Vocational Counseling for Individuals with Disabilities

If there is any single thing that distinguishes the most successful of vocational counselors, it may be that they are sensitive to both the needs and the capabilities of their client. In cases where the clients have disabilities, sensitivity emerges as a much more crucial aspect of career counseling. That is why, despite the plethora of standardized psychometrics and computer models that have become relevant to career counseling, the best counselors are likely to inflect any interpretation of the results of standardized testing and evaluation with sensitivity to the uniqueness of the client. Thus responsible scrutiny of a battery of psychometric and aptitude tests must be accompanied by careful attention to what the client reveals via verbal or nonverbal communication that may aid in assessing his or her real needs and objectives, whether psychological or professional. As Zunker explains in that regard, "Career counselors address adjustment problems associated with disability as well as career choice and career development factors" (2002, p. 376).

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hat they are willing to settle for "a job, any job," even one that grossly underuses their professional and earning potential. At minimum, says Capella, career counselors should keep up to date with trends in the employment picture so that they can give informed consultation to clients. In Capella's view, there is no excuse for not keeping up, since the Internet makes the information readily available: The labor market has changed considerably over the last 30 years, including a trend toward a more educated workforce and more jobs in managerial and professional occupations, and it is imperative that the VR system change with it. Otherwise, VR consumers will be the ones left behind (Capella, 2003a, p. 30). What constitutes effective counseling appears to come down to an issue of counselor sensitivity to the needs of the client universe. Zunker's analysis of career counseling for special populations, including persons with hearing impairment, lays some stress on the use of psychometric instruments as mechanisms for assessing aptitude and other elements relevant to career choice (2002, p. 399). However, there is an emerging body of opinion that psychometrics have as many limitations as applications. In that regard, Hasnain, et al.,
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Some common words found in the essay are:
SSI VR, , Otherwise VR, Deaf Culture, Geyer Schroedel, Journal Rehabilitation, Counseling Bulletin, Income SSI, Participation SIPP, Rubinstein JT, deaf persons, hearing impairment, deaf culture, et al, persons disabilities, career counseling, cochlear implants, employment outcomes, journal rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation, persons hearing impairment, hasnain et al, vocational rehabilitation consumers, individuals disabilities journal, outcomes vocational rehabilitation,
Approximate Word count = 1978
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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