[rehab] Questions about rehab counseling and individuals with more than one disability and structured discovery learning

Mon Aug 14 00:03:25 UTC 2017

Dear Carlos,

Thanks so much for bringing up some very important discussion topics. I am proud to also be a graduate of the Louisiana Center for the Blind; I got so much from LCB that I went back to Ruston to get my master's degree from Louisiana Tech. I want to take a crack at your questions, with the exception of the rural rehab counseling one, and I'm eager to see how others stem off of what I write, too. I'm going to copy and paste your questions with my answers to them.

My question is for those of you who work with agencies who practice the structured discovery  learning method, how are you as center staff, and or counselors  dealing with clients who have other significant disabilities?   

Structured Discovery is an approach that goes beyond mere teaching techniques. We have an overall focus on the emotional adjustment to blindness, which includes the development of confidence, feelings of equality and dignity, and the general understanding that blindness is a normal characteristic. When it comes down to the techniques commonly employed in teaching in the Structured Discovery model, we work with what the student is experiencing, not what the instructor is experiencing. We work with the student's cognitive abilities, not the instructor's cognitive abilities. We ensure that the learning experience occurs first within the student's mind, not within the instructor's mind only to be transferred to the student. For these reasons, many practitioners contend that Structured Discovery is actually more important for students with multiple disabilities. Also, it is common for practitioners under the vision-centered approach to impose low expectations on blind students, which are often only compounded by the presence of other disabilities. Since they operate on a deficits model, any difficulties or lack of performance can be assigned to the disabilities rather than emotional barriers or a general lack of proper instruction. Often times, a vanilla blind person (someone whose only disability is blindness) is likely to experience higher expectations from a vision-centered practitioner and would be likely to have greater conditions for success. For any and all practitioners, it is necessary that we do not impose our own low expectations for those other disabilities on our student but really work to find out what they can achieve. 

My second question is what can agencies do to better prepare staff and or counselors to better deal with clients who may need  more assistance in terms of getting through a six to 9 month program?  
I think a lot of problems can be resolved if agency staff and counselors work to educate themselves more thoroughly about what Structured Discovery actually is. Far too often, I hear people with no Structured Discovery credentials from the NBPCB talking about what our training is and, so far as I can tell, missing the mark. I think agencies should more frequently invite presenters such as Dr. Schroeder and Dr. Bell to run professional development training programming for them. There are many great leaders in our network who can help strengthen an agency's understanding of what Structured Discovery means. Once that understanding becomes more complete, I think it will take care of the problems at hand. Lastly, I think agencies serving the blind need to bring all employees together toward a common understanding of the true capacity and normality of blind people. If an agency's secretary, for example, has low expectations of blind people and custodial attitudes toward the consumers, that secretary is undermining the work of the agency. Consumers are smart enough to notice; as long as one staff member contradicts the message and reinforces the status quo, the robustness of the message is shattered. 

Another issue that I am seeing is the fact that the blind population in many States is getting older.  So how do we all as Center staff, and or counselors deal with clients who want to work,  but who for one reason or another can not make a commitment to a six to nine month training program?  One of the issues I am seeing is that there are just not enough resources to provide the rehab teaching to individuals who cannot attend a training center. 

I agree that it is difficult to serve people who cannot attend a training center. I think it's important to be able to level with consumers about the true benefit of attending a comprehensive, center-based, Structured Discovery program. For those who cannot attend, I still serve them on an itinerant basis, and we speak often about the powerful potential of comprehensive training. Eventually, some of them come to the comprehensive program. A person can learn basic alternative techniques useful for functioning as a blind person, but the emotional part is really difficult to develop in an itinerant way. In Hawaii, we encourage consumers to meet consumer organizations and to get involved with them. Hopefully, the students will choose the consumer organization that will help them adjust emotionally and come to understand that we must work together to raise the expectations of blind people because low expectations are what create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Often, whether or not a person commits to a comprehensive program is a matter of priority. Maybe those priorities will change. Even if they don't, the consumer is still better off because he or she met positive blind role models and learned some basic alternative techniques for living a better life. 

I'm eager to see what else people offer. If you want to ask about anything I said, feel free.

Aloha,

Justin

Justin M. Salisbury, MA, NOMC, NCRTB, NCUEB
Legislative Committee Chair
Honolulu Chapter
National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury  

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." 

William Butler Yeats

-----Original Message-----
From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carlos Montas via rehab
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2017 8:27 PM
To: rehab at nfbnet.org
Cc: Carlos Montas <carlos.montas at gmail.com>
Subject: [rehab] Questions about rehab counseling and individuals with more than one disability and structured discovery learning

Good morning to you all. My name is Carlos Montas and I am a vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.  I need to point out that before asking my question, I need to  point out that I have six years of experience as a counselor 5 of those years I worked with the Blind Services agency in Florida.    I just got hired to work with the Iowa Department for the Blind as a counselor.  I also need to point out that I am also a graduate of the Louisiana Center for the Blind.  My question is for those of you who work with agencies who practice the structured discovery  learning method, how are you as center staff, and or counselors  dealing with clients who have other significant disabilities?   My second question is what can agencies do to better prepare staff and or counselors to better deal with clients who may need  more assistance in terms of getting through a six to 9 month program?  Another issue that I am seeing is the fact that the blind population in many States is getting older.  So how do we all as Center staff, and or counselors deal with clients who want to work,  but who for one reason or another can not make a commitment to a six to nine month training program?  One of the issues I am seeing is that there are just not enough resources to provide the rehab teaching to individuals who can not attend a training center. I would appreciate every ones thoughts on these topics.  I would also like some feedback on practicing rehab counseling in rural settings.  What tips could you give me as this is a new experience for me.  Thanks again for taking the time to read my post.  Sincerely,   Carlos Montas   

Sent from my iPhone
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