Affiliations: University of Kentucky, Department of Special
Education and Rehabilitation Counseling, 218 Taylor Education Building,
Lexington, KY 40506, USA. Tel.: +1 859 257 7927; Fax: +1 859 257 3835; E-mail:
rbree2@uky.edu
Abstract: Sudden onset disability results from an injury or disease process
and may disrupt major life activities on many levels. Rehabilitation consumers
with sudden onset disabilities are frequently involved with disability
insurance systems and often receive services through proprietary rehabilitation
programs. Just as rehabilitation consumers served in public and private
non-profit venues, proprietary consumers require comprehensive rehabilitation
counseling intervention. Regardless of the service setting, rehabilitation
counselors share professional practice activities in common: consumer intake,
assessment, planning, providing/arranging services, follow-through, and case
documentation/closure. Vocational assessment is an integral component of
rehabilitation counseling across settings, which provides a valuable
opportunity to enhance active consumer participation throughout the
rehabilitation process. Traditional assessment practices often fail to promote
consumer involvement, resulting in potentially inaccurate or incomplete
analysis of residual functional ability, as well as poor consumer participation
in planning and direct service activities. Poor consumer participation often
translates to rehabilitation outcomes that do not adequately reflect consumer
vocational potential or personal needs. Fundamental improvements in the
traditional rehabilitation assessment process across settings, with emphasis on
practical applications that are immediately available to rehabilitation
counselors in the underserved proprietary sector, are discussed. The
implications for rehabilitation research are reviewed.
