Employment Staff
Tip Sheets
For more information, please call the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire to ask your questions or discuss your concerns about your return to work.
(1-603-225-8400 or in NH only 800-773-8400).
FAQ
Who is eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation services?
A person is eligible if they have a disability, further more if their disability creates problems in preparing, getting or maintaining a job.
What are Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors responsibilities?
Your Vocational Rehabilitation counselor will help you prepare, get and maintain employment. Your Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor should help you understand your strengths and focus on the tasks that you can complete successfully. Your counselor should give you information; provide encouragement and support, as well as give an array of options for employment direction.
What is an employment plan?
A Vocational Rehabilitation counselor will create a plan based on a job goal that their client has. These plans are also known as Individualized Employment Plan (IPE) or sometimes Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP). The purpose of the plan is typically designed to answer four questions. What is your Job goal? What steps do you need to do to reach this goal? What services do you think you need in order to reach this goal? How will you know when you have completed these steps that are necessary to reach your goal?
What Services does Vocational Rehabilitation offer?
After a client has met with their Vocational Rehabilitation counselor and developed an employment plan, the counselor will begin to take steps to provide services to help find employment. These services include:
- Diagnostic testing - Diagnostic testing can include if necessary medical or psychological exams. These exams can help determine which VR services are needed. There may also be a vocational evaluation which considers the interests of the client. Other tests may be administered to help in finding the right employment.
- Independent Living services - Independent living services refers to information and referral, advocacy, peer counseling, assistive technology, etc.
- Special Services - Some may need medical treatment to correct, improve or prevent deterioration of their disability. Special services can help to provide these medical treatments so the individual can work. Your Vocational Rehabilitation counselor will supply appropriate technology goal devices that can help to support the individual at their place of employment.
- Supported employment - Supported Employment programs were created for individuals who need long term support in order to be successful at their job.
Employment Staff
Return to Work (RTW)
As a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VR) or employment staff you are an important part of the employment process for individuals with a disability. As a employment staff person you can help your client make sure that their needs are being met at their new job. This can include making sure that they have the technical assistance that they need or the appropriate accommodations are made to the office building. Some examples of reasonable accommodations include removing deep pile carpeting in the work area or the employer permitting paid or unpaid leave for the employee to receive necessary treatment. As a VR it is vital that you can help you clients find a job that matches their abilities as well as help your clients receive appropriate accommodations so that they can do their job successfully.
Neuropsy Evaluation - Tip Sheet
Brain Injury often affects cognitive abilities, behavior and emotions. Common complaints from survivors and family members are trouble with remembering things, word finding, concentrating and multi-tasking. Emotional changes may include depression, frustration, difficulty controlling anger and mood changes.
Often the neuropsychological evaluation can be a starting point for the counselor to work with the individual, the neuropsychologist and others involved in providing supports. Neuropsychological evaluations examines how well the individual’s brain is working when it performs certain functions (for example remembering).
The evaluation can provide information that links the cognitive strengths and weaknesses to the individual’s day-to-day functioning in the type of training or work environment that they are currently working in or are interested in pursuing. It can also provide information regarding the person’s learning style.
For best results, it is important for the counselor to provide information regarding the individual. The counselor should also provide specific questions regarding what information they are looking for.
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