From a reader in Alabama:

I live with an aunt, or at least I've been trying to live with her for 10 years. Sure, she loves me. She takes me to the doctor whenever I need to go. She does a lot for me, but I'm having to pay too high a price for it. She's verbally abusive. She tells me that I act childish or retarded. I've taken independent living classes, but she won't let me practice the skills I learned. Nothing pleases her, so it's impossible for her to appreciate me at all. After my mother's death, I was in therapy, and my counselor offered to have therapy sessions for both my aunt and me, but she refused. I just feel so alone. There is no advocacy agency for blind people in this area to my knowledge, and VRS does not deal with verbal abuse. My fear is that if I call DHR, they will put me with someone even worse. If a Ziegler reader has any advice, please contact me by e-mail at ckimnbay@bellsouth.net.