ABSTRACT
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Historical Roots of Vocational Rehabilitation Service Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 The Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant/Counselor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Who Is a Qualified Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant/Counselor? . . . . . . . 282 Pediatric Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Pediatric Case Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 The Interview Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Pediatric Health Care Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Collaborating with Early Interventionists and School Personnel as Part
of the Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Transition Planning for the Adolescent/Young Adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Loss of Earnings Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Impact of Education and Other Demographic Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Establishing a Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Formulating an Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
PEEDS-RAPEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Parental/Family Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Educational Attainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Evaluation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Developmental Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Rehabilitation Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Access to the Labor Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Effect of ADHD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Effect of IQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Placeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Earnings Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Pre-Onset Vocational Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Post-Onset Vocational Development: Option 1 . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Post-Onset Vocational Development: Option 2 . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Labor Force Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
On-Line and Computer Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 General Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Education Related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Employment Related . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Computer Software Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Print Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 Acknowledgment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
As part of the continuum of care from childhood to adulthood, vocational rehabilitation consultants provide a valuable service to children, adolescents, and young adults with disabilities in planning for their lifetime needs. This chapter examines the unique role of the vocational rehabilitation consultant/counselor in the life care planning process involving pediatric cases. For purposes of this chapter, the terms
vocational rehabilitation consultant
and
vocational rehabilitation counselor
will be used interchangeably. Benefits to the child and family are discussed, and the value of the vocational rehabilitation consultant as part of the pediatric health care team is explored by outlining the vocationally relevant needs of a child throughout their developmental years. Discussion will focus on the importance of obtaining client/family information and services specifically available to school-age children under federally mandated programs, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to enhance the student-parent-school partnership. Prevocational and vocational issues are examined, including the impact of the vocational rehabilitation consultant on development and implementation of transition plans or habilitation/rehabilitation plans to allow for quality of life preservation as well as to assist children in achieving their highest level of productivity and functional independence. Issues surrounding wage loss and earnings capacity analysis are also introduced. Case examples are used to illustrate the role of the vocational rehabilitation consultant in pediatric life care planning. Selected resources are included at the end of the chapter.
