Vocational rehabilitation

Vocational
Rehabilitation,
Independent
Living, and
Consumerism
Steffi Andrat

Vocational rehabilitation programs
• Primary purpose = help PwD -
• Prepare for employement
• Obtain gainful employment
• Wide range of disability are catered to by rehab counsellors
• SCI
• Stroke
• Arthritis
• MS
• TBI
• Amputations
• Chronic pain
• Developmental and learning disabilities
• Psychiatric disorders

Government has set up 20 vocational
Rehabilitation Centres
The main objectives of VRC -
• Vocational evaluation and adjustment of PwDs
• Assessment of the medical, psychological, rehabilitation needs
• Assist in developing rehabilitation plans
• Sponsor physically handicapped registrants against notified/identified vacancies
• Distribution centers for various schemes(Scholarship/aids/appliances)
• Make referrals to financial institution for funding self-employment ventures.

VR process
This process generally involves
• Evaluation
• Job-seeking skills training – Readiness and placement strategies
• Job analysis
• Job placement and accomodation
• Job follow-up
Consumer movement in
rehabilitation

Vocational evaluation and Vocational
assessment
• Often used interchangeably
• Vocational assessment is a general term that includes many different
forms of evaluation
• Vocational evaluation is defined as a comprehensive assessment that
utilizes a variety of tools, including paper-and-pencil tests, structured
interviews, and real or simulated work
• With its focus on work-related abilities, a vocational evaluation may
use work samples, situational assessments, and on-the-job
evaluations

Employment Readiness
• Medical stability - important concern
• Stamina and endurance (i.e., to determine part-time vs. full-time)
• Psychosocial factors such as the individual's support systems
• Availability of adequate attendant care
• Transportation is another critical element in job success, as public transportation
can be inaccessible and is often unreliable
• Psychological readiness to go to work - This includes motivation, self-confidence,
interpersonal flexibility, coping resources, and realistic expectations about work
• People have needs beyond the financial, such as satisfying interpersonal contact,
achieving a sense of belonging, being productive, and enjoying creative
expression, all of which can greatly contribute to motivation for work

Job Placement Strategies
• Once the individual is ready to seek employment - must develop or
refine the employment skills
• Individual with virtually no work history will require far more
extensive job-seeking-skills training, (following up on job leads,
resume writing, application completion, and interviewing skills)
• Primary role of the VR counselor - assist in developing these skills
using tools as coaching, role playing, or video taping
• In addition he or she must also know how to respond to questions
about disability on an application or in an interview
• Knowledge of legal protections is critical

Job Analysis
• Job analysis critical to the ultimate success of job placement efforts
• By analyzing a particular job in a certain environment, suitable
accommodation recommendations can be made
• Must be analyzed for factors in the
• Work environment - parking at the worksite, restrooms, canteens, and
building accessibility
• Job tasks - lifting, grasping, standing, walking, sitting, talking, hearing, writing,
and reading
• Productivity - For people with cognitive or affective limitations, other critical
factors might include the work atmosphere (e.g., busy or relaxed) and
cognitive demands (e.g., memory, reasoning, problem solving)

Job Accommodations
• Requesting a job accommodation is another skill
• Although the individual is expected to know what accommodations
are required, the VR counselor can often act as a consultant to the
employer and can help to negotiate these
• Some accommodations like rearrangement of equipment. For
example, for individuals using wheelchairs, a height-adjustable desk, a
voice-activated speakerphone, or moving office supplies to accessible
drawers
• Other examples - job restructuring, flexible schedules, large print,
allowing use of personal care attendants or service animals, and
large-button phones

Job Follow-up Services
• Follow-up services for both consumer and employer
• Ensure a successful outcome
• Accommodations may require further adjustments after the
individual actually begins the job
• It is important that an employee who cannot function successfully be
removed from the job, as the primary goal of VR is a successful
outcome for both the individual and the employer

THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT IN
REHABILITATION
• Gradually emergence of the consumer is occurring in contrast to
patients or clients
• Emphasis on self-help and self-direction
• Pioneered by Ed Roberts and other individuals with severe disabilities
during the early 1970s, the philosophy of IL asserted that individuals
with severe disabilities were capable of managing and directing their
own lives
• Services and supports that PwD need are best delivered by individuals
who themselves have disabilities and whose knowledge about both
disability and services is derived from firsthand experience

Consumer-Related Services and Centers for
Independent Living
• The specific features of individual IL programs are determined by
• Individual needs of the consumers served
• Availability of existing community resources
• Physical and social make-up of the community
• Goals of the program itself

Independent living
IL program can be defined as a community-based program with
substantial consumer involvement that provides direct or indirect
services (through referral) for people with severe disabilities.
These services are intended to
• increase self-determination
• promote independence

IL SERVICES
• The IL process of assisting individuals to adapt themselves and their
environment to the reality of disability is often more fluid and
multifocused than is the VR process (which focuses its attention on
employment)
• The IL process begins when an individual with a disability realizes that
an obstacle exists because of a limitation,
preventing realization of a desired goal

IL SERVICES
• Examples-
• For an individual with a developmental disability who may have lived all his
life in an institution and now wants to live independently
• IL assessment includes personal hygiene, medication management, problem-solving and
decision-making skills, social skills, housekeeping, shopping, meal preparation, money
management, telephone skills, and emergency procedures
• In contrast, for a middle-aged individual returning home after a SCI
• Initial assessment focuses on the ability to perform ADLs, the need for social services,
emotional concerns, the impact of disability on personal relationships, and the needs for
home modification and personal assistance
• In either case, the goal of the IL assessment is to identify the individual's
goal and provide the IL counselor with the information necessary to assist
that individual in developing a plan to achieve his or her goal

Services typically provided include
• Housing
• Attendant care
• Reading or interpreting
• Information about other necessary goods and services
• Transportation
• Peer counselling
• Advocacy or political action
• Training in IL skills
• Equipment maintenance and repair
• Social and recreational services
VR programs may provide these services, but on a limited basis as a secondary or
supplementary means of achieving the primary vocational objective.

Independent living centres (ILCs) are -
• Consumer-controlled
• Community-based
• Cross-disability
• Nonresidential, private nonprofit agencies

Future India Foundation
• non governmental, non-profit,
organization
• national level.
Traineeships or volunteer positions
that PwD are welcome to apply for

Differences between VR and IL
VR IL
Type Public agency Private, non profit
Criterion Thorough assessment of
functional impact of
disablity
Not required
Counsellor and consumer Work in partnership Services are directed by
consumers
Goal Gainful empoyement Independent living as
defined by each consumer
Services provided by Rehab counsellors Usualy individuals with
disability
Success criteria Employability Maximized self sufficiency

Livelihood Opportunities for PwDs

Census 2001
• General population participating in the work force
• Males 51.7%
• Females 25.6%
• Work participation rates for PwDs
• Males 25.8 % (almost half that of general population)
• Females 8.7 %
• Work participation rate is low among females as compared to males and in urban
areas as compared to rural areas.
• A high work participation rate in rural areas is due to the fact that agriculture,
which is the main occupation in rural areas, has a capacity to absorb large chunk
of PwD
• Lowest work participation rate is observed among urban disabled females. One
reason - employment opportunities in urban area are male dominated and favour
educated people

Infrastructure of government policies and schemes - provide a platform for livelihood
opportunities for the disabled in India
Rural livelihoods
 Farm-based
 Pisci-culture
 Animal husbandry
 Non-farm based
(cottage industry,
trading)
Urban area options
 Formal sector -
government sector,
private sector, small-
scale industries
 Informal sector - with
contractors, shops,
establishments, in
households
Sheltered employment
 For multiple and severely
disabled persons
 Objective – provide
fulfilment, job satisfaction
and training on an ongoing
basis for personal
development in order that
he realises his full potential
Self-employment
 By offering credit
linkages (through
microfinance in rural
areas) and direct
lending there are
various ways of
promoting self
employment

Legislative Frameworks in India around Disability
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) Act, 1992
Regulates and monitors training of rehabilitation professionals and
personnel
Promotes research in rehabilitation & special education
Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of
Rights and Full Participation) (PwD) Act, 1995
Main Act concerning Disability
Provides for education, rehabilitation, employment, non-discrimination and social
security for PwDs
3% reservation for PwDs in poverty alleviation programmes as well as in certain job
categories

National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral
Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999
• Enabling and empowering PwDs to live independently and close to their
community
• Evolve procedures for appointments of guardians and trustees
• Extend support to registered organizations to provide need based servicesd.
Mental Health Act 1987
Mental Illness is mentioned in the PwD Act 1995
Treatment and care of mentally ill persons is governed by this act
Administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Looks into -
• Regulation of admission to mental hospitals
• Appointment of guardianship or custody of mentally ill persons
• Legal aid to mentally ill persons on state expense
• Management of psychiatric hospitals across the country
Legislative Frameworks in India around Disability

Policy Framework
The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, 2006
Recognizes PwDs as a valuable human resource
Seeks to create an environment that provides them with equal opportunities, protection
of their rights and full participation in society
Salient features
Physical Rehabilitation –
Early detection and intervention, counselling and medical interventions and provision
of aids and appliances, Development of rehabilitation professionals
Educational Rehabilitation
includes vocational training
Economic Rehabilitation
for a dignified life in society

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
(SGSY)
Aim = bring the assisted families above the
poverty line within 3 years by providing them
income-generating assets through a mix of
bank credit and Government subsidy
• Disabled 3%
Assisted families = Swarozgaris (from BPL
families by a three-member team - Block
Development Officer, a banker and the
sarpanch)
Government Schemes - Poverty Reduction schemes /
Livelihood schemes
Products at SGSY mela range from food to décor to
jewellery

Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
(SGRY)
• Objectives - wage employment and
increase nutritional levels in rural areas
through food-for-work programmes
• Target group - all rural poor who are in
need of wage employment and wish to do
manual and unskilled work in and around
their village/habitat
• Preference - parents of handicapped
children or adult children of handicapped
parents
Livelihood schemes
Farmers crushing stones as part of the food-for-work
programme in a Karnataka village

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA)
Guarantees 100 days of employment in a
financial year to any rural household whose
adult members are willing to do unskilled
manual work
If a rural disabled person applies for work,
work suitable to his/her ability and
qualifications will have to be given.
Livelihood schemes

Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana
(SJSRY)
Provide gainful employment to the urban
unemployed and underemployed poor by
encouraging self-employment ventures, or
by providing wage employment.
Target group - The urban public living below
the poverty line. Special provision of 3% for
disabled
Livelihood schemes
Women at a skill development training programme offered by
Apollo Institute of Technical Training, Ambattur, sponsored by
Chennai Corporation, under Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar
Yojana

Prime Minister’s Employment
Generation Programme (PMEGP)
Merging two schemes = Prime Minister’s
Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) + Rural Employment
Generation Programme (REGP)
Through the establishment of micro
enterprises in rural as well as urban areas
Guidelines mention inclusion of PwDs
Livelihood schemes

Appropriate Governments shall Identify posts, in the
establishments, which can be reserved for the persons
with disability
1% each shall be reserved for persons suffering from –
• Blindness or low vision
• Hearing impairment
• Locomotor disability or cerebral palsy
Three percent Reservation in Government Jobs

The Apprenticeship Training Scheme
Governed by the Apprentices Act, 1961
SALIENT FEATURES
Apprenticeship Training is on the job training in
industry
• Comprises Basic Training and Practical Training
• Make PwD eligible for gainful employment
• Class VIII pass to XII class pass persons can avail
the benefits of Scheme in 260 trades
• Minimum age 14 years
• Period of training - 6 months to 4 years

Scheme for Upgrading existing Polytechnics to
Integrate PwD
• Aim = integrate physically disabled persons into the
mainstream through technical and vocational education
• 50 existing polytechnics in the country have been
selected for upgradation
• Enabled to introduce technical/vocational and continue
education programmes for PwDs
• Targeted to benefit
• 1250 disabled students / year in the formal diploma level
courses
• 5000 students / year in short duration technical/vocational
courses

National Handicapped Finance Development
Corporation (NHFDC)
• Set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government
of India on 24th January 1997
• The company is registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act,
1956 as a Company not for profit
• Wholly owned by Government of India and has an authorized share
capital of Rupees Four Billion.
• Functions as an apex institution for channelizing the funds to PwDs
through the State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs) or through NGOs

Functioning of Social Security
• Social assistance and social protection defined as non-contributory,
regular and predictable cash or in-kind transfers
• Includes social insurance to protect people against the risks and
consequences of livelihood shocks, and legislative and regulatory
frameworks that protect against discrimination and abuse
• Social assistance are also used as a compensatory mechanism for an
interim period between temporary disablements to return of work.

• A closer analysis at available social security schemes for the PwDs
questions the rudimentary objectives and purpose
• Example, the eligibility criteria set by Government of Rajasthan for
the pension scheme is that a PwD who is unable to earn and any of
his/her family members aged 20 years and above are also incapable
of earning can avail of the government pension of 700/- per month
• If such a criterion is fixed, it automatically excludes almost all PwDs
from pension benefits

• Similarly, the unemployment allowance (UA) being given by various
State governments does not follow a uniform standard and are more
often fixed without any substantive rationale.
• Only 3 states namely Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh provide for
an UA
• Schemes and allowance amounts vary from Rs 50 to Rs 500, which
can be higher or lower than disability pension amounts depending on
the State/UT.
• Many PwDs expected grants instead of loans. It is important to raise
awareness on loans and break the ‘dependency syndrome’ when this
exists

In conclusion
• Although most people with disabilities are able to maintain the
capacity to make decisions concerning their needs and life-styles,
they may need time to be educated and empowered about new roles
and options in learning to cope with disability

Vocational rehabilitation

Vocational rehabilitation

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