over the mill with ODSP. In January I solved the problem with the harassment about where I spent my human rights settlement (it's none of their business because I can get $100,000 for pain and suffering and they can't touch it), but they never followed the rules. They harassed me until I gave them what they wanted - proof that the mere pittance I got for a settlement, wiped clean the debt that was accumulated when I lost my job. There wasn't enough to give me a tiny nest egg over and above that.
Meanwhile, in November I gave them a prescription for 2 pairs of glasses. One pair were trifocals to wear all the time. The other was for bifocals using the mid-range lens and reading lens. I need those when I go shopping because I sit too low in my wheelchair and I can't tip my head back far enough to read labels through the right trifocal lens. I have severe degeneration in my neck and spine.
When I gave ODSP the prescription, I offered to get them 2 letters to show there was a medical need; one from my eye doctor and one from my family doctor. ODSP wouldn't take them. They said if they're needed, they would call and ask me to get them. Well they never called. Instead, they turned me down.
I asked for an Internal review and again offered the letters, but they wouldn't take them. They again, didn't call, so I was turned down a second time because "they had no new information."
I was left with no choice but to apply to the Social Benefits Tribunal.
I had the "early resolution" phone conference with the Tribunal the other day and thought I had it resolved. Think again. I did as the Tribunal suggested - faxed in the letters showing a medical need.
ODSP called me a few hours later to say they needed another copy of the prescription. I said you have it. They said it doesn't specifically identify the need for a second pair of glasses.
I took 2 more days to get it faxed to me (receiving the fax was a nightmare onto itself), saw it said the exact same thing as my original prescription, and took off to the Optometry office to ask them to help me interpret it. They confirmed the prescription was identical to the original and then pointed out exactly how the prescription is read and interpreted.
She then went on to explain that they used to try to call ODSP to explain it to them, but the workers never "got it" and they had to give up.
Anyway, due to the level of incompetence in our local office, the government has had to pay the wages of my local ODSP worker to do extra work to sort this out, the Regional Director, the 2 people who worked at the Tribunal and a lawyer (I think). I have a long legally worded document that I think is meant to explain why there needs to be medical proof (the proof the local office wouldn't take) to get a second pair of glasses.
If the ODSP case workers would accept the documents I hand to them in the first place, read what I produce and then, if they fail to understand it, phone the appropriate person (in this case the eye doctor) to ask questions about the prescription, then the problem would have been solved 4 months ago and I would not be so severely stressed out that I am throwing up, have lost my appetite, and can barely get out of bed.
I have asked ODSP to call people directly and even offered to fill out a consent form, but they say they can't because of privacy concerns. I've then asked the ones on the other end to call ODSP, and they refuse. I'm in a no-win middleman type of situation that is making me sick. It is so wrong, but how do you correct it. I keep trying to get some proper oversight used on that office, but because a lot of the requests to reproduce information is verbal (they phone me) I can't get a lawyer involved and I can't get an investigation launched.
Housing, I think I already told you about. The final volume of paper produced to prove 4 times over that I'm not sitting on a Gold Mine, was 27 pages. When I handed the papers over to housing I asked them to photocopy the legal sized pages because my printer won't do it. She looked at the volume and said you want me to photocopy ALL THIS!!!! I realized she thought the amount of paper was extreme and she was rebelling about how it would take a few seconds extra of time, so I said YES. Please photocopy the works (instead of the original 5 pieces of paper I had asked them for). Her shocked reaction spurned me into being a bitch.
When she handed them back, she said that was a lot of paper to copy. I then snapped back at her and said, think of how I feel. I had to go to 5 different places by pre-booked Access Bus, spend $18 on bus fare to get from place to place, and I had a grand total of 10 days to do it. I then asked if I could go back to doing it in the summer again (because I could get from place-to-place by power chair and save on a number of buses) and she said no.
I wish the old one who managed this accountability thing would come back. She didn't take pleasure out of making me do the run-around. I still had to get the information, but she was kind, understanding, and would offer time extensions. She's also the one who agreed it would be a good idea to accommodate by letting me do the work in the summer.
When she left, the one who took over said she can't offer me preferential treatment just because I use a wheelchair. It would not be equal so, to offer me a better time to do the paper work, would be unfair to the other tenants.
I hope the election brings change, but I'm not holding my breath.
Please read my other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
It has been ongoing for 8 months now and the problems are still not solved. If the problem isn't with ODSP, it's with housing. I'm getting it from both. Now I live in fear of answering my phone if the ODSP or housing number comes up in the display, or checking my mail.
I've been over the mill with ODSP. In January I solved the problem with the harassment about where I spent my human rights settlement (it's none of their business because I can get $100,000 for pain and suffering and they can't touch it), but they never followed the rules. They harassed me until I gave them what they wanted - proof that the mere pittance I got for a settlement, wiped clean the debt that was accumulated when I lost my job. There wasn't enough to give me a tiny nest egg over and above that.
Meanwhile, in November I gave them a prescription for 2 pairs of glasses. One pair were trifocals to wear all the time. The other was for bifocals using the mid-range lens and reading lens. I need those when I go shopping because I sit too low in my wheelchair and I can't tip my head back far enough to read labels through the right trifocal lens. I have severe degeneration in my neck and spine.
When I gave ODSP the prescription, I offered to get them 2 letters to show there was a medical need; one from my eye doctor and one from my family doctor. ODSP wouldn't take them. They said if they're needed, they would call and ask me to get them. Well they never called. Instead, they turned me down.
I asked for an Internal review and again offered the letters, but they wouldn't take them. They again, didn't call, so I was turned down a second time because "they had no new information."
I was left with no choice but to apply to the Social Benefits Tribunal.
I had the "early resolution" phone conference with the Tribunal the other day and thought I had it resolved. Think again. I did as the Tribunal suggested - faxed in the letters showing a medical need.
ODSP called me a few hours later to say they needed another copy of the prescription. I said you have it. They said it doesn't specifically identify the need for a second pair of glasses.
I took 2 more days to get it faxed to me (receiving the fax was a nightmare onto itself), saw it said the exact same thing as my original prescription, and took off to the Optometry office to ask them to help me interpret it. They confirmed the prescription was identical to the original and then pointed out exactly how the prescription is read and interpreted.
She then went on to explain that they used to try to call ODSP to explain it to them, but the workers never "got it" and they had to give up.
Anyway, due to the level of incompetence in our local office, the government has had to pay the wages of my local ODSP worker to do extra work to sort this out, the Regional Director, the 2 people who worked at the Tribunal and a lawyer (I think). I have a long legally worded document that I think is meant to explain why there needs to be medical proof (the proof the local office wouldn't take) to get a second pair of glasses.
If the ODSP case workers would accept the documents I hand to them in the first place, read what I produce and then, if they fail to understand it, phone the appropriate person (in this case the eye doctor) to ask questions about the prescription, then the problem would have been solved 4 months ago and I would not be so severely stressed out that I am throwing up, have lost my appetite, and can barely get out of bed.
I have asked ODSP to call people directly and even offered to fill out a consent form, but they say they can't because of privacy concerns. I've then asked the ones on the other end to call ODSP, and they refuse. I'm in a no-win middleman type of situation that is making me sick. It is so wrong, but how do you correct it. I keep trying to get some proper oversight used on that office, but because a lot of the requests to reproduce information is verbal (they phone me) I can't get a lawyer involved and I can't get an investigation launched.
Housing, I think I already told you about. The final volume of paper produced to prove 4 times over that I'm not sitting on a Gold Mine, was 27 pages. When I handed the papers over to housing I asked them to photocopy the legal sized pages because my printer won't do it. She looked at the volume and said you want me to photocopy ALL THIS!!!! I realized she thought the amount of paper was extreme and she was rebelling about how it would take a few seconds extra of time, so I said YES. Please photocopy the works (instead of the original 5 pieces of paper I had asked them for). Her shocked reaction spurned me into being a bitch.
When she handed them back, she said that was a lot of paper to copy. I then snapped back at her and said, think of how I feel. I had to go to 5 different places by pre-booked Access Bus, spend $18 on bus fare to get from place to place, and I had a grand total of 10 days to do it. I then asked if I could go back to doing it in the summer again (because I could get from place-to-place by power chair and save on a number of buses) and she said no.
I wish the old one who managed this accountability thing would come back. She didn't take pleasure out of making me do the run-around. I still had to get the information, but she was kind, understanding, and would offer time extensions. She's also the one who agreed it would be a good idea to accommodate by letting me do the work in the summer.
When she left, the one who took over said she can't offer me preferential treatment just because I use a wheelchair. It would not be equal so, to offer me a better time to do the paper work, would be unfair to the other tenants.
I hope the election brings change, but I'm not holding my breath.
Please read my other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
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