Vocational Reintegration: Doug Part Seven
Key to good long-term outcomes after TBI, is continued cognitive challenges to rewire damaged circuitry within the brain and create a renewed self actualization. We believe that the two critical keys to achieve those goals is through vocational reintegration and community reintegration. Doug is someone we think is capable of greatly benefitting from both, even though he is getting very little of that currently. Doug had vocational rehabilitation, but it has been years since he has gotten even a whiff at those services. He might have been materially disabled at such time, but it is clear to us that his intellectual functioning is currently at a level that he might be a good candidate for retraining with vocational reintegration. That wasn’t the assessment years ago he explains:
They, they could never really, didn’t think I’d be able to, they couldn’t find me a job, you know, or wouldn’t think I’d be able to work, you know, be able to work, you know, a job where I could be able to, you know, stand full time.
What about a job sitting at a computer?
Yeah I never thought about, you know, I never thought about that either, so.
Do you have any problems with speech?
Not really.
(The only thing we noticed in terms of speech was that he would often pause mid-sentence, to gather a little momentum, then finish a thought.)
And you can communicate effectively on a computer?
I think so, yeah.
Would you like to work?
Yeah I’ve always thought about it.
What would you like to do?
I’m not sure.
Vocational reintegration is one of the things that DVR counseling should provide. But in today’s world, if the disabled person is not a strong self advocate, they will be far down the list of those receiving the services, even if they and society as a whole would benefit from those services.
Next Part Eight – Community Integration
Print Friendly Version
Save Page as PDF
