u/Vast_Tonight_9824

I wanted to ask something that’s been on my mind.
Does anyone else feel like people with disabilities need a stronger voice when it comes to discrimination in employment, government programs, and Vocational Rehabilitation?

Too often, decisions are made by people who don’t seem to understand what many of us deal with every day. The public rarely hears about the barriers we face, and many success statistics don’t always reflect what individuals actually experience.

I sometimes wonder if the disability community should organize peaceful demonstrations or marches to demand better treatment, accountability, and equal opportunities. Instead of only hearing reports from government agencies, I want to hear directly from people with disabilities about their real experiences.

For example, my own experience has been incredibly frustrating. I’m deaf/hard of hearing and spent nearly three years trying to get approved for Social Security Disability. I was denied three times, including after doctors wrote reports that I believe did not accurately reflect my disability. During that time, I became homeless and had very little support.

I’ve also been working with Vocational Rehabilitation for about three years. During that time, I haven’t received a single job interview through the program. I’ve experienced months-long communication delays, changing requirements, and counselors adding requests that I later learned weren’t actually required. It often felt like my time wasn’t valued, and the lack of accountability has been discouraging.

I’m sharing my story because I want to know if others have experienced similar issues not just with VR, but with discrimination, job hunting, or disability benefits in general.

What has your experience been? Have these systems helped you, or have they made things more difficult?

I've been working with Florida Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) for about three years. For the last year and a half, my approved employment goal was self-employment.

During that time I:

• Completed multiple business benchmarks required by VR.
• Worked with a VR-approved business consultant.
• Worked with a SCORE mentor.
• Earned an Entrepreneurship Certificate.
• Created a detailed business plan and financial projections.
• Registered my LLC.
• Obtained the required professional licenses and certifications for my industry.
• Spent years preparing to start a specialized service business.

During my case, I had four different VR counselors. My previous counselor and supervisor approved my progress through the business benchmarks. Then I was assigned a new counselor and a new supervisor.

From the first meeting, things felt different. The new counselor wanted to focus on job placement even though my approved goal had been self-employment for over a year. I also prefer communicating by email because it provides a written record. Earlier in my case, I found that important information had not been documented correctly, so having communications in writing is important to me.

At my second meeting, they denied my self-employment plan. Their reasons included:

• The business was considered too high risk.
• They stated there was no business revenue.
• They believed I didn't have enough experience operating a business.

My case manager attended the meeting with me, and we spent nearly two hours answering their concerns and correcting what we believed were misunderstandings. Even so, it felt like the decision had already been made before the meeting started.

I'm now requesting my complete VR case file because I want to understand exactly how the decision was made. I've also contacted Disability Rights Florida to review my case and determine whether I should appeal.

Has anyone here successfully appealed a Florida VR self-employment denial?

• What evidence helped your appeal?
• Did you request mediation or an administrative review?
• Were you eventually approved?
• Is it common for a new counselor or supervisor to reverse the direction of a case after another counselor had already approved the benchmarks?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar.