Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation - Volume 42, issue 3

Authors: Bachrach, Tammy

Article Type: Other

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Despite disability rights advocacy and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, people with disabilities continue to be under employed in America. For the past 20 years vocational rehabilitation agencies have developed effective strategies to better prepare people for employment however, employment outcomes have not increased. OBJECTIVE: This article examines common employment strategies as they related to the medical model of disability and asserts that perhaps it is time to shift the focus of our efforts to examine and address employers’ misconceptions and bias’ regarding people with disabilities. CONCLUSION: The social …model of disability is presented as an alternative that seeks to target change in attitude and awareness of those without disability through employer and inclusive education. Show more

Keywords: Employment, medical model, social model, employer perceptions, inclusive education

DOI: 10.3233/JVR-150749

Citation: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 257-261, 2015

Authors: Evert Cimera, Robert | Gonda, Jennifer | Vaschak, Jennifer

Article Type: Other

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Historically, individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) have been chronically un- and under-employed. To address these poor vocational outcomes, federal law in the United States requires that transition services be provided to special education students by their sixteenth birthday. Part of these services should be the referral to adult service agencies, such as the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs. OBJECTIVE: This research examined the rate at which applicants were referred to VR services by their high schools. It attempted to determine whether the rates of referral of transition-aged youth (ages 17 to 25) with ID were decreasing …over a ten-year period (2004 to 2013). It also examined demographic differences between applicants to VR who were referred by high schools and those referred from all other sources. METHODS: Utilizing the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). RSA’s Case Service Report (911) database, this study examined the referral source of all 286,663 transition-age youth with ID who had their cases officially closed by VR from 2004 to 2013. Two groups were compared, 158,114 individuals referred by their high schools and 128,548 who were referred by other sources. RESULTS: Data presented here indicated the rate of referral from high schools decreased steadily from 62.3% in 2004 to 50.0% in 2013 and that this trend was evident in forty-two of the fifty U.S. states. Individuals who were referred to VR by their high schools tended to be younger (18.3 v. 20.9 years old) and less likely to have multiple disabilities (34.0% v. 48.6% ) than individuals referred by any other source. Show more

Keywords: Vocational rehabilitation, referral, intellectual disabilities, transition

DOI: 10.3233/JVR-150747

Citation: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 263-270, 2015

Authors: Smith, Matthew J. | Boteler Humm, Laura | Fleming, Michael F. | Jordan, Neil | Wright, Michael A. | Ginger, Emily J. | Wright, Katherine | Olsen, Dale | Bell, Morris D.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have low employment rates and the job interview presents a critical barrier for them to obtain competitive employment. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of virtual reality job interview training (VR-JIT) among veterans with PTSD via a small randomized controlled trial (n  = 23 VR-JIT trainees, n  = 10 waitlist treatment-as-usual (TAU) controls). METHODS: VR-JIT trainees completed up to 10 hours of simulated job interviews and reviewed information and tips about job interviewing, while wait-list TAU controls received services as usual. Primary outcome measures included two pre-test and …two post-test video-recorded role-play interviews scored by blinded human resource experts and self-reported interviewing self-confidence. RESULTS: Trainees attended 95% of lab-based VR-JIT sessions and found the intervention easy-to-use, helpful, and prepared them for future interviews. VR-JIT trainees demonstrated significantly greater improvement on role-play interviews compared with wait-list TAU controls (p  = 0.04) and demonstrated a large effect for within-subject change (Cohen’s d  = 0.76). VR-JIT performance scores increased significantly over time (R-Squared = 0.76). Although VR-JIT trainees showed a moderate effect for within-subject change on self-confidence (Cohen’s d  = 0.58), the observed difference between conditions did not reach significance (p  = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: Results provide preliminary support that VR-JIT is acceptable to trainees and may be efficacious for improving job interview skills and self-confidence in veterans with PTSD. Show more

Keywords: Veterans, virtual reality training, job interview skills, vocational training

DOI: 10.3233/JVR-150748

Citation: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 271-279, 2015

Article Type: Correction

DOI: 10.3233/JVR-140703

Citation: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 281-281, 2015

Article Type: Other

Citation: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 283-285, 2015

Article Type: Other

Citation: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 287-288, 2015