By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Everyone can do something productive. Even if you have limited mobility following an accident or illness, there are still many jobs you can perform. Maybe you can no longer do the work you did before, but you can rejoin the work force doing something else. Going back to school might jumpstart that new career.
But before you register for courses at a vocational school or community college, stop and think about what you want to do with the rest of your life. Contact your state’s vocational rehabilitation office for guidance and financial support. A vocational rehabilitation counselor there will help you formulate a plan which will probably include getting an assessment of your abilities to make sure you are up to the task of going back to school.
That’s where my role as an employment specialist comes in. I assess people who have acquired disabilities to see what their interests, skills, and abilities are and make recommendations to their state counselors for what jobs they might be capable of doing right away, or what further training or education they might need to embark on a new career. For some, it might be on-the-job training; for others it might be short-term vocational training at the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) or a two-year community college.
Frequently, I recommend computer training in Microsoft Office software such as Word, Access, Excel and PowerPoint to qualify people for office jobs for starters. There are many opportunities in customer service, banking, finance, insurance, social services, law, and even health care that do not require standing, walking, or lifting.
Different states have different rules, but some will send some people to fouryear state colleges and even beyond to help them qualify for a new career. In my case, New York state’s vocational rehabilitation division of the Education Department, Vocational/Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), paid a portion of my tuition for a two-year master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling after I demonstrated that I was unable to get a job using my B.S. degree in communication arts. There is a strong demand for rehabilitation counselors, and mine knew that I would be able to get a job with that degree. She was right! State support included reimbursement for transportation and a $250 stipend toward the cost of books each semester. Pursuing rehabilitation counseling is a unique career in that your disability makes you more qualified than an able-bodied person. Another benefit is that the federal government offers grants towards tuition at some universities to encourage people to go into the field.
The two-day assessment I give involves a battery of paper-and-pencil tests of academic skills such as vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, grammar, and mathematics. “Oh no! Not math! I haven’t done that in years!” is the usual lament, but most people do surprisingly well conjuring up 9th grade algebra.
Another measures potential in areas such as mechanical reasoning, abstract reasoning and space relations, which can predict success in areas such as engineering, carpentry, and design. High scores in verbal reasoning, spelling, and language suggest success in education, journalism, and law. You can take remedial reading and math classes if you need to sharpen your skills, but most returning students do much better the second time around because they’re highly motivated and have a goal-factors that might have been lacking the first time.
It’s never too late to go back to school. One of the people in my program was in his 60s and had had a stroke. A woman in her late 50s was getting her degree for career advancement.
But what many people find most valuable is the Guide for Occupational Exploration Interest Inventory that divides the world of work into 14 categories, then breaks them down even further into dozens of specific job titles. Consumers pore over these listings to identify job titles that interest them.
Most of us don’t really choose or plan our careers. We fall into a job or pursue one of a limited range of careers that we have been exposed to through our parents, their friends, or services we have needed. Then, if we find we can no longer do what we had been doing, we are at a loss. But once people see a listing of job titles, they get excited about the possibilities.
You don’t have to be referred for a formal assessment in order to explore alternatives. Go to your local library. They all have career corners where you can research the hottest careers for the 21st century or choose the best career for your personality type.
You can check out online resources at home as well, such as America’s Career InfoNet at www.acinet.org or www.disabilityinfo.gov.
Tamar Asedo Sherman works as an employment specialist at UCP-Suffolk in Hauppauge, NY. She can be reached at action@unitedspinal.org
