Highest Rated Comments


BrightenTompkins4014 karma

Finding out I have minor scoliosis that I can't stop thinking could have been dealt with had my dad taken me to a doctor; not being able to check items out of a library; being unable to get fingerprinted for a job; being turned down at schools because I don't possess a photo ID; and having to find out the court documents and procedures involved in obtaining a birth certificate where information is limited.
EDIT: The most unexpected difficulty was knowing when and how to approach an authority on the matter and if they would actually help. I ended up calling the police on my father and after they tried to lecture me and my brothers, I told them everything, and they called CPS.

BrightenTompkins2803 karma

Education-wise, I started an online program, Edgenuity, through an adult school that let me in without a photo ID on the condition that I can't graduate until I possess one. Job-wise, I need a social security number before I even begin.
It is possible. I had an Order Establishing Fact of Birth (VS108) signed by a judge and I'm working on sending it to the California Department of Public Health - Vital Records to be made official. From there, I'm using my Medi-Cal benefits card—which I got from my social worker helping me get temporary health insurance—as ID, the VS108, and a copy of my birth certificate to get assigned a social security number. Finally, I'll be able to work and graduate.

BrightenTompkins481 karma

My mother was a stay-at-home mom, and my father did odd jobs; he has designed the interface of a point of sale machine and built and fixed computers.
She is in Idaho and pregnant with the baby of this Indian guy, who named one of his kids Solaro Eclipso, and my dad is with my two brothers although CPS is making him get them documents and enrolled in a homeschooling program.
No. It was just a home.
My mother was so scared of the police knocking on the door and "finding us" that thick blankets lined every window and we were in the dark for most of the day until around 4:00pm. I taught my little brother how to read because it was "too hard" for them. She has schizophrenia and nothing made sense, and dad at least tried to make sense, but my childhood was a clustermug of drugs, zoning out, and scanning ingredients for artificial flavors and colors.

BrightenTompkins272 karma

It's a 2-step process. First, you gather testimonies, family photos, and personal testimony. Second, the judge believes everything you and the witnesses say after verifying everyone is telling the truth. I made up my own middle name, so I'm sure I could have lied, but I didn't want to. It would also take my witnesses lying with me.