Student with SMA looking for guidance

[Guest guest]

To whom it may concern:

My name is K., and I have accepted my admission to Gallaudet

University's AudD program for Fall 2011. I am from the Central Florida area, and

I want nothing more than to make the transition to D.C. to pursue this

incredible opportunity that I've been given. However, I am also a student with a

disability. I am confined to a wheelchair due to a disability called Spinal

Muscular Atrophy. I make any and all efforts to be as independent as possible,

but there are some activities of daily living that I simply cannot do on my own

such as bathing, dressing, etc. Because of these limitations, I have received

personal care attendant services in Florida to assist me. I am in need of these

services 20+ hours each day, however the cost of these services is enormous

(roughly $20/hr). Until I received my Bachelor's degree at the University of

Central Florida, Vocational Rehabilitation covered the costs of these expensive

services to see that I was able to complete this degree. Because my desire to

pursue a higher education degree is not necessary in order for me to find a job,

Vocational Rehabilitation has decided to not assist me in paying for my personal

care attendants while I attend graduate school at Gallaudet University. I am not

one to give up on my dreams, I never have been. I was taught that if I keep

looking for options, I will get where I want to be in my life. I want to be

successful. I want to look back on my life and think that I've done amazing

things. I want everybody to be proud of the life I make for myself. I want to

inspire and open people's eyes to possibilities they never saw possible, simply

by pushing my own limits. So, I accept that there were drawbacks to my plans for

funding these dreams, but there's a motivation and a forward momentum that will

get me where I belong. And where I belong is at Gallaudet University.

That being said, my reason for writing this letter is to find an answer. I am

wondering if anybody is aware of a way that I am able to fund my personal care

attendants during the pursuit of my AudD degree. If anybody has information

about a grant that funds physically disabled students, large scholarships that

could assist in funding the over $120,000 per year I have to pay out of pocket

for personal care attendants, or philanthropists that are willing to help out an

individual student, I am curious. It would be devastating to me to have to pass

up the opportunity to attend Gallaudet, simply because I am not as physically

capable as other students.

Thank you sincerely for reading this letter, and hopefully it falls into the

right hands. I am going to continue chasing after every lead I come across. I

appreciate any advice in advance, and I am so much looking forward to August

when I (hopefully) call Gallaudet University my new home and begin my journey

toward my graduate degree in Audiology.

K.

Contact: kersteth@...

Date: 05/25/2011