New College has no clue about PA

[ajasfolks2]

I have been sitting with son as he works through emails and wording of requests and accommodations for first year of college.

I am not doing the e-mailing or calling.

He is slowly taking the reigns and I must let him.

His horses.  His carriage.

But I won't lie:  it has been very hard to let go.


I believe this is hardest transition for us food allergy parents.

Hang in there. 

[GoingNuts]

I have been sitting with son as he works through emails and wording of requests and accommodations for first year of college.

I am not doing the e-mailing or calling.

He is slowly taking the reigns and I must let him.

His horses.  His carriage.

But I won't lie:  it has been very hard to let go.


I believe this is hardest transition for us food allergy parents.

Hang in there.

So, so true.

Wackattack - I really have nothing to add here; DS started emailing the Office of Disability Services a month or so before school began and he really took the lead. And fortunately, he had no problems. 

He's starting his second year of law school in a few weeks and lives in an off campus apartment with 3 other guys.  They are all amazingly chill about his FA's.

[gvmom]

I was wondering if there were any updates? 

How is your DD doing?  Was she able to speak to anyone or feel like there is at least movement toward something that makes the situation better?

[wackattack69]

UPDATE, first the Good.
DD went to see the school nurse (NP, actually) who was awesome. She took her to a private room and asked if she had heard of FARE (she had the FARE forms laid out and well as an Action Plan). Well, DD just started laughing....sure her blood pressure went down a lot. She gave the nurse copies of her Action Plan, as well as her plan from her previous college. The nurse said they stock EpiPens right there!
When DD gently told her about the "in the dark" disability boss, and the fact that he said there was nothing she needed to sign....the NP just rolled her eyes and said OF COURSE there are things for you to sign! So, she gave her forms to sign..release forms in case EMS was called. All calls are routed to the campus police (who have an actual police station on campus) who then direct EMS to wherever the student physically is. DD absolutely loves this woman The lady also said to please go through her for any issues and had DD sign a form stating that should the present Disability man RETIRE (think she was hinting) that she would be the main contact for DD and any issues. She gave DD her phone, personal and office and said to come to her for ANYTHING at all.
Now, 24 hours before that. DD sent the Disability man a bullet pointed paper stating what she needed done by Monday. Well...he did it all and then some! He sent a long letter to the teachers and students stating that this was a life or death issue and that is a RECOGNIZED disability---waahoo!!! He also stated that PA is a "hot topic" in the disability world, right now. Sounds like maybe HE googled a bit.
Anyway DD is ecstatic now, calm, feeling secure and looking forward to school on Monday.

[GoingNuts]

That's wonderful news. 

[wackattack69]

Now, the BAD and I am in shock.
DD faxed her allergist her old school plans as well as her old action plan and a new action plan for her allergist to sign and fill out. She then called the office to confirm receipt and to say they as soon as it was ready, she would be in to pick the forms up. They said "of course". Well, Friday she got a call from a campus of her former college that she had NEVER been to, whom had received her paperwork from the allergist...today, the local library (where DD has faxed her forms from) called to say she has 7 pages of forms from the allergists office Can we say HIPPA??? The forms have been sitting at a public library since Friday at 3pm.....and 4 pages are missing. Just WTH?? You don't blindly fax things to whatever fax number it came from when the person faxing specifically stated that she would pick them up (as she had no fax machine of her own).
So, her medical info has been at a public library and some pages are even missing. I feel like someone should lose their job over this. I have never been so mad in my life. Her social security number was NOT on the forms, but her med.info was, her address, her phone, my phone, etc. What should DD so?

[PurpleCat]

The good news is fantastic!

The bad news is outrageous.  And I do not have a clue what she can or should do about it.

[gvmom]

OH FU@#!!!!! 

OMG!  I am in shock reading the BAD.  My mouth dropped open. 

Has she gone to the library to actually see what they had?  Looked around, on the floor, under tables, asked every possible employee & volunteer if they picked up any of the pages?

And, totally someone should be toast over something like this.  I'd also want to know if they faxed her stuff anywhere else. 

At least the GOOD news seems to be actually FANTASTIC!  Which... it really is fantastic! 

Good grief though!  You all are going to be exhausted with the stress of these things by the start of school.....

[wackattack69]

So, DD and I went to the allergists office today.She gave them the forms that were NOT filled out and said "we will just wait here until the Dr signs them". The lady was very nice and of course, THE MOM in me came out, very gently.....and told her what had happened with the faxes. I told her that after being a nurse for 20 years, I was pretty sure this was a huge HIPPA violation and she said "oh yes it sure is" and handed me the phone number to report it. It was as if this happened every day!
Anyway, I thanked her and we took a seat. The forms were filled out within 5 minutes. So now, I (actually DD) needs to call this number and report what happened. I'm just sick about it. I would have lost my job, pronto,if I would have done such a thing. My husband swore....which he never does. I'm trying to stay focused on the GOOD news and just deal with the BAD that happened. What a mess....I'm still in shock.
Thank you all so much for being here for me. It means a whole lot.

[GoingNuts]

GGA, I would have lost my job over that as well.    Unreal. 

[gvmom]

So, wait..... some of the forms that had been sitting at the library were actually not filled out?  Is that good?  I mean, if you know the bundle of forms that were sent, if some were not actually filled in, were those good ones to not have filled in?

I'm sort of trying to grasp at some teeny tiny possible good anything .....

And, uh..... yeah, are they used to violating HIPPA?  You'd figure that she might at least have to say "hold on a minute, let me call HR to figure out who you should call to report that" or fumble around to find that number for a few minutes.

How did your DD's first day of school go though?  That was yesterday right? 

[wackattack69]

So, wait..... some of the forms that had been sitting at the library were actually not filled out?  Is that good?  I mean, if you know the bundle of forms that were sent, if some were not actually filled in, were those good ones to not have filled in?

I'm sort of trying to grasp at some teeny tiny possible good anything .....

And, uh..... yeah, are they used to violating HIPPA?  You'd figure that she might at least have to say "hold on a minute, let me call HR to figure out who you should call to report that" or fumble around to find that number for a few minutes.

How did your DD's first day of school go though?  That was yesterday right?

The pages that were missing were the ones with her/mine/her dad's info on them. Phone number, diagnosis, medical history, etc.  We are just sick about this. She did ask as the library if she could look around and they said "sure" but assured us that it was cleaned every day and they don't leave things lying around. The pages they did give us were stapled together, but who knows where the rest are??
Her first day was absolutely GREAT and she was so happy. She always stands up and tells everyone about her allergy, rather than be "the mystery" person. They had signs on her classroom doors ("no peanuts in this room, please") and it could not have went better.
We may hold off on calling/filing a formal complaint as DD has her yearly allergy check up on Sept 5th and as there are limited allergists in this city, I want to get that done first and THEN file the complaint. I have a feeling they won't want to see her, after we do--thoughts on that would be welcome.