WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 music 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.000 just like Dr. Ni said -- 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:10.000 my name is Jordan Meekins 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.000 I'm a voc rehab counselor 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:15.000 alumni of Western Oregon this 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:19.000 program in particular -- I got 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:21.000 into this field because -- I 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.000 myself experienced disability 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.000 accident fifteen years ago 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:28.000 which left me paralyzed and I 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.000 was in the military at the time 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.000 and it left me pretty much nowhere 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:33.000 to go with my career -- 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.000 I found this program through 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.000 my own -- will to try to 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:38.000 serve people with disabilities 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.000 very specifically -- I -- I 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:43.000 like getting out in the woods 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:44.000 and going fishing and hunting 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.000 and things like that and it 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:48.000 allowed me to try and bond with 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.000 other people in my community 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:52.000 barriers are there and that 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.000 kind of stuff and I started 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.000 a nonprofit and I start looking 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:57.000 locally at colleges that 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:58.000 might give me more education 00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:59.000 and give me more training as 00:00:59.000 --> 00:00:60.000 to how I could operate that 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.000 nonprofit and I found 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.000 Western Oregon in my backyard which 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.000 was kind of eye opening because I 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.000 had no idea that there was a 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.000 program like this -- I applied 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.000 to the program and -- very -- 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:14.000 you know luckily for me and 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.000 in and -- it's been an 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.000 eye opening experience to -- to 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.000 see a different side of -- 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.000 disability -- and accessibility 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.000 and that there's so many 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.000 different forms of -- of that 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:32.000 in our world and that everybody 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.000 experiences it individually -- 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.000 at first I was not interested 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 in voc rehab -- not even 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:39.000 in the least because I thought 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:41.000 oh it's a state bureaucracy 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:42.000 oh boy who wants to work for 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.000 them right and it's gonna be 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 like -- you know -- you know 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.000 it'll be a drag everyday and 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:50.000 I have to jump through all 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:51.000 these hoops I have to memorize 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:52.000 all these things and who 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.000 wants your boss's boss making 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.000 your decisions for you right 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:57.000 I wanna have autonomy I want to be 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:58.000 a professional I wanna be able 00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:60.000 to do what I want to do and 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.000 I interviewed some voc rehab 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.000 counselors and they showed me 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.000 that that is not even close to 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:10.000 being the case -- there are 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:11.000 some of those things in the 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:15.000 VR process -- say specifically 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:16.000 there's a lot of laws and a 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.000 lot of legislation that 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.000 come down very specifically to 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.000 dictate what you can and cannot 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.000 do -- but that being said 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.000 that's actually because of the 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.000 ADA -- the law that 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:30.000 was passed Americans -- 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.000 Americans With Disabilities Act -- it 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.000 gives guidance to the 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:38.000 RSA who then gives guidance to 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.000 state programs who take 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.000 the federal funding and then 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:43.000 implement it to help people 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.000 with disabilities get jobs -- 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:49.000 and in seeing the way that that was 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.000 practiced in the field by those 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:53.000 counselors it really attracted 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.000 me because I thought there's 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.000 a very practical side of this 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.000 that we all experience right 00:02:59.000 --> 00:02:61.000 I mean you're all here in this 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.000 field because of one reason 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:04.000 or another whether you're 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.000 passionate about helping 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.000 people with disabilities or 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.000 you want to figure out -- 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.000 what counseling's about I mean 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:12.000 who knows exactly what your 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.000 reasons are -- maybe you're 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:15.000 passionate because you have a family 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:16.000 member or you want to make a 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:19.000 bigger impact on your community 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.000 done through VR -- but it all 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:24.000 depends on what your paradigm 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.000 is and what you bring to the table 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.000 if you are the kind of person 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:31.000 who can understand a role 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.000 and work within that role and 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.000 perform what a person needs 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.000 you to do on the other side of 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.000 the table and so that's what 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.000 I'm here today to do is to 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.000 introduce you to the VR process 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.000 and what that looks 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.000 like it's much bigger than 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:49.000 you might think but so is all 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.000 working with human beings right 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.000 difficult sometimes -- very 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.000 rewarding at other times and 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.000 presents you with a lot of 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:60.000 challenges I think more so than 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.000 anything I get challenged on 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.000 a daily basis -- to my core 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.000 try to understand things that 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.000 I've never been experienced with 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.000 before -- different paradigms 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:19.000 to speak so this is generally 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:21.000 the VR process there's always 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:23.000 outliers there's always 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.000 complicated scenarios and 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.000 like I said before and as 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 we all know people are very 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:29.000 complex and their situations 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:30.000 and their backgrounds are very 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.000 complex so sometimes this process 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.000 works exactly like this I'd 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.000 say the majority of the time 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.000 but sometimes it doesn't but 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.000 initially someone has to come 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.000 to our office to seek services 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.000 and that looks like usually 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.000 word of mouth we do not promote 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.000 our services we do not go out 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.000 and broadcast hey VR is here one 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.000 of the reasons being is that 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.000 we have very high caseloads 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000 as is right now and we don't 00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:59.000 want to overload the system 00:04:59.000 --> 00:04:60.000 not that we don't want to serve 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.000 people we absolutely do but 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.000 we work within the means of 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:04.000 what we have we do the best 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.000 job we can for the people that 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.000 we do have and our caseloads 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000 are continuing to go up and as 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 time goes we will eventually 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.000 meet that need hopefully as a 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.000 state but a lot of that has to 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:17.000 do with tax revenue and -- 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.000 and RSA funding and things like 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000 that just like any program 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.000 just like the Western Oregon program 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.000 but that initial contact leads 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:26.000 to an intake meeting and so 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.000 the first people that meet 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.000 with the client are usually 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.000 they're called HSA 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.000 so Human Services Assistance 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.000 and what they do is they 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.000 pair the individual up with 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.000 the counselor that may be a 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.000 good fit they kind of screen 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.000 at the start they -- they 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.000 try to take into account the 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.000 certain factors that people 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.000 bring to the table and that 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000 they might be a best fit for 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 certain counselor then at 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.000 the intake meeting when the 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.000 counselor meets with person what 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.000 we do is we get all relevant 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:54.000 information that we possibly 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.000 can to understand if they are 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.000 actually eligible for services 00:05:59.000 --> 00:05:60.000 and that's the next part is 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.000 the eligibility identifying 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:04.000 documented and potential 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.000 disabilities and barriers 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.000 that's the absolute underlying 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.000 everything of this job is that 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.000 a person must have a documented 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.000 disability that disability must 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.000 present barriers to employment 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.000 and there must be something 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.000 that I can do about it in order 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000 to make them eligible for our 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.000 services and then comes planned 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.000 development this is where it 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.000 gets difficult at times is 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.000 that a person might think that 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.000 they need a certain something 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.000 and that's the only thing 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.000 that they might need in order 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.000 to get to where they would 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.000 like to go but as a counselor 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.000 your job is to be objective 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000 and to help them see all the 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.000 information for what it is 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000 for what they presented and what 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.000 you made them eligible for and 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.000 then move from that point to a 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.000 feasible goal and there's a lot 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.000 of discord in that depending 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 on how it goes but there's also a 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.000 lot of people that have a very 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.000 realistic point of view of 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:59.000 things and when they come into 00:06:59.000 --> 00:06:60.000 the office they actually have 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.000 a plan ready to go example of 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.000 that might be someone who has a 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.000 hearing deficit and is working 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.000 currently and needs hearing aids 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.000 because they cannot afford to 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.000 buy them themselves and 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.000 VR does help with that but it 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.000 doesn't help every time and 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:15.000 it does depend on how much 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:17.000 money they make but those 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:18.000 are detailed things that we 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 can talk about later and then 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.000 the goal employment obtaining 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:24.000 employment as a person's -- in 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.000 a person's chosen field a 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.000 person has informed consent 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.000 they get to decide what they 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.000 do and what they don't do VR is 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.000 not a mandatory process it's 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.000 completely volunteer and as far 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.000 as what I get to do and what 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.000 they get to do it's a joint 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.000 process it's team work at 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.000 that point and then retention 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.000 retention is that the person 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.000 has held that job successfully 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.000 for ninety days after they get 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.000 the job and that as well is 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.000 a mutually agreed upon goal 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.000 completion so sometimes a person 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:57.000 might actually have the job 00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:59.000 for ninety days but it may not 00:07:59.000 --> 00:07:60.000 be exactly how they want it to 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.000 be there may be things that are 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000 still undone and we would 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:06.000 still keep them open so you 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.000 guys are going to have access to this 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.000 but I think I'll hit on the 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.000 main points here so the mission 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.000 statement is that we work with 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.000 people with disabilities to 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.000 achieve maintain and advance 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.000 in employment and independence 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:21.000 and we do this with anybody 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.000 from any walk of life from 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:24.000 any type of disability to any 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 population except Blindness or 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.000 Deaf-Blindness and the reason 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.000 for that is that there is a I 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.000 guess we could call it a sister 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.000 agency for the commission 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 of the deaf and blind and they 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.000 handle all those cases and we 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.000 refer back and forth we try to 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.000 work with each other on that 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:46.000 especially if there's something 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:47.000 that our agency can do that 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.000 would pair with them but beyond 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.000 that it gets very complicated 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.000 there's a lot of law behind it 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.000 but for the most part we try to 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.000 work well with other agencies 00:08:59.000 --> 00:08:60.000 in the community to serve our 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.000 people as best we can when 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.000 I first heard of voc rehab 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.000 that really turned me off was 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:08.000 that I thought it was all about 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.000 employment you know it's just 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.000 about getting a job getting numbers kind of 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.000 showing stats for the state 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.000 and blah blah blah you know 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.000 kind of move on I didn't think 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.000 it was integrated I didn't 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.000 think you used mental health 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:20.000 techniques I didn't think you 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.000 actually made real differences 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.000 in people's lives that was my 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.000 own paradigm you know that was my own 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.000 mistake in thinking that but 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.000 I wanted to pose the question 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:31.000 why is employment important 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.000 to people well I'll tell you 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.000 every person I've ever worked 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.000 with has told me about the same 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:40.000 thing they derive their meaning 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.000 and who they are from their 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.000 employment I mean if you look 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:44.000 at the people that you look 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.000 up to in professional fields 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.000 they're very passionate about 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.000 what they do they love what 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 they do the majority of them 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:52.000 you know there are very few people 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.000 paycheck and even if you know 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.000 that is the the goal behind 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:58.000 it sometimes that paycheck has 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:60.000 a lot to do with your socioeconomic status 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.000 where started and sometimes people get 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.000 fixated it's all about 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.000 the money for happiness well 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:08.000 just like all of us we all 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.000 have our own lessons to learn 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.000 right and everybody does it 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:12.000 their own way there's nothing 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.000 wrong necessarily with that 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.000 but it's their goals what 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:17.000 they bring to the table but 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.000 I'd say what's true for every 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:20.000 single person thats walked through 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.000 my door is that they derive 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:23.000 their meaning from what they do 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.000 on a day to day basis and very 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.000 specifically why is VR 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:30.000 given all this money to help 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.000 people get to employment well 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.000 because studies show that 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 barriers to employment isolate 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.000 people from the community in 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.000 so many different ways I mean 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:40.000 that's what brought me into 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.000 my own nonprofit was even 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.000 recreation you know you think 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:45.000 about it when -- when I was 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.000 up walking around you kind of 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.000 take things for granted I mean 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:51.000 to a certain extent I mean 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:52.000 we're not blind to the fact 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.000 that there's push buttons on 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.000 doors right and that there's 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:56.000 curb cut outs and things like 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.000 that and that there's handicap 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.000 parking spots and and whatever 00:10:59.000 --> 00:10:60.000 else that there's sign language 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.000 interpreters there's -- there's 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.000 multiple different people in 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:04.000 the world who have different 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.000 things but until it affects 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.000 you personally individually 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:09.000 you don't really see it from 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:10.000 the perspective of a person 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:16.000 who's disabled right so 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.000 when you lose those things 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.000 you lose that connection with 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.000 community you kinda lose a 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.000 part of who you are you lose 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.000 a part of your own connection 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:26.000 to the world you live in and 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.000 how do you reconnect that well 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.000 if society isn't set up for a 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.000 person with a disability how 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:34.000 does that person then advocate 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.000 and fight against that to make 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.000 that -- something that people 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.000 care about and that someone 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.000 can help you with and that 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.000 goes doubly for employment if 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.000 you want to work somewhere the 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.000 real world application of it 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.000 is you have to be a resource 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.000 to that employer in some 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.000 circumstances there's a lot 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:55.000 of flexibility there there's 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.000 employers that understand 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.000 these things and understand 00:11:59.000 --> 00:11:62.000 there are people who have needs and 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.000 that have needs that are different 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.000 from most other employees 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:06.000 and they're very open to working 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.000 with people with disabilities 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.000 there's also employers that don't 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.000 care about that all they care 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:13.000 about the bottom line they 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:14.000 care about moving forward and 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:15.000 they want to know what does a 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:17.000 person bring to the table it's 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.000 a very interesting conundrum 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:20.000 especially if you're working 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.000 with people who we see the 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.000 intrinsic value of the person 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.000 but they don't have employment 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.000 value to a certain employer 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.000 and they do to others so how 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.000 do you work with that person 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:32.000 well again that's what VR's all 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:33.000 about is to help present this 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.000 information to an individual 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:36.000 so they can choose for 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.000 themselves what they do but like 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:40.000 I said economic status there's 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.000 a lot of different things 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:43.000 that keep people isolated 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:44.000 and that affect a person's 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.000 ability to go to work 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:47.000 engagement in employment helps to 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.000 give a voice for others who 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.000 experience disability people 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.000 who paved the way and get into 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.000 certain jobs can also leave 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:56.000 that door open for other people 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.000 with disabilities there's a certain 00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.000 employer that I work with in 00:12:59.000 --> 00:12:62.000 Philomath in particular who 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.000 I sent an individual who had 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:05.000 a criminal background he 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.000 was a sex offender and that 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:09.000 is a criminal background that 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:10.000 not very many employers want 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.000 to work with -- they look at 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 it very -- rigidly and concretely 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:17.000 because they see risk they 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.000 they evaluate risk there and 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:20.000 I think all this person's done 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.000 horrible things we don't want 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:23.000 to deal with that but this 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:24.000 employer in particular is very 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.000 open to hiring anybody and they 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:27.000 don't really care about the 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:28.000 background as long as a person 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.000 wants to work and they come in 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.000 with a good attitude to want to 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.000 be a resource to the team they 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:34.000 is they want to give people a 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.000 second chance in life and this 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:39.000 employer in particular I sent 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:40.000 this one individual who wanted 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.000 to do that kind of work and he 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.000 did a great job and he stayed 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.000 there and he's one of 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.000 their top guys now and I've been 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:49.000 able to send multiple people 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:50.000 for chances for employment 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.000 with this guy and almost every 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.000 single time even when they fail 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.000 he's still open to it because he 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:58.000 had that one great experience 00:13:58.000 --> 00:13:60.000 with this other fellow and 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:01.000 is that it really didn't come 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.000 down to a disability it came down 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:05.000 to perception of the employer 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.000 you know if you can do the job it 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.000 background is it doesn't really 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.000 matter -- those other things 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.000 it does to the individual 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:15.000 obviously but to the employer 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:16.000 they just see that other 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.000 side they see can a person do 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.000 the job can they be -- a good 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:22.000 part of our team and that's 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.000 leading into that second point 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:24.000 too sometimes accommodations 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.000 that can be made through VR 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.000 or because of an individual 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.000 or because of tax breaks 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:30.000 depending on how it goes 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.000 for the employer it can be an 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.000 accommodation that allows other 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.000 people to access that in the 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.000 future so I just use these 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:39.000 as visual representations 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.000 of things that can be done I 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.000 already hit on -- hearing aids 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.000 self advocacy helping people learn 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:50.000 to advocate for themselves and 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.000 how to do it in a way that's 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.000 conducive to their employment 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.000 and also the employer's ability 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.000 to be open to accessibility 00:14:59.000 --> 00:14:60.000 sometimes walking through a 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:01.000 door and having an idea that 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.000 well because the ADA said so 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:07.000 that's not a very friendly 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:08.000 perspective to take walking 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.000 through the door one of my jobs 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.000 is to help people understand 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:12.000 that there are natural -- 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.000 natural negotiation times that 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:16.000 you have with employers and if 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.000 they see you as a resource you 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.000 don't have to hit on all that 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:20.000 stuff and the ADA 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:21.000 actually protects your 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.000 information as well you don't 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.000 have to tell an employer 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:25.000 about all those things there's 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:26.000 certain things you do obviously 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.000 like on a -- an application 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:30.000 you know they'll have all the 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:31.000 questions you need to you need 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.000 to fill out but learning that 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.000 self advocacy learning how to 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.000 protect your own information is a 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:37.000 big part of this too sometimes 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:38.000 people feel like they have 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.000 to over share you know like 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.000 with my wheelchair I don't 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.000 a wheelchair you know you can 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.000 see it for the most part unless 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.000 someone has a visual impairment 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.000 that would be the only time 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:50.000 but other than that it's 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:51.000 pretty plain I'm sitting in a 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:55.000 wheelchair I don't need to talk 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:56.000 about that initially especially 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.000 if really what I'm there for 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.000 is an interview to understand 00:15:59.000 --> 00:15:60.000 if I would be a good counselor 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.000 if I would be a good resource 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.000 to the team you know that's something 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 that you don't have to 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.000 discuss but there was a natural 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:10.000 negotiation phase even with VR 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.000 you know VR helps people with accessibility 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:15.000 and with adaptions and it was just 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.000 a natural process it was the 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:18.000 second interview it was the second 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.000 time we talked it's pretty 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.000 natural for those kinds of 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:22.000 things to happen but people 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.000 don't know that and when you face 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:25.000 disability and you face isolation 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:27.000 and you face discrimination 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:29.000 at points you have no idea 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.000 what you need to say and it's 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.000 really an unnerving thing for 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.000 people you know and that's 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:35.000 one of the biggest questions 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.000 is the anxiety around it so 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 Dr. Ni asked how I could 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000 a vehicle modification 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.000 with transportation so as she 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.000 alluded to there are so many 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.000 different barriers that people 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.000 can face -- say a person okay 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.000 I'll use myself as an example 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:55.000 I lived in Halsey when 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.000 I was injured and Halsey is 00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:59.000 down by Brownsville it's down 00:16:59.000 --> 00:16:60.000 south a little bit it's a 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.000 pretty small town about 500 people 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:05.000 so when I was injured I went I had to live 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:06.000 with my parents down there so I 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.000 was isolated by transportation 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.000 I was isolated by -- socially 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.000 isolated and I was I felt like 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.000 I was stuck down there anywhere 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:18.000 I'd go my mom would have to 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.000 drive me and I'll tell you what 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.000 going on a date when your mom 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:22.000 is driving you somewhere is not a 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:26.000 very -- good prospect -- but 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:27.000 in the circumstance I was in 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.000 figuring out that transportation was 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:31.000 a number one priority I needed 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:32.000 to get away from mom driving me 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000 everywhere and to appointments 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.000 and other things like that as well 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:36.000 because she would be there 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.000 because she's a loving caring 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:38.000 mom she wanted to be in all my 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:40.000 appointments but at the same 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.000 time there's things that I wanted 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.000 to talk to my doctor about by 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.000 myself so being at that 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:47.000 point I actually was a client 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:49.000 at VR and I wanted to go back 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.000 to school and they helped me get 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.000 hand controls for my vehicle 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.000 and for me in particular 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:55.000 I was able to -- break my 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.000 chair down and throw it in and 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:59.000 out on my own but a modification 00:17:59.000 --> 00:17:61.000 like this can run anywhere 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:02.000 from thirty to fifty thousand 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.000 dollars depending on how 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.000 it goes so like this gentleman 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.000 in particular so this is a 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.000 modification that can come out 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.000 of the door and lower down on 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.000 the ground he has a power chair 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.000 as well which is extremely 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:16.000 heavy those chairs can be 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:17.000 anywhere from three hundred 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:20.000 to four hundred pounds sometimes and 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.000 for him in particular that door 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.000 coming up as well it might 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:24.000 seem pretty cool like 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.000 Back to the Future kind of stuff actually 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.000 do you guys even though that 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.000 reference okay thank thank God 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.000 but the doors coming up like 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:33.000 that it can shield someone 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:34.000 from being in a torrential 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.000 downpour and can stop them 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.000 from getting completely 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:38.000 soaked when they're going in 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:39.000 and out of the building the 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:40.000 modifications in particular are 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.000 very unique to the makers of 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.000 the modifications and also the 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.000 company that actually installs 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.000 the modifications they can make 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.000 adjustments to it but it's all 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.000 very unique to the individual 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:52.000 one of the very first cases 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.000 I ever had with a vehicle 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.000 modification was when I was 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:57.000 working in Eugene -- there was 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.000 an individual who had very very 00:18:59.000 --> 00:18:61.000 little physical movement and 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:02.000 and actually had very little 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.000 control of their extremities 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:05.000 the person could could move 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.000 their right arm and with enough 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.000 force to be able to operate 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:11.000 a joy stick we modified a 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.000 vehicle that had basically was 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.000 a pedestal with a joystick on 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.000 top so this person could drive a 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.000 vehicle with one hand just like 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.000 you would with a a joy stick 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.000 it was it was very much like a 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:22.000 radio controlled car or something 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.000 like that to be based about the example 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.000 but it was a 100 thousand dollar modification 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:29.000 the reason it happened was 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:31.000 because the person had a job 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:32.000 they were able to make the kind 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.000 of money to be able to maintain 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.000 that kind of modification and 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.000 that modification was warranted because of where 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:39.000 the person lived there was 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.000 no alternative transportation 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000 available so for something 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:44.000 like that it made sense and 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:45.000 VR had to go through the whole 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.000 process of evaluating it but it 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.000 made sense for that individual 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:50.000 would we do that with anybody 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.000 that walked through our door I 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.000 couldn't say yes to that but 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:55.000 it all -- it'll all come down 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:56.000 to the individual and their 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.000 circumstance so initial contact 00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:60.000 with the VR office a person 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.000 must be served where they live 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.000 so if a person lives like I 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:05.000 did down in Halsey which is in 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.000 Linn County I had to be seen 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:08.000 in a Linn County office 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.000 I was kind of close to Eugene 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.000 I could've potentially gone down 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:12.000 there and made an argument for it if 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.000 I was closer but really a person 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:17.000 must be served where they 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.000 live and that job placement 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.000 is actually based upon that as 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:22.000 well if a person was better 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.000 suited to have employment in 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:25.000 Portland we couldn't serve 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:28.000 them in Linn County the same 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.000 way we could if they were up 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:32.000 in Portland and like I said 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.000 before it's usually word of 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:35.000 mouth we do not go out and tell 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:36.000 everyone that VR is here hey 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.000 send everybody to us because 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.000 we don't want to overload 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.000 the system and be able to 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.000 underserve people we want to 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.000 serve to our maximum capacity 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.000 as much as we can and that's 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.000 our link to the website it'd 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:51.000 give you all sorts of information 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:54.000 if you have questions and like 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.000 I told you before usually a 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:57.000 Human Services Assistant will 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:58.000 get the primary information 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:60.000 that we need for person so we 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.000 can set them up with an intake 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.000 with a counselor some offices 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.000 will do an orientation that's 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.000 either through a video or -- an 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.000 information meeting basically 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.000 I'll set people up and they 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:12.000 will explain the VR process 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.000 and then they will set up 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:15.000 appointments with counselors 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:18.000 afterwards -- that can be 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.000 very useful for some offices 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:21.000 because of the amount of people 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:22.000 that come in like Portland 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.000 Eugene stuff like that but I 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:26.000 find in the offices I've worked 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.000 in I prefer to do that face to 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:29.000 face with people so they can 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:30.000 ask questions so I can answer 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.000 them -- intelligently so they 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.000 will be able to -- be able to 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.000 be served -- best -- through that 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.000 personal interaction so intake 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.000 I would say that this is the 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.000 most crucial meeting of the 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.000 entire process and the reason being 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.000 is because as a counselor you 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.000 need to be able to understand 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:52.000 where that person's coming 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:53.000 from and you need to be able to 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:55.000 understand what their paradigm 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:56.000 is and what their goals are and 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.000 what they're facing uniquely 00:21:59.000 --> 00:21:60.000 that will affect their ability 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.000 to move forward in employment 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:06.000 also use for employment is 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.000 just in their life because 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:09.000 these barriers are present 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.000 regardless but they are very 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.000 potently present in regards 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.000 to going to employment and this 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.000 is where you have to ask a lot 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:18.000 of really personal questions 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:20.000 and you've got to ask people about 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.000 things that you maybe don't want 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.000 to hear about just because 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.000 it's truly uncomfortable maybe 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:25.000 they don't really want to 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.000 talk about it but it's very 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:28.000 essential that you find out 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.000 almost as much as humanly 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.000 possible as you can about that 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:33.000 person in the one hour meeting 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:34.000 some of those reasons being 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.000 is that you know depending on 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:37.000 what the person's experience 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:38.000 if they've experienced 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:40.000 sexual traumas abuse things 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.000 like that there's a lot going 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.000 on between a counselor and 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.000 a client a lot more than what 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:50.000 we might think and 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:52.000 and based on those things being 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.000 very aware as a counselor to 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:55.000 the individual sitting across 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.000 from you is so essential to 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:59.000 learn and it's so essential to 00:22:59.000 --> 00:22:61.000 understand the body language 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.000 and and the movements and 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:04.000 what they mean and asking the 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:06.000 person to clarify so you can 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:07.000 have a better understanding 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.000 your own perceptions are good 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.000 but always asking the client 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:13.000 and understanding what their 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:14.000 paradigm is is the most important 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.000 thing and building that report 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:17.000 building that level of trust 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:18.000 so they can trust that they 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.000 can tell you something that 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.000 it won't have ramifications to 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:24.000 them people with disabilities 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.000 I think are at a higher risk 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.000 of telling information like 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.000 that because of the potential 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.000 outcomes that could happen so 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:34.000 if a person's on a job currently 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.000 and they experience PTSD and they have 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:37.000 a boss they feel is sexually 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:39.000 harassing them and one of the 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:40.000 things they feel like they 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.000 can't tell and it's kind of 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:43.000 reminiscent of childhood abuse 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:45.000 things like that well how do 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:46.000 you go about helping them do 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.000 you run out and you know file a 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:53.000 lawsuit no I mean it's so 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.000 complex it's so -- it's difficult to 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:58.000 know what to do but the truth 00:23:58.000 --> 00:23:59.000 is that person must decide 00:23:59.000 --> 00:23:60.000 for themselves what they want 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.000 to do and helping them get to 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.000 that point that report is so 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.000 important building that trust 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:07.000 and helping them to understand 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:09.000 that -- it isn't about what 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:10.000 you bring to the table it's 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:11.000 about what they're bringing 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:12.000 to the table and you're 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.000 helping them sort out their 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.000 stuff I kind of already hit on 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:16.000 this stuff -- identification 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.000 background culture obviously 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:20.000 we need to be aware of all 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.000 those things because there's 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:23.000 that play into a relationship 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:24.000 and getting people with the 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.000 correct counselors well what 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:28.000 I mean by correct counselor 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.000 is that if a female comes in 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:32.000 and has that kind of trauma 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.000 abuse history just simply by 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:36.000 talking to me as I'm a male it 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.000 may have negative impacts on 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.000 that person's ability to move 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:41.000 forward and hooking that person 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:43.000 up with another counselor 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:45.000 by their choice you know asking them 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:46.000 those questions would you be 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.000 more comfortable with someone else 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:49.000 is very essential to moving 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:50.000 forward we want to do no harm 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.000 in what we do one of the things 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.000 too that's very necessary to 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.000 figure out is social security 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.000 disability benefits a mainstay 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:61.000 of what our funding is is 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:02.000 getting reimbursed for helping 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.000 people who are on social security 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:05.000 disability get back into the 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.000 work force so there's a big 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:09.000 push within VR to make sure 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:10.000 that we identify that stuff 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:11.000 and we correctly navigate those 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.000 things but there's also risk to the 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:15.000 individual which is why I care 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:16.000 about it so much is that if a 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:17.000 person loses their disability 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:19.000 benefits a lot of times that's 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:20.000 kind of a security net for 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.000 them they have income they have 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.000 health care they have at least 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.000 some form of stability of life 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:30.000 and in going to work they could 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:31.000 potentially lose those benefits 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.000 if they work more than what -- 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:34.000 Social Security will allow them to 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:37.000 work and so in going to work 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:38.000 there is risk you know you can 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:39.000 lose that stability that you 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:40.000 have because you're trying to 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.000 seek out this employment and 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:43.000 these jobs and I've had that 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:44.000 happen and it's really it's a 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.000 terrible thing -- and sometimes 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.000 people who have revolving 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:51.000 disability symptoms -- bipolar 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.000 episodes medication management 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:54.000 things like that if people go 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:55.000 off of their medications or if 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:57.000 they have a really bad time in 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:58.000 their life and they lose that 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:59.000 employment not only have they 00:25:59.000 --> 00:25:61.000 now lost their employment their 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:03.000 stability their income and 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:05.000 what they identify with and as but 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:07.000 they've also lost that backup 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:09.000 of social security disability and it's a 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:11.000 very tragic thing so it's 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:12.000 very important to understand 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.000 these things eligibility this 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.000 is a very crucial part and it's 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:22.000 has to decide you have to 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.000 gather all the information you 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:27.000 have to bring it to the table 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:28.000 you have to evaluate it you have 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.000 to look and you have to hit 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:31.000 on those three key points does 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:32.000 the person have a documented 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:34.000 disability does it present 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.000 barriers to employment and 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:37.000 is there something I can do 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.000 about it that will help them 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:42.000 feasibly get to employment so 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:46.000 records are requested and created 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.000 which can be in the form of 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:49.000 psychological assessments can 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.000 be in the form of physical 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:53.000 assessments prognosis from 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:54.000 the doctor is the person 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:55.000 released for work all those 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:56.000 kinds of things and a doctor 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:57.000 can make that decision they 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.000 can say no you cannot go back 00:26:59.000 --> 00:26:60.000 to work right now and we have 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.000 to honor those decisions made 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.000 by the doctors because if a 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.000 doctor's telling us this person 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.000 has really significant risks 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:08.000 in going back to employment 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.000 well I could potentially do 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.000 harm in that scenario and I 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.000 have to I have to honor that 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:17.000 and like I said before it's really 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:18.000 the counselor's perspective you 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.000 try to use the best information 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.000 you have you try to use your 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:22.000 own best perspective and 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.000 understanding but it is it's 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.000 different from counselor to 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:26.000 counselor one counselor might 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.000 read it a certain way and 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.000 might understand the functional 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:30.000 limitations a person has 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:32.000 a certain way and another 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:33.000 counselor might see it completely 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:34.000 differently so one decision 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:35.000 made by one counselor may 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:36.000 not be the same as made by 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.000 another and so a person might -- 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.000 also experience a client might 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.000 experience very different 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:43.000 experiences with VR 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.000 depending on the office they've 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:45.000 been seen and if they've been 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.000 seen in multiple places or 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:49.000 even different counselors and 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:50.000 the last point here not all 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:51.000 people who have some form of 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:52.000 disability are eligible for 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.000 services I had one gentleman 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:56.000 in particular had been in jail 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.000 for fifteen to sixteen years 00:27:59.000 --> 00:27:61.000 just gotten out and his probation 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:02.000 officer recommended that he 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:05.000 come to voc rehab -- he 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.000 had injured himself while 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:07.000 in prison lifting weights he'd 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:09.000 actually torn his bicep and so 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:11.000 he couldn't return to the types 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:12.000 of physical jobs he did before 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:13.000 he did a lot of construction work 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:14.000 manual labor things like that 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:15.000 it's what he'd always done 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:17.000 his whole life but he came 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:19.000 to VR and he said hey I can't 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:21.000 do the same things I used 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:23.000 to be able to do and I said 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:25.000 okay I understand that -- 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:26.000 how about other aspects of 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:28.000 your life -- do you have any 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:29.000 anxiety depression things 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:30.000 like that he'd come from an 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:32.000 institution where if you show 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:34.000 any of those weaknesses that's 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:35.000 something that could affect you 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:36.000 on a daily basis prison is 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:40.000 a very different place and 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.000 there's a different set of social 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.000 norms there that unless you 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:45.000 been there or you understand 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:47.000 it from the perspective of 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:49.000 being there -- as a support 00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:52.000 to these folks that -- there's 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.000 certain things you just can't 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:54.000 say and that you train yourself 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:55.000 not to say while you're in 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:57.000 prison and so the gentleman 00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:58.000 I suspected had a lot more 00:28:58.000 --> 00:28:60.000 things going on than -- what 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.000 he wanted to admit but the 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.000 truth of the matter was he didn't 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:04.000 report any of those things to 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.000 me and so he told me that 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:07.000 he couldn't return to the same 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:08.000 type of work he did before 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.000 but then I would ask him very 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:10.000 specifically so well do you 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:11.000 have any limitations because of 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:15.000 this oh no I don't okay could 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:16.000 you expand on why you can't 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:17.000 go back to your old work well 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:19.000 it you know I just don't know 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:21.000 if I can okay well could you 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:22.000 explain a little more but he 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:23.000 just couldn't bring himself 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:25.000 to do it and there is really 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.000 no evidence anywhere that I 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:28.000 could find functional imitation 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:29.000 so unfortunately I couldn't make 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:31.000 him eligible you know I asked 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:32.000 the questions about a hundred times 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.000 trying to get him to understand 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:34.000 that if you can -- if you can give me a 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:35.000 little bit more insight I could 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:37.000 potentially help you but he just 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.000 couldn't do it so in the end 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:42.000 we didn't work together 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:45.000 plan development the next step in 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:46.000 the process once someone's 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.000 made eligible as a counselor 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:50.000 again you have to look at it 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:52.000 from the perspective of why 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:53.000 did I make this person eligible 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.000 what were they diagnosed with 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:56.000 and what are the barriers 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.000 associated with that diagnosis 00:29:59.000 --> 00:29:61.000 point of plan development 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:02.000 what are you going to do about it 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.000 what can you do about it what 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.000 is a feasible goal what makes 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.000 sense for this individual what 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:09.000 makes sense for the paradigm 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:10.000 and is it feasible for your 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:12.000 local area one of the things 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.000 that I like to use is -- 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.000 kind of a colloquial example 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:17.000 to people and it's not being 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:19.000 condescending it's just being 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:22.000 very honest -- is if you want 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:23.000 to be a rocket scientist and 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.000 you live in this area there's 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:27.000 nothing I can do to help you 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:29.000 because NASA's not based here 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:30.000 the schools that you need to go 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:31.000 to the experience you need to 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:32.000 have in order to get to that 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.000 job are not here you would have 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:37.000 to relocate yourself to Texas 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:38.000 some other places like that where 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:39.000 the headquarters are and you'd 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:40.000 need to be able to go through 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.000 those hoops to be able to get 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:43.000 to that job unfortunately there's 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:44.000 just nothing I can do about it 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:45.000 people kind of laugh a little 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:46.000 bit when you first say that 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:47.000 but the truth of the matter is 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:48.000 is that we work with people who 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:51.000 are genius level IQ there's people 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:52.000 who have documented disabilities 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:54.000 from every range of ability 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.000 and disability spans everything 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.000 so I've actually had someone 00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:59.000 who wanted to do that that's 00:30:59.000 --> 00:30:61.000 why I use that as an example and as 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:02.000 far as plan development 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:05.000 goes everything is informed 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:07.000 consent -- I cannot mandate 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:09.000 that a person do anything but 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:11.000 I can say if you've come to my 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.000 office because you have a drug 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.000 use disorder and in that drug 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.000 use disorder you experience 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:20.000 significant depression and anxiety 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:21.000 and other things that affect 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:23.000 your ability to work I can say 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:25.000 that because you presented with 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:26.000 that and you've been diagnosed 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:28.000 with it and the doctor says you 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:29.000 must address it there's really 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:31.000 nothing I can do until you've 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:32.000 either been sober or in some 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.000 type of program or something to 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:36.000 help you actually address this 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:37.000 if you have an active ongoing 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.000 problem I can't help you go 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.000 to employment because there's 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.000 potential harm to you and other 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.000 stakeholders basically at that 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.000 point so I can tell them that 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:47.000 I can't help them unless they are 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:49.000 able to address these things 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:50.000 and do it in a way that's actually 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:53.000 prescribed for them to do and 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:54.000 like I said before services 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.000 can range from obtaining 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:56.000 hearing aids to modifying 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:58.000 vehicles for transportation 00:31:58.000 --> 00:31:60.000 to obtaining prosthetic limbs 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.000 to job development procurement 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.000 for mental health services 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.000 it really is so unique to 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:07.000 the individual prosthetic limb in 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:09.000 particular I have a gentleman 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:11.000 that I'm working with who -- 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.000 had a meth problem he was 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:15.000 involved in -- domestic 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.000 violence at the time when he 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:19.000 was on the drugs and he had a 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.000 lot of self guilt a lot of -- 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:23.000 internal things he was dealing 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:25.000 with and he just didn't think 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:27.000 that he was worth anything he 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:28.000 didn't think going back to work 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.000 would mean anything he also had 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:30.000 lost his right leg above the 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.000 knee to cancer years before and 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:36.000 in doing so he'd always lived 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.000 in a low socio economic status 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:39.000 the way that he would drive 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:41.000 a car is he would take a broom 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:42.000 and he would hit the gas pedal 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:43.000 or hit the brake as he was 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:45.000 going along which is incredibly 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:48.000 dangerous but at the same time 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.000 I get it you know what I mean 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:52.000 I myself experienced the same 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:53.000 barriers and I wanted to get out 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:55.000 of the house bad enough almost to use 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:58.000 a broom for gas pedal and brake 00:32:58.000 --> 00:32:59.000 and he's just the kind of guy 00:32:59.000 --> 00:32:61.000 that just thought well this 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:02.000 is just what it is so -- this is 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:03.000 how I'm gonna do it he didn't 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:04.000 realize there were modifications he 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.000 didn't realize that -- he didn't realize his 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.000 own intrinsic value he didn't 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:10.000 understand that he could go 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:11.000 back to work and be a resource 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.000 to someone else he just kind of 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.000 thought oh I'm a -- I'm a piece of 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:16.000 garbage person so we worked together 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:17.000 for a long time him and I and 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:18.000 and discussed a lot of these 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:19.000 things and why he felt the way 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:21.000 he did and what his paradigm 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.000 was in the world -- and when 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:26.000 it came down to it he wanted 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.000 to become a CDL driver he 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.000 wanted to drive -- big trucks 00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:32.000 or something along those lines 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:33.000 he wanted to be a resource 00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:35.000 to someone but because he had 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:36.000 a prosthetic leg it made it 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.000 very difficult nobody wanted 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:39.000 to hire him especially because 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:40.000 of his right leg -- you know 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:41.000 most vehicles are set up so 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:43.000 you use your right leg for driving 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.000 an especially in big rigs there's 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:46.000 enough room in there that you 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:47.000 actually cannot physically 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:49.000 get your left leg onto the gas 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:50.000 pedal and especially if you 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:51.000 need to change gears and things 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:54.000 like that so we're in a really 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:55.000 you know particular conundrum -- 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:58.000 what to do well so it came down 00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:61.000 to the type of prosthetic limb 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.000 that he had came down to the 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:03.000 modifications to the vehicle 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.000 and it came down to his own drive 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:09.000 to fight this and the DMV 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:10.000 in particular made it very 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:11.000 difficult for him because if 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:13.000 you have a prosthetic limb and 00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:14.000 you want to be a CDL driver 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:15.000 there's a lot of hoops you 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.000 have to jump through you have to have 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:17.000 medical evaluations there's a lot 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:19.000 of things involved long story 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:20.000 short this individual found his 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.000 own intrinsic value and he made 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:24.000 this happen he's driving a bus 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.000 right now -- for an express 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:28.000 shuttle company and he loves it 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:30.000 it's -- he he couldn't 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.000 be happier and what all I 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:34.000 really did was help him to see 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.000 it for what it really was and 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:37.000 I helped him get a prosthetic 00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.000 limb other than the man did it 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:41.000 all on his own and -- it's 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:42.000 really in my opinion it's one of 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:43.000 my favorite success stories not 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:44.000 because I really did anything 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:45.000 it's because this individual 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:47.000 found his own worth and he decided 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:48.000 on his own this is what I 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:50.000 wanted to do and he did it and 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:53.000 it was very humbling and very -- 00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:56.000 part of so really the point of 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.000 plan development is to help 00:34:57.000 --> 00:34:59.000 a person determine realistic 00:34:59.000 --> 00:34:60.000 goals that meet their needs 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.000 career expectations and helps 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:04.000 them to navigate a concrete 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.000 system of employment and employment 00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:09.000 looks like anything I mean 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:10.000 it all depends on the individual 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:13.000 I've had people who have been 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.000 psychologists I've had people 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:16.000 that are pharmacists and -- 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.000 experienced disabilities to the 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:19.000 point they cannot continue 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:21.000 in their employment and they 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:22.000 just want to do something they 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:23.000 don't care what it is they 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:24.000 just want to work for them 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:26.000 it means something but I put that 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:27.000 bus driver picture up there 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:30.000 of the one client but it spans 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:32.000 from military service to 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:35.000 construction to counseling to 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:37.000 anything there's almost nothing 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:39.000 up here that I haven't been 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:41.000 able to work with someone on 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:43.000 at least on some level yoga 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:44.000 in particular there's one 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:45.000 woman I worked with -- just 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:50.000 recently who -- she's 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:51.000 got two children with severe 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:54.000 disabilities and she's had to 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:56.000 use all of her time to take 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:57.000 care of these two children 00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:58.000 she's not been able to work out 00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:59.000 a career she's been dependent 00:35:59.000 --> 00:35:60.000 on public services for 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.000 everything and it's really heavily 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:04.000 affected her mentally she 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:06.000 feels like she's a caretaker 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:08.000 and she is in a lot of ways 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:10.000 but that her real role 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:11.000 is not just caretaker she 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:12.000 wants to be professionally in 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:14.000 the world she wants to go out 00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:15.000 and she wants to help others 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:16.000 understand the things she's 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.000 been through and help them cope 00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:20.000 with similar -- situations and the 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:21.000 way she found it was she wanted to 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:23.000 become a yoga instructor well 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:26.000 there's no real you know test you 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:28.000 have to go through to be a yoga 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:30.000 instructor there are suggested 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.000 classes a person can take but 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:34.000 for her taking a full time 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.000 straightforward class nearly 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:37.000 impossible there's just no way 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:39.000 she has these two kids that take 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:40.000 up the majority of her time one 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:43.000 of them with very violent -- 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:44.000 disturbing behaviors that 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:45.000 affect her on a personal level so 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.000 she cannot partake in these 00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:48.000 things always because sometimes 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:51.000 those things manifest and it's 00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.000 it's very difficult for her but in 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:54.000 the end again she found her own 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:56.000 intrinsic value and 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:57.000 she got it done it took her a year 00:36:57.000 --> 00:36:59.000 and a half but it was a really 00:36:59.000 --> 00:36:60.000 wonderful outcome because she 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:02.000 achieved her dream and she's 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.000 getting to the points where 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:05.000 she can manage her home and 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:07.000 employment and it's a very 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:08.000 good fit for her but it's 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:10.000 because it was her drive and so 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:12.000 basically as I was alluding to 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:13.000 a person's employment is the most 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:15.000 essential part of the VR 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:17.000 process that's what we do we 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:19.000 have to get people jobs that's 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:20.000 that's our goal our outcome 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:23.000 our -- VR's prerogative and 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:25.000 a person through employment 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:27.000 can reestablish their lives and 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:28.000 a lot of that has to do with 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:29.000 what we've already hit on the idea 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:31.000 of socioeconomic status again 00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:32.000 I'll use myself as an example 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.000 because I know myself and I 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.000 know my scenario for me when I 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:38.000 lost my military career -- was 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:39.000 something I wanted to do since I was 00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:41.000 a kid it was very difficult 00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:43.000 for me to re process oh crud 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:44.000 what does the world look like 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.000 now what can I do that's in 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:48.000 the same realm as what I did 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:50.000 before what were my real goals 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:52.000 why did I really want to do 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:54.000 that you know how do I grow 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:55.000 in my scenario and get to the 00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:56.000 point where I can do something 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:58.000 that's functional and that I 00:37:58.000 --> 00:37:59.000 can actually give back the way 00:37:59.000 --> 00:37:60.000 that I actually intended to 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.000 give back in the first place and 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:03.000 obviously with employment comes 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:07.000 benefits income wellness and 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:08.000 all of those things you know 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:09.000 if you don't have health care 00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:12.000 it's extremely hard to manage 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:16.000 extremely hard to manage mental 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:18.000 health disabilities it's very 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:20.000 hard to keep things together 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:21.000 if you have children and you 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:22.000 do not have the resources to 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:24.000 address their basic needs 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:25.000 and you're trying to address your 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:27.000 basic needs employment is 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:29.000 something that improves all 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:30.000 of those things when a person 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:31.000 can be successful and they can 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:33.000 take that with them where they 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:35.000 go makes them very proud and it makes 00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:37.000 them feel much better about 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:38.000 life in general most symptoms 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:40.000 tend to improve they don't 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:42.000 go away I don't think all 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:44.000 symptoms of things go away -- 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:45.000 but people learn how to manage 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:46.000 them differently they learn how 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.000 to cope and they learn to have 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:49.000 a wellness that wasn't there 00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:52.000 before and independence on a 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:54.000 person's own terms that looks 00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:56.000 different to each individual 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.000 some people are fine living 00:38:57.000 --> 00:38:58.000 with their parents for the rest 00:38:58.000 --> 00:38:60.000 their lives and that's great 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:01.000 some people want out of there 00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:03.000 as fast as humanly possible 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:04.000 and they want to get into their own 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:05.000 place because to them that's 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:06.000 what independence means some 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:08.000 people just want a wheelchair 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:09.000 so they can go play wheelchair 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:10.000 basketball at OSU and 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:13.000 that's all they care about when 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:15.000 it comes down to it employment 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:17.000 facilitates all these things 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:19.000 retention ninety days of 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:21.000 consecutive employment puts 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:23.000 a person into what is called 00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:25.000 retention status you can close 00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:26.000 their file successfully at that 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:28.000 point if all services have been 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:31.000 rendered paid for and completed 00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:33.000 like I said before -- hearing 00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:35.000 deficit if you have a hearing 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:37.000 deficit and you came to 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:38.000 VR because you cannot afford those 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:39.000 hearing aids and you want to 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:41.000 retain your employment and we 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:44.000 help you buy them I'm not just going 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:45.000 to close you because oh you got 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:46.000 your hearing aids and things 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:47.000 are good to go there's a lot of 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:48.000 adjusting the needs to happen 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:49.000 with the certain types of 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:50.000 technology that are out there 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:52.000 these days there's sometimes 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:54.000 doesn't work they've done all 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:57.000 the testing beforehand and 00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:58.000 they get the hearing aids and 00:39:58.000 --> 00:39:59.000 they're wonderful and they'll 00:39:59.000 --> 00:39:60.000 think it is great and a week goes 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:02.000 by and they're saying I'm so exhausted 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:03.000 I don't understand what's 00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:05.000 happening I don't understand 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:06.000 why these are affecting me the way 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:07.000 they are and so hanging on 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:08.000 with that person helping them 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:10.000 adjust to that scenario helping 00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:12.000 them move forward in a way 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:13.000 that makes sense for them and 00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:14.000 if the hearing aids don't work 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:15.000 out figuring out a secondary 00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:17.000 option and really the retention 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:18.000 is an ethical decision about 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:20.000 closure stability completion 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:21.000 of services and a person's 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:23.000 informed consent you cannot 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:24.000 just close them and say oh 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:25.000 hey -- sorry I didn't tell 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:27.000 you you're closed in our status 00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:29.000 it's a joint process you've got 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:30.000 to work with the individual 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:33.000 to do that and possible follow up 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:34.000 services handed off if 00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:37.000 necessary so within the IDD 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:39.000 population so Intellectual 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:41.000 Disabilities and Developmental 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:44.000 Disabilities there's other 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:45.000 agencies that work with those 00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:48.000 individuals as well as -- our 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:49.000 job to help support that person 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:51.000 in continued employment after 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:53.000 closure in our services so it 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:55.000 it's called job coaching it's 00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:56.000 basically making sure that person 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:57.000 has the supports on the job once 00:40:57.000 --> 00:40:59.000 the file is closed that it will -- 00:40:59.000 --> 00:40:61.000 they will continue into the 00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:02.000 future make sure that they have what 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:03.000 they need to be successful in 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:06.000 that job so timelines this is very 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.000 basic so person contacts the VR 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:09.000 office it's usually about 00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:11.000 two months to -- to the time 00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:13.000 that they get an intake and 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:14.000 then from intake to eligibility 00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:16.000 we have sixty days to make them 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:18.000 eligible once they are made 00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:19.000 eligible we have ninety days to 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:22.000 get them into a plan and then 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:24.000 from plan to employment it's 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:26.000 undetermined it's all based on 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:28.000 the individual how things go 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:29.000 are the services implemented 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:31.000 well are we actually doing the 00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:33.000 right thing for this individual 00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:35.000 all of those things typically 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:37.000 a plan will last for a calendar year 00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:39.000 and at the end of that year you 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:40.000 will do a annual review you'll 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:41.000 look at the file you look at 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:43.000 all the facets of what's going 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:46.000 on you'll adjust as necessary 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:47.000 or keep on continuing if it 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:49.000 just unfortunately you're in the spot 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.000 where a person is just unable 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:53.000 to find the employment sometimes 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:56.000 people get into careers that 00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:58.000 are just saturated -- you 00:41:58.000 --> 00:41:61.000 know when I was in high school 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:03.000 everyone talked about I.T. 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:04.000 and computers and all this 00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:05.000 stuff because it was just 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:06.000 really starting to boom at 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:08.000 that point and all the 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.000 teachers were saying hey get into this 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:11.000 field get into this field and 00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:12.000 that's really what a lot of 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:16.000 people did twenty years later 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:18.000 the field is saturated and if 00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:19.000 you are not at the top of the 00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:20.000 game it is very hard to get a job 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.000 in that field and there is age 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:23.000 discrimination there's other 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:24.000 things that happen in this 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:25.000 world if you're not someone 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000 coming right out of the gate 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:31.000 most cutting edge technology 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:32.000 a lot of times you will not get 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:33.000 a job it will take a long time 00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:34.000 for you to find something and 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:36.000 find somewhere and -- it's 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:37.000 very hard to work with people 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:38.000 like that because they get 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:40.000 really really beat up by the 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:42.000 process they are running 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:44.000 against this grinder that 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:45.000 it just -- it takes away from their 00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:46.000 will and their hope and things 00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:48.000 like that as time goes on and we 00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:49.000 just cannot simply find that 00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:52.000 job it is difficult I have one 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:53.000 fellow that's been open on my 00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:54.000 caseload for almost ten years 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:55.000 I'm a little embarrassed to say that 00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:58.000 but it's just what it is this 00:42:58.000 --> 00:42:59.000 person has done everything that 00:42:59.000 --> 00:42:61.000 he can to find this job and 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:03.000 he has been unable to get into 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:04.000 this field and so we're at a point 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:06.000 where he's finally willing 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.000 to take a job at a Dollar Tree 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:09.000 because he cannot find a job 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:11.000 in that field and we've done 00:43:11.000 --> 00:43:12.000 everything that we possibly 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:13.000 can we've looked everywhere we 00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:14.000 we've talked about relocation we've 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:16.000 talked all those things there's 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:18.000 definitely in certain fields 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:19.000 there's discrimination that 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:21.000 happens and a person needs to 00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:22.000 be aware of that and they need 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:23.000 to make their own decision on 00:43:23.000 --> 00:43:25.000 what they want to do about it 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:27.000 there's times where you see 00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:29.000 these things that are truly -- 00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:33.000 not right but it's not my job 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:35.000 and it's not my role to fight 00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:36.000 that fight for the individual 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:37.000 they have to do it on their own 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:39.000 if they want to and -- I'd like 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:40.000 to -- I'd like to urge this guy to 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:41.000 do it but I have to keep that 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:43.000 to myself I have to let him 00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:44.000 do what he needs to do for his 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:45.000 him and his family 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.000 employment after employment it's ninety days 00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:51.000 to retention and again that's 00:43:51.000 --> 00:43:53.000 a variable depending on how 00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:54.000 a person's doing the majority 00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:55.000 of people when they hit their 00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:56.000 ninety days we've at least 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.000 followed up enough times that 00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:60.000 the person will report that 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:02.000 they're doing well they like 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:04.000 what they do and they have 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.000 no further services they need 00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:06.000 from us and so we close them 00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:08.000 successfully at that point 00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:11.000 Dr. Ni asked what professional partners 00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:12.000 do we utilize throughout the 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:14.000 process and how do we -- 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:15.000 utilize them in a way that's 00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:18.000 beneficial to the client so 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:20.000 like I was saying before when 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:23.000 a person first makes contact 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:24.000 technically legally we can't 00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:26.000 really ask people what what's 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:28.000 your disability you know we 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:29.000 have to ask in a general way 00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:32.000 here what kind of services 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:33.000 might you need or what do you 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:34.000 think we can do for you and the 00:44:34.000 --> 00:44:35.000 person tends to give you a 00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:37.000 lot of information but what 00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:38.000 ends up happening is we -- 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:39.000 we have a general idea of where 00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:40.000 the person's coming from so 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:41.000 at the intake we have at 00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:43.000 least -- some sort of game plan 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:45.000 when we meet with the person 00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:46.000 usually after the intake -- 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.000 I will immediately schedule 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:51.000 someone if they -- if they allude 00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:52.000 mental health disorders and 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:55.000 diagnosis I will -- I will -- 00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:57.000 set them up with -- a neuro 00:44:57.000 --> 00:44:58.000 psychological evaluation we 00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:59.000 have three doctors that we 00:44:59.000 --> 00:44:61.000 use in our office and I also 00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:03.000 try to pair them up based on 00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:04.000 personality with the individual 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:07.000 doctor because again sometimes 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:08.000 the personality fits are good 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:09.000 and sometimes the personality 00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:12.000 fits are not good and that's 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:15.000 screening process if a person 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:16.000 can get along with other 00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:17.000 professionals in the field it 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:19.000 lets you know and identifies 00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:20.000 what barriers are there and 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:21.000 what you might potentially 00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:22.000 need to work on but the result 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:24.000 of those neuro psychological 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:26.000 evaluations is almost always 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:29.000 a diagnosis recommendations 00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:30.000 for functional limitations and 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:33.000 accommodations and -- IQ 00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:34.000 tests possible learning 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:36.000 disabilities things like that 00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:41.000 to then make an eligibility 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:43.000 determination and then 00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:44.000 from there move into plan 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:46.000 development there are a lot of 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:48.000 people that we may need to work 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:51.000 with from this point to this 00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:53.000 point and they can range from 00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:55.000 like I said before -- county 00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:57.000 health services for either 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:02.000 so there's -- mental health 00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:04.000 supported employment 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:05.000 there's folks who experience really 00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:06.000 significant and severe mental 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:08.000 health disorders -- 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:10.000 schizoaffective disorders bipolar disorders 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.000 other things like that that really do require 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:15.000 medication as much as people 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:17.000 hate it and a lot of people 00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:18.000 do they really can't stand the 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:19.000 medications because they -- 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:22.000 many times is it makes me feel funny 00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:25.000 makes me feel but the trouble 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:28.000 is is that they have a really poor 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:30.000 set of decisions on their hands 00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.000 or not -- set of decisions 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:33.000 really poor outcomes for 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:34.000 the decisions they do have 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:36.000 either take the -- -- 00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:37.000 medication then I maintain my 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:39.000 wellness as much as humanly 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:40.000 possible to be able to do the 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:41.000 things that I want to do or I 00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:43.000 don't take the medications and 00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.000 I kind of risk the potential of 00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:46.000 that and what ends up happening 00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:48.000 and again that comes down to the VR 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:50.000 process and informed consent 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:52.000 I can't say you've got to take 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:54.000 your medication come on it's 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:55.000 up to them but we help them 00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:57.000 understand that and we work with 00:46:57.000 --> 00:46:58.000 those professionals in the 00:46:58.000 --> 00:46:59.000 field through the county services 00:46:59.000 --> 00:46:60.000 to help support them as much as 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:02.000 humanly possible to make sure 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:03.000 that they have every service 00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:04.000 available for them to move 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:07.000 forward -- successfully we 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:10.000 also work with county DD services 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:12.000 so developmental -- 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:14.000 diversity program services to help 00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:15.000 people who have intellectual 00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:17.000 disabilities find and 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:19.000 maintain and keep employment -- 00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:22.000 we can work with -- doctors and 00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:23.000 assessors to give us physical 00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:25.000 capacity evaluations and those 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:27.000 things can help us understand 00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:28.000 what can a person physically 00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:30.000 do you know if a person worked 00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:32.000 in construction before and they 00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:33.000 they have now injure their 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:34.000 knees after thirty years of -- 00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:38.000 physically return to that job 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:40.000 well what do they do now you know 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:41.000 how do -- how do we go from there 00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:43.000 what can they do can they work 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:45.000 at a job like this where they have to 00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:46.000 stand and sit and move around 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:50.000 and have mobility all 00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:52.000 of those assessments play into 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:53.000 what we do next and what our 00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:55.000 eligibility is that eligibility 00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:56.000 document is probably the most 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:58.000 important document that you 00:47:58.000 --> 00:47:60.000 will create through VR 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:01.000 and the reason being is it 00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:03.000 it assesses everything all 00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:05.000 the information gathered it 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:07.000 gives us an idea of what we're 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:08.000 doing with the person why 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.000 are we doing what we're doing 00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:11.000 anytime that question comes up 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:12.000 anytime I've ever gone to my boss 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:14.000 or anything's ever been evaluated 00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:16.000 or audited the question always 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:17.000 comes back well what did you make 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:19.000 him eligible for why did you 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:20.000 make them eligible what did you 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:21.000 think you could possibly do 00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:23.000 with this person and then you 00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:24.000 move into plan development 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:26.000 plan development is something 00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:28.000 that is so broad you can have 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:29.000 so many community partners 00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:31.000 it's almost you almost can't 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:33.000 relativize it in a way but I 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:34.000 will say that the mainstay of 00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:36.000 who we do work with -- we work 00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:37.000 with a lot of job developers 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:39.000 I don't know if you guys have heard that term 00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:46.000 individuals who work with our 00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:47.000 clients to find and maintain 00:48:47.000 --> 00:48:50.000 employment -- they can identify 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:52.000 job goals that are relevant for 00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:53.000 the individual that takes into 00:48:53.000 --> 00:48:54.000 account their limitations what 00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:57.000 their aspirations are what they 00:48:57.000 --> 00:48:59.000 would like to do -- personally 00:48:59.000 --> 00:48:62.000 all those things and then we 00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:03.000 use that to -- choose a 00:49:03.000 --> 00:49:05.000 job goal and then to go out and 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:06.000 find that job and that's where 00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:08.000 job coaching comes in as well 00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:10.000 which we also work with the 00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:13.000 county services that way we 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:15.000 can work with accessibility -- 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.000 technology specialists who can come 00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:19.000 in and modify a workstation 00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:20.000 so just like this one here 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:22.000 it's got the up and down buttons 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:24.000 on the table -- they can 00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:26.000 recommend certain technologies 00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:27.000 and things that would help 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:28.000 an individual to stay on a 00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:30.000 job to be able to operate better 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:31.000 within the job if someone's got a 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:33.000 phone like the one over here 00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:35.000 and they crick their neck when they 00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:36.000 hold it and they're sitting there typing 00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:37.000 like this and they do it 00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:39.000 for thirty forty hours a week 00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:41.000 well maybe that's exaggeration 00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:42.000 maybe say ten hours a week 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:44.000 right well we can help them 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:45.000 be seen by an occupational 00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:46.000 therapist who can recommend 00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:48.000 hey stop doing that but here's 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:50.000 this type of technology you can put 00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:51.000 on your ear that will help you not 00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:52.000 crick your neck while you're 00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:56.000 typing for your entire day so 00:49:56.000 --> 00:49:57.000 there's a lot of folks that we 00:49:57.000 --> 00:49:58.000 work with sometimes it's also 00:49:58.000 --> 00:49:59.000 mental health professionals we 00:49:59.000 --> 00:49:61.000 will we -- we'll be able to help 00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:02.000 send someone for mental health 00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:05.000 counseling the way that I set 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:07.000 it up and I'm not gonna say 00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:08.000 that there's any legislation 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:09.000 or anything that dictates you 00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:11.000 have to do it this way but what 00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:13.000 I learned from my initial boss 00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:16.000 Peter Norman he helped me to 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:17.000 understand that when you set 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:19.000 up services they do need to be 00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:20.000 very specific in what you're 00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:22.000 doing so with mental health services 00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:25.000 in particular I set up a time 00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:27.000 limited goal oriented service 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:28.000 because I mean if you think 00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:30.000 about it it's like the idea 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:32.000 of well is this maintenance 00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:33.000 or is this a service I'm 00:50:33.000 --> 00:50:34.000 providing someone to help remove 00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:37.000 that barrier well does mental 00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:38.000 health counselling potentially 00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:39.000 benefit someone for the rest of 00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:42.000 their life yeah potentially 00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:44.000 depending on that individual 00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:45.000 but we have to work within 00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:47.000 the realm of is this feasible 00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:48.000 is it necessary does it make 00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:50.000 sense will this person really 00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:51.000 benefit from it will actually 00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:52.000 help them get them to that 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:55.000 goal yeah it's kind of 00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:56.000 it's a difficult thing to 00:50:56.000 --> 00:50:58.000 predict but that's how we 00:50:58.000 --> 00:50:59.000 have to work with individuals 00:50:59.000 --> 00:50:61.000 but beyond that the sky's 00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:03.000 the limit like I said before we 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:05.000 work with vehicle modification 00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:07.000 specialists virtually no school 00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:09.000 that we won't work with there's 00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:11.000 so many people and it's a really 00:51:11.000 --> 00:51:13.000 complex very interesting job 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:14.000 and you get to see a lot of 00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:15.000 things that you would never 00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:16.000 see otherwise and have access 00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:17.000 to things you would never 00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:20.000 have otherwise and especially for 00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:21.000 your clients jumping right 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:24.000 into maintaining yourself and 00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:26.000 your job through self care 00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:28.000 have you guys heard that term before 00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:30.000 how many times just teasing 00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:33.000 and I'm sure by the time 00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:34.000 about ten thousand more times 00:51:37.000 --> 00:51:38.000 taking care of your clients 00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:40.000 when it comes down to it that 00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:41.000 is just the truth that's not 00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:43.000 it's not an interpretation 00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:46.000 it's just what it is 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:48.000 if you don't take the time 00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:50.000 to get out and relieve your 00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:51.000 stress address your family 00:51:51.000 --> 00:51:52.000 things address your own 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:54.000 disabilities if you have them 00:51:56.000 --> 00:51:59.000 address -- it will flood into 00:51:59.000 --> 00:51:60.000 the workplace that's 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:06.000 a fact it will -- it will not 00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:08.000 it -- you will not get by 00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:10.000 without -- that affecting you 00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:11.000 a lot of self care depending 00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:12.000 on the individual will be 00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:15.000 recreation taking leave -- 00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:17.000 leaving work at work -- I worked 00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:19.000 with a woman when I first 00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:21.000 started who would take her 00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:22.000 computer home and she would 00:52:22.000 --> 00:52:24.000 do twenty thirty hours of work 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:26.000 on the weekend and would work 00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:28.000 forty to sixty hours a week 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:31.000 other things like that and by 00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:35.000 the time she was done -- I'll 00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:36.000 just say that it was -- it was very 00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:38.000 physically evident from when 00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:39.000 I first met her to when she 00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:42.000 decided to finally retire -- 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:43.000 that it was taking a toll on 00:52:43.000 --> 00:52:45.000 her and she was under serving 00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:46.000 her clients not to make any 00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:48.000 judgments about her I mean 00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:49.000 really and she's a friend of 00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:52.000 mine -- but I'm being very honest 00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:53.000 about it -- she was under 00:52:53.000 --> 00:52:55.000 serving her clients she was not 00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:56.000 being able to manage her caseload 00:52:56.000 --> 00:52:57.000 well and her personal life was 00:52:57.000 --> 00:52:59.000 suffering because she felt 00:52:59.000 --> 00:52:62.000 so driven to do this job yes 00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:03.000 it's an interesting question 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:07.000 be I'm gonna be -- I'm gonna be 00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:08.000 sure it's something you've 00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:10.000 heard before it's totally unique 00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:11.000 to the individual -- with her 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:12.000 in particular because I got 00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:13.000 to know her I can tell you a 00:53:13.000 --> 00:53:15.000 little more insight is that this 00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:18.000 person had a very complex history 00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:20.000 of abuse in her life and she 00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:23.000 derived a lot of her meaning 00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:25.000 in life from serving others 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:28.000 and she got a lot out of it 00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:29.000 but there was an equation there 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.000 for her where it started to 00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:33.000 become imbalanced where when 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:34.000 she first took over the job 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:37.000 it was a specialist position she 00:53:37.000 --> 00:53:38.000 got a lot out of it and she was 00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:40.000 she was really you could tell 00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:41.000 that she was very passionate 00:53:41.000 --> 00:53:42.000 what she did but as time went on 00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:44.000 it started to wear on her and 00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:45.000 that's exactly what this is 00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:46.000 all about the self care part 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:49.000 learning how to go okay that's 00:53:49.000 --> 00:53:51.000 just too much but the jobs that 00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:52.000 we have as far as VR 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:54.000 counselors go it's salaried you 00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:55.000 don't get paid more money for 00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:56.000 the more hours you work so it 00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:58.000 was a truly internal drive on 00:53:58.000 --> 00:53:61.000 her part I mean and to understand it 00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:02.000 it's very hard I mean I could 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:03.000 never really tell you exactly 00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:04.000 the answer would be there I 00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:07.000 could only speculate but my 00:54:07.000 --> 00:54:09.000 overall take would be that the 00:54:09.000 --> 00:54:10.000 gem to pull from that would be 00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:12.000 that she's the type of person 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:13.000 that derives a lot from serving 00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:15.000 others because I don't see 00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:17.000 how you do that and you don't 00:54:17.000 --> 00:54:18.000 get anything from it you know 00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:20.000 I mean -- and getting to know 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:21.000 her and the quality and character 00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:23.000 of the person that she was 00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:24.000 you know but that's just my 00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:27.000 best guess but I use this guy 00:54:27.000 --> 00:54:29.000 in particular as an example of 00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:30.000 this as well I got to know that 00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:32.000 this man his name is Todd Logan 00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:34.000 this is a drift boat I don't 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:35.000 know if any of you are 00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:37.000 aware of what a drift boat is but 00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:39.000 it was created on the McKenzie River 00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:41.000 which is just down south 00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:42.000 here by an individual can't 00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:44.000 member's name -- but he 00:54:44.000 --> 00:54:46.000 devised the initial curvature 00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:48.000 and the structure of this 00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:49.000 boat it handles waves in the 00:54:49.000 --> 00:54:51.000 river very well and it's a 00:54:51.000 --> 00:54:52.000 very very stable platform it 00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:54.000 may look like it might be a 00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:55.000 little topsy turvy but it's 00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:57.000 the way that he created it 00:54:57.000 --> 00:54:58.000 it's a very stable platform out 00:54:58.000 --> 00:54:60.000 on the river Todd is a river 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:02.000 guide he takes people hunting 00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:03.000 and fishing and all sorts of 00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:05.000 other things but he worked with 00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:08.000 Willie Boats down in Grants Pass 00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:11.000 to create this ramp here 00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:12.000 on all these boats there's a 00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:14.000 little back panel that's usually 00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:17.000 welded in or -- they were 00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:18.000 initially made out of wood but 00:55:18.000 --> 00:55:19.000 these days they're made out of 00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:22.000 metal they created this ramp 00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:23.000 and as you can see there's a 00:55:23.000 --> 00:55:24.000 wheelchair in there when Todd 00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:26.000 lost his leg he was bound to a 00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:28.000 wheelchair for a bit while he 00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:29.000 was recuperating and learning 00:55:29.000 --> 00:55:31.000 how to use his prosthetic leg 00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:32.000 and he figured how in the world 00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:33.000 am I gonna river guide there's 00:55:33.000 --> 00:55:35.000 no way I can't get out in the 00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:36.000 boat in a wheelchair so he 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:38.000 worked with Willie's Boats and 00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:39.000 they created this ramp and 00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:40.000 you can drive your wheelchair 00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:41.000 right up into the thing and 00:55:43.000 --> 00:55:45.000 that's much bigger than this one 00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:47.000 that he can put -- an electric 00:55:47.000 --> 00:55:48.000 chair in the front and 00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:50.000 several other chairs in the 00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:52.000 boat -- to handle multiple 00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:53.000 people three to four people at 00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:57.000 a time -- and for him I use 00:55:57.000 --> 00:55:59.000 this picture is a little ironic 00:55:59.000 --> 00:55:61.000 ironically as well because he's 00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:02.000 the hardest working person I 00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:04.000 think I might have ever met 00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:07.000 besides a few of my clients and he 00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:08.000 does a lot of work for people 00:56:08.000 --> 00:56:10.000 with disabilities kids with 00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:13.000 disabilities -- anybody that 00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:14.000 could benefit from having a 00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:16.000 day on the river -- whether it's 00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:18.000 fishing or not you know if that 00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:19.000 in nature and feel like they're 00:56:19.000 --> 00:56:20.000 actually connected to something 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:25.000 outside of their house he works 00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:26.000 at times during his 00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:27.000 peak season he'll work seventy 00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:28.000 eighty hours during the week 00:56:28.000 --> 00:56:30.000 and on the weekends he'll put 00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:33.000 in -- kinda like my other -- 00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:34.000 colleague I was talking about twenty 00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:36.000 thirty hours of his own time 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:37.000 doing other things for for 00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:38.000 other people with a prosthetic 00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:41.000 leg and I'll relate too with 00:56:41.000 --> 00:56:42.000 a wheelchair with any type 00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:43.000 of physical disability there 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:46.000 really is just there's a flat 00:56:46.000 --> 00:56:47.000 level of barriers that you have 00:56:47.000 --> 00:56:48.000 there's a certain threshold that you 00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:52.000 go point or -- point that you go past 00:56:52.000 --> 00:56:54.000 they can irrevocably damage 00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:56.000 you and you could potentially 00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:57.000 injure yourself to the point 00:56:57.000 --> 00:56:58.000 where you can't do that kind 00:56:58.000 --> 00:56:59.000 of work anymore and him and 00:56:59.000 --> 00:56:60.000 I have had that conversation about a 00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:01.000 hundred times but I don't know 00:57:01.000 --> 00:57:03.000 if you can tell but he's about 00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:04.000 he looks like he's about seven foot 00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:05.000 tall he's the size of a grizzly bear -- 00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:08.000 he's pretty -- stubborn in -- 00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:11.000 his mindset he doesn't 00:57:11.000 --> 00:57:13.000 listen very well but -- not 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:14.000 that I'm the end all be all 00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:15.000 on what to do or what not to 00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:17.000 do but -- yeah I'm a counselor 00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:20.000 right my job I'm supposed to tell him that 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:23.000 but -- great man does great 00:57:23.000 --> 00:57:25.000 work but he is jeopardizing his 00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:27.000 future with the potential of 00:57:27.000 --> 00:57:29.000 not respecting his own physical 00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:30.000 boundaries he's learning that 00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:32.000 on his own as time goes on 00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:33.000 with a prosthetic leg you 00:57:33.000 --> 00:57:34.000 can get hot spots you can 00:57:34.000 --> 00:57:38.000 get -- blisters you can have 00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:39.000 infections that happen so 00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:42.000 that leg and you can be laid up for 00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:44.000 weeks if not months same with a 00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:46.000 wheelchair there's -- pressure 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:47.000 blisters things like that you 00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:48.000 can injure your back there's 00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:50.000 just a certain threshold 00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:52.000 for themselves self care is 00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:54.000 your own thing but you know 00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:55.000 there are facts in the world 00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:56.000 there are things that will 00:57:56.000 --> 00:57:57.000 happen if you push yourself 00:57:57.000 --> 00:57:60.000 past certain thresholds self 00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:01.000 care is extremely important 00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:02.000 it doesn't matter if you have 00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:04.000 a physical mental even if you 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:05.000 don't have a disability self 00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:06.000 care is extremely important 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:07.000 it's a very high stress job there's a 00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:11.000 lot of conflict in counseling 00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:12.000 but I wanted to open it up to 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:14.000 conversation with you if you 00:58:14.000 --> 00:58:15.000 would like I also have an 00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:16.000 activity where I have a couple 00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:19.000 case files that I sketched up 00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:20.000 before we started but these 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:22.000 are questions that I'd like to 00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:24.000 throw out to all of you if you 00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:26.000 would want to engage with them 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:27.000 if this is something that you 00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:29.000 guys are all tired and you're just 00:58:29.000 --> 00:58:30.000 kinda like hey just get to the 00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:32.000 case files I'll do that it's totally up 00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:35.000 to you gosh I'm gonna try and sum 00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:36.000 up your question for the camera 00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:39.000 so you're saying does VR 00:58:39.000 --> 00:58:41.000 adjust to a individual 00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:42.000 counselors needs if they're 00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:43.000 at a point where they need 00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:45.000 self care that -- is there are 00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:46.000 there benefits for that is 00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:47.000 that what you're asking yeah 00:58:47.000 --> 00:58:49.000 okay yes absolutely -- it all 00:58:49.000 --> 00:58:51.000 depends on the office depends 00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:53.000 on your boss -- but because 00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:54.000 it is a state job -- there 00:58:54.000 --> 00:58:56.000 are very specific benefits you 00:58:56.000 --> 00:58:58.000 get when you take that job a 00:58:58.000 --> 00:58:60.000 lot of it is you do have sick 00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:02.000 leave you have vacation leave 00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:03.000 there's other types leave 00:59:03.000 --> 00:59:04.000 you'll get during certain 00:59:04.000 --> 00:59:05.000 times of the year you can also 00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:06.000 pay out of your benefits you 00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:08.000 can choose to pay for short 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:10.000 term long term disability -- 00:59:10.000 --> 00:59:11.000 that affects things like -- 00:59:11.000 --> 00:59:14.000 pregnancy -- I mean if you 00:59:14.000 --> 00:59:15.000 have a mental health crisis 00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:16.000 all sorts of things there's a 00:59:16.000 --> 00:59:18.000 lot of employer laws around 00:59:18.000 --> 00:59:19.000 these things too that VR 00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:21.000 is very aware of it really 00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:22.000 comes down to the relationship 00:59:22.000 --> 00:59:24.000 you have with your boss in my 00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:26.000 opinion I've worked in several 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:27.000 different offices -- from 00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:30.000 Eugene to Springfield to Albany 00:59:30.000 --> 00:59:32.000 to Corvallis to Salem and I've 00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:35.000 seen many different forms of 00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:39.000 those managers kind of does 00:59:39.000 --> 00:59:40.000 it on their own you know they 00:59:40.000 --> 00:59:41.000 they have their own paradigm 00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:42.000 what they bring to the table 00:59:42.000 --> 00:59:43.000 it's also very unique to the 00:59:43.000 --> 00:59:45.000 office each office has kind 00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:47.000 of its own culture -- the 00:59:47.000 --> 00:59:48.000 office I'm in right now in 00:59:48.000 --> 00:59:50.000 in Corvallis is very relaxed 00:59:50.000 --> 00:59:52.000 very open -- like for myself 00:59:52.000 --> 00:59:53.000 so again I'll use myself as an 00:59:53.000 --> 00:59:54.000 example because I know my own 00:59:54.000 --> 00:59:56.000 stuff I have a chair that I can 00:59:56.000 --> 00:59:58.000 stand with then I have a desk 00:59:58.000 --> 00:59:59.000 that I hit a button that raises 00:59:59.000 --> 00:59:62.000 up one of the reasons for that 01:00:02.000 --> 01:00:03.000 is because when I'm active 01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:04.000 and I'm moving around and I transfer 01:00:04.000 --> 01:00:07.000 a lot -- it doesn't impact my 01:00:07.000 --> 01:00:08.000 back nearly as bad as if I'm 01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:10.000 sitting in one position for 01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:11.000 a long period of time doing a lot of 01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:13.000 typing or sitting in front 01:00:13.000 --> 01:00:15.000 of somebody towards the end of 01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:16.000 the week my back starts killing 01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:18.000 me about Thursday evening I'm 01:00:18.000 --> 01:00:20.000 mentally physically completely 01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:21.000 overwhelmed if I'm not using my 01:00:21.000 --> 01:00:23.000 my sit stand right well that chair 01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:26.000 was extremely expensive but VR 01:00:26.000 --> 01:00:27.000 was willing to help pay for 01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:28.000 it if my insurance didn't pay 01:00:28.000 --> 01:00:29.000 for it which is another benefit 01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:31.000 of working for voc rehab is 01:00:31.000 --> 01:00:33.000 that you have very good health 01:00:33.000 --> 01:00:34.000 insurance benefits you're never 01:00:34.000 --> 01:00:36.000 gonna get rich in this field 01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:37.000 but you will make enough to be 01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:39.000 able to cover your expenses and 01:00:39.000 --> 01:00:40.000 your family and there are some 01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:41.000 really great benefits to come 01:00:41.000 --> 01:00:42.000 along with that so long story 01:00:42.000 --> 01:00:44.000 short for me what was starting 01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:45.000 to happen was I couldn't work 01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:47.000 a forty hour week this is about 01:00:47.000 --> 01:00:48.000 a year and a half in and I 01:00:48.000 --> 01:00:49.000 was I was doing a lot of case 01:00:49.000 --> 01:00:50.000 work at that point I actually was 01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:52.000 managing a caseload in Eugene 01:00:52.000 --> 01:00:54.000 and Corvallis as they were trying to 01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:55.000 transfer another counselor in 01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:56.000 there I -- had about a hundred 01:00:56.000 --> 01:00:58.000 seventy people at that time 01:00:58.000 --> 01:00:59.000 and so my back was killing 01:00:59.000 --> 01:00:60.000 me I did not have a resource 01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:01.000 for that I was totally overwhelmed 01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:03.000 with the work -- I was putting 01:01:03.000 --> 01:01:05.000 out fires is what people in 01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:06.000 the -- in the field will call 01:01:06.000 --> 01:01:08.000 it and I was working between 01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:09.000 two different managers in two 01:01:09.000 --> 01:01:10.000 different offices and I was 01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:11.000 traveling nearly two hours 01:01:11.000 --> 01:01:13.000 every single day to and from 01:01:13.000 --> 01:01:14.000 work well every other day 01:01:14.000 --> 01:01:16.000 actually it was a nightmare 01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.000 but what ended up happening was 01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:19.000 I got to a point where I said 01:01:19.000 --> 01:01:20.000 hey this -- something's got to change 01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:23.000 I need some type of relief 01:01:23.000 --> 01:01:25.000 and so what ended up happening 01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:27.000 is I worked with my boss and 01:01:27.000 --> 01:01:29.000 we talked about modifications 01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:31.000 how it would work they both really 01:01:31.000 --> 01:01:32.000 cared about my welfare 01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:33.000 they wanted me to stay in the job 01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:34.000 they appreciated the work that 01:01:34.000 --> 01:01:36.000 I was doing and I appreciated 01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:37.000 them in return for the support 01:01:37.000 --> 01:01:39.000 they were giving me -- so on 01:01:39.000 --> 01:01:41.000 Mondays I can work from home 01:01:41.000 --> 01:01:43.000 I -- I can telecommute -- 01:01:43.000 --> 01:01:44.000 that's not really prevalent 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:46.000 for a lot of people in VR 01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:47.000 it works in certain -- again 01:01:47.000 --> 01:01:48.000 certain offices depending on 01:01:48.000 --> 01:01:51.000 the boss that you have -- but 01:01:51.000 --> 01:01:52.000 also one of the reasons 01:01:52.000 --> 01:01:54.000 why I pay for short term short 01:01:54.000 --> 01:01:55.000 term and long term disability 01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:56.000 is because I like to take my 01:01:56.000 --> 01:01:59.000 leave I use it I -- am not 01:01:59.000 --> 01:01:60.000 the type of person that hangs on 01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:01.000 to it there's people I've 01:02:01.000 --> 01:02:03.000 met in the field who have three 01:02:03.000 --> 01:02:05.000 hundred some odd hours of leave 01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:07.000 and I don't understand that I mean 01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:08.000 that's just my own paradigm if they 01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:09.000 want to do that makes them feel 01:02:09.000 --> 01:02:10.000 secure that's great awesome 01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:13.000 more power to you me I'm using 01:02:13.000 --> 01:02:14.000 my sick leave I'm using my 01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:16.000 vacation leave I'm getting the heck 01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:17.000 out of the office I getting my head 01:02:17.000 --> 01:02:18.000 out of there I'm going fishing 01:02:18.000 --> 01:02:19.000 with this guy that's what I 01:02:19.000 --> 01:02:21.000 do that's how I manage it so 01:02:21.000 --> 01:02:23.000 there are a lot of benefits to 01:02:23.000 --> 01:02:25.000 working for an agency like VR 01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:26.000 because of the benefits 01:02:26.000 --> 01:02:27.000 that come along with the job 01:02:27.000 --> 01:02:29.000 just in general but there's a 01:02:29.000 --> 01:02:30.000 lot of opportunity to manage it 01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:32.000 in your own way you can do it 01:02:32.000 --> 01:02:34.000 however you want however it works 01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:35.000 within the rules and your relationship 01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:36.000 with your boss my boss is 01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:37.000 very open to me working from 01:02:37.000 --> 01:02:39.000 home because he's confident 01:02:39.000 --> 01:02:40.000 that I'm actually doing my work 01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:42.000 from home it's actually I'll say 01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:43.000 it's quite difficult to do your 01:02:43.000 --> 01:02:44.000 job from home because you're 01:02:44.000 --> 01:02:45.000 there you have other things 01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:47.000 going on it's very tempting 01:02:47.000 --> 01:02:48.000 to go I can put this down for 01:02:48.000 --> 01:02:49.000 a few minutes and then you go 01:02:49.000 --> 01:02:51.000 get lost in something you know some 01:02:51.000 --> 01:02:52.000 other thing you need to do 01:02:52.000 --> 01:02:53.000 get your oil change get your 01:02:53.000 --> 01:02:55.000 tires rotated whatever you 01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:56.000 go do those things then all of a sudden 01:02:56.000 --> 01:02:59.000 holy mackerel it's five o'clock -- 01:02:59.000 --> 01:02:60.000 I only worked for thirty minutes 01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:03.000 today boss what do you do well 01:03:03.000 --> 01:03:04.000 you gotta take leave at that 01:03:04.000 --> 01:03:05.000 point you know -- but so it 01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:06.000 all depends on how you do it 01:03:06.000 --> 01:03:08.000 if you have the determination 01:03:08.000 --> 01:03:09.000 understanding in that relationship 01:03:09.000 --> 01:03:14.000 and so the question was is are 01:03:14.000 --> 01:03:15.000 individuals who are graduating 01:03:15.000 --> 01:03:17.000 from high school eighteen 01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:18.000 to possibly twenty four 01:03:18.000 --> 01:03:19.000 good referrals for VR 01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:21.000 so actually I specialize 01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:23.000 in a YTP caseload -- youth 01:03:23.000 --> 01:03:25.000 transition program I don't know if you've ever 01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:27.000 heard of YTP before -- so I 01:03:27.000 --> 01:03:28.000 work at Corvallis High School 01:03:28.000 --> 01:03:30.000 Crescent Valley -- College Hill 01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:34.000 Philomath Alsea Monroe and I had 01:03:34.000 --> 01:03:35.000 Harrisburg for awhile we're hopefully 01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:36.000 gonna get that one back but anyways 01:03:36.000 --> 01:03:39.000 different -- different story 01:03:39.000 --> 01:03:41.000 I will take students anywhere 01:03:41.000 --> 01:03:43.000 from sixteen to twenty one 01:03:43.000 --> 01:03:45.000 on my caseload -- before they 01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:46.000 graduate a lot of times hoping to 01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:48.000 catch them in the development 01:03:48.000 --> 01:03:49.000 of some of those issues that 01:03:49.000 --> 01:03:51.000 they're dealing with and help 01:03:51.000 --> 01:03:52.000 them address them before they 01:03:52.000 --> 01:03:53.000 get to the point of age of 01:03:53.000 --> 01:03:55.000 eighteen so they actually have 01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:56.000 some type of coping skills 01:03:56.000 --> 01:03:59.000 strategy something set up -- 01:03:59.000 --> 01:03:61.000 I would say most of the time 01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:02.000 individuals who have pretty 01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:03.000 significant mental health 01:04:03.000 --> 01:04:07.000 disorders in high school I'd say 01:04:07.000 --> 01:04:09.000 the -- the minority are organic 01:04:09.000 --> 01:04:11.000 as in a person was born and 01:04:11.000 --> 01:04:12.000 has some type of disorder 01:04:12.000 --> 01:04:14.000 like bipolar schizoaffective 01:04:14.000 --> 01:04:15.000 something like that or maybe 01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:17.000 a drug induced type of -- 01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:19.000 disorder the majority routes 01:04:19.000 --> 01:04:21.000 from some type of home 01:04:21.000 --> 01:04:23.000 environment or something that's 01:04:23.000 --> 01:04:25.000 happened to them and if you 01:04:25.000 --> 01:04:27.000 catch them at that right age 01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:30.000 it's a really neat opportunity 01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:31.000 to work with them to help them 01:04:31.000 --> 01:04:32.000 address those things and actually 01:04:32.000 --> 01:04:34.000 get a good picture of what's -- 01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:36.000 what life is like going forward 01:04:38.000 --> 01:04:40.000 specifically yes they are 01:04:40.000 --> 01:04:42.000 awesome referrals absolutely 01:04:42.000 --> 01:04:45.000 would work well with -- VR population and if they are 01:04:45.000 --> 01:04:46.000 actually being seen by a school 01:04:46.000 --> 01:04:48.000 all of those services should 01:04:48.000 --> 01:04:49.000 be able to be utilized through 01:04:49.000 --> 01:04:51.000 whatever school they are they 01:04:51.000 --> 01:04:53.000 are in I will agree with your 01:04:53.000 --> 01:04:54.000 statement so it wasn't really 01:04:54.000 --> 01:04:56.000 question it was more of a statement -- 01:04:56.000 --> 01:04:57.000 but basically saying that the 01:04:57.000 --> 01:04:59.000 diversity in which -- you can 01:04:59.000 --> 01:04:60.000 work with people at VR 01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:02.000 is very broad there's a lot of 01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:04.000 things you can address and 01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:05.000 so specifically in different 01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:07.000 realms I mean it's really really 01:05:07.000 --> 01:05:09.000 a unique opportunity whereas 01:05:09.000 --> 01:05:11.000 I'm not gonna I'm not gonna 01:05:11.000 --> 01:05:12.000 try and say that mental health 01:05:12.000 --> 01:05:13.000 is limited because I don't 01:05:13.000 --> 01:05:14.000 believe that at all because 01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:17.000 I think within mental health 01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:19.000 you -- you will tend to 01:05:19.000 --> 01:05:20.000 work with certain populations 01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:22.000 more specifically at least 01:05:22.000 --> 01:05:23.000 that's just my impression I 01:05:23.000 --> 01:05:26.000 could be wrong there -- but 01:05:26.000 --> 01:05:27.000 I will say with VR you 01:05:27.000 --> 01:05:28.000 will absolutely get a very 01:05:28.000 --> 01:05:30.000 very large mixed bag of folks 01:05:30.000 --> 01:05:31.000 you will deal with ranging 01:05:31.000 --> 01:05:32.000 in many different types of 01:05:32.000 --> 01:05:34.000 disabilities circumstances 01:05:34.000 --> 01:05:35.000 backgrounds all those things 01:05:35.000 --> 01:05:36.000 whereas within mental health 01:05:39.000 --> 01:05:40.000 tend to specialize at 01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:42.000 least in one thing or another 01:05:42.000 --> 01:05:43.000 but that doesn't mean they're 01:05:43.000 --> 01:05:44.000 not dealing with a lot I think 01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:45.000 they absolutely deal with 01:05:45.000 --> 01:05:47.000 an incredible range of things 01:05:47.000 --> 01:05:48.000 I would challenge each one of you 01:05:48.000 --> 01:05:50.000 with looking at these questions 01:05:50.000 --> 01:05:51.000 and really think about why are 01:05:51.000 --> 01:05:53.000 you doing what you're doing 01:05:53.000 --> 01:05:54.000 what do you hope to bring 01:05:54.000 --> 01:05:56.000 to the table what counseling 01:05:56.000 --> 01:05:57.000 techniques do you think you can 01:05:57.000 --> 01:05:60.000 utilize in order to actually 01:06:00.000 --> 01:06:01.000 help people are you helping 01:06:01.000 --> 01:06:02.000 them on their paradigm or your 01:06:02.000 --> 01:06:04.000 paradigm we all struggle with 01:06:04.000 --> 01:06:05.000 that at points I mean one of 01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:08.000 my first intuitions with almost 01:06:08.000 --> 01:06:09.000 anybody is that I initially 01:06:09.000 --> 01:06:10.000 hear what they have to say 01:06:10.000 --> 01:06:11.000 and I initially go in -- or I 01:06:11.000 --> 01:06:13.000 immediately go into what kind 01:06:13.000 --> 01:06:14.000 of advice can I offer this person 01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:16.000 that's not always helpful you 01:06:16.000 --> 01:06:17.000 know and so sometimes we all 01:06:17.000 --> 01:06:18.000 have to learn how to regulate 01:06:18.000 --> 01:06:19.000 ourselves right and what 01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:21.000 we do why we're saying what 01:06:21.000 --> 01:06:22.000 we're saying being very very 01:06:22.000 --> 01:06:24.000 intentional in what we're 01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:25.000 doing but I would like to 01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:26.000 challenge you all with looking at this 01:06:26.000 --> 01:06:28.000 and just thinking about it 01:06:28.000 --> 01:06:29.000 I am definitely not here to 01:06:29.000 --> 01:06:31.000 recruit you for VR 01:06:31.000 --> 01:06:32.000 I'll put it to you that way 01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:37.000 based on my own experience 01:06:37.000 --> 01:06:39.000 based on my own being a skeptic 01:06:39.000 --> 01:06:41.000 of VR to just give you the 01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:42.000 opportunity to think about it 01:06:42.000 --> 01:06:44.000 and make the decision for yourself 01:06:44.000 --> 01:06:45.000 what do you think might be 01:06:45.000 --> 01:06:46.000 your best option what kind of 01:06:46.000 --> 01:06:47.000 counseling do you think you 01:06:47.000 --> 01:06:50.000 would be best at okay so 01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:54.000 these were hastily written up 01:06:56.000 --> 01:06:58.000 to bring them with me so if 01:06:58.000 --> 01:06:59.000 I missed anything or anything 01:06:59.000 --> 01:06:60.000 is not clear please feel free 01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:02.000 to ask basically at the top it says 01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:03.000 VRProcess moving clients 01:07:03.000 --> 01:07:05.000 from start to closure and then 01:07:06.000 --> 01:07:10.000 examples so this individual 01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:12.000 I met obviously I changed her 01:07:12.000 --> 01:07:14.000 name when I first met her she 01:07:14.000 --> 01:07:16.000 presented as someone who could 01:07:16.000 --> 01:07:18.000 not figure out a way out of 01:07:18.000 --> 01:07:21.000 her situation and I thought 01:07:21.000 --> 01:07:23.000 okay well let's see what's 01:07:23.000 --> 01:07:25.000 going on maybe you have some 01:07:25.000 --> 01:07:26.000 cognitive deficits or something 01:07:26.000 --> 01:07:27.000 like that so we -- we did 01:07:27.000 --> 01:07:29.000 the psychological evaluation 01:07:29.000 --> 01:07:31.000 and she came out with a genius 01:07:31.000 --> 01:07:33.000 level IQ basically and I thought 01:07:33.000 --> 01:07:35.000 how in the world does a person 01:07:35.000 --> 01:07:36.000 who has a genius level IQ not 01:07:36.000 --> 01:07:37.000 be able to figure this out 01:07:37.000 --> 01:07:39.000 right so I'm gonna read -- I'm gonna go 01:07:39.000 --> 01:07:40.000 through this with you and a lot 01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:42.000 of you are reading it already but so 01:07:42.000 --> 01:07:43.000 this person presented intake 01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:44.000 with a physical injury 01:07:44.000 --> 01:07:45.000 back pain and limitations that 01:07:45.000 --> 01:07:47.000 impedes her ability to continue 01:07:47.000 --> 01:07:48.000 working at labor jobs she was 01:07:48.000 --> 01:07:49.000 doing things like customer 01:07:49.000 --> 01:07:51.000 service she was working -- 01:07:51.000 --> 01:07:53.000 janitorial jobs she's a flagger 01:07:53.000 --> 01:07:56.000 for certain companies but 01:07:56.000 --> 01:07:57.000 her back was hurting so 01:07:57.000 --> 01:07:58.000 bad she just could not go back 01:07:58.000 --> 01:07:59.000 and someone recommended that 01:07:59.000 --> 01:07:61.000 she come to VR to find some 01:08:01.000 --> 01:08:03.000 help and she couldn't be on her feet for 01:08:03.000 --> 01:08:04.000 longer than an hour so it puts 01:08:04.000 --> 01:08:05.000 us in an interesting position 01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:07.000 okay well what kind of skills do 01:08:07.000 --> 01:08:08.000 you have that could lead you to a 01:08:08.000 --> 01:08:09.000 job where you don't have to 01:08:09.000 --> 01:08:10.000 stand a lot you know you can sit 01:08:10.000 --> 01:08:11.000 more than you stand or you 01:08:11.000 --> 01:08:13.000 could rotate between the two 01:08:13.000 --> 01:08:14.000 at that point she didn't have a 01:08:14.000 --> 01:08:15.000 whole lot of education she had a high 01:08:15.000 --> 01:08:17.000 school education but she tried 01:08:17.000 --> 01:08:19.000 college and in college she was 01:08:19.000 --> 01:08:20.000 unable to finish because of 01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:21.000 psychological impacts of other 01:08:21.000 --> 01:08:22.000 things that had happened in her 01:08:22.000 --> 01:08:24.000 life and she was just unable to 01:08:24.000 --> 01:08:25.000 do the work so she was unable 01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:27.000 to complete and at the time -- at 01:08:27.000 --> 01:08:29.000 the same time lost her job and 01:08:29.000 --> 01:08:30.000 was unable to pay her loans 01:08:30.000 --> 01:08:33.000 back well if you are in default 01:08:33.000 --> 01:08:34.000 on their loans VR 01:08:34.000 --> 01:08:35.000 cannot pay for you to go 01:08:35.000 --> 01:08:37.000 back to school because what 01:08:37.000 --> 01:08:38.000 will happen is the federal 01:08:38.000 --> 01:08:41.000 funds up as payment for past 01:08:41.000 --> 01:08:43.000 a lot of legislation around 01:08:43.000 --> 01:08:44.000 that we cannot pay past due 01:08:44.000 --> 01:08:48.000 debts so she's in a position 01:08:48.000 --> 01:08:49.000 where she cannot go back to 01:08:49.000 --> 01:08:51.000 school she's injured she cannot 01:08:51.000 --> 01:08:52.000 return to the type of work she 01:08:52.000 --> 01:08:53.000 has experience in she has some 01:08:53.000 --> 01:08:55.000 some psychological deficits 01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:57.000 that are affecting her ability 01:08:57.000 --> 01:08:59.000 to move into higher cognitive 01:08:59.000 --> 01:08:62.000 types of work put us in a position 01:09:02.000 --> 01:09:03.000 where we're gonna we're kind of 01:09:03.000 --> 01:09:04.000 looking at each other like what 01:09:04.000 --> 01:09:06.000 in the world do you do what 01:09:06.000 --> 01:09:09.000 what do you do with this so as 01:09:09.000 --> 01:09:11.000 I said she her socio economic 01:09:11.000 --> 01:09:13.000 background was also that she came 01:09:13.000 --> 01:09:15.000 from a poor family a family that 01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:17.000 did not have a lot of money 01:09:17.000 --> 01:09:18.000 and she did not have examples 01:09:18.000 --> 01:09:19.000 of people in her family that 01:09:19.000 --> 01:09:21.000 showed her how to successfully 01:09:21.000 --> 01:09:24.000 navigate certain circumstances 01:09:24.000 --> 01:09:26.000 so overall she stated that she felt 01:09:26.000 --> 01:09:27.000 trapped she felt dependent on the 01:09:27.000 --> 01:09:29.000 system and she hated that a lot 01:09:29.000 --> 01:09:30.000 of people report that when they 01:09:30.000 --> 01:09:32.000 come into the office they 01:09:32.000 --> 01:09:33.000 do not like being dependent 01:09:33.000 --> 01:09:34.000 on the system they want to get 01:09:34.000 --> 01:09:36.000 off of social security disability 01:09:36.000 --> 01:09:38.000 they want to feel useful that's 01:09:38.000 --> 01:09:39.000 one of their biggest drives 01:09:39.000 --> 01:09:41.000 they want to do something that 01:09:41.000 --> 01:09:43.000 means something to them and 01:09:43.000 --> 01:09:44.000 she was absolutely in that 01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:47.000 that -- category she she felt 01:09:47.000 --> 01:09:49.000 useless she felt trapped in 01:09:49.000 --> 01:09:50.000 her home she felt like she 01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:51.000 couldn't provide anything good 01:09:51.000 --> 01:09:53.000 to anybody and she felt 01:09:53.000 --> 01:09:55.000 really depressed and sad and 01:09:55.000 --> 01:09:56.000 and disheartened because of 01:09:56.000 --> 01:09:57.000 this and it really affected her 01:09:57.000 --> 01:09:59.000 ability to move forward and it 01:09:59.000 --> 01:09:60.000 put me in a position that I was 01:10:00.000 --> 01:10:02.000 a newer counselor at the time I'm going I 01:10:02.000 --> 01:10:03.000 I don't know what in the world to 01:10:03.000 --> 01:10:05.000 do but then we sent her for the 01:10:05.000 --> 01:10:06.000 psychological evaluation she 01:10:06.000 --> 01:10:08.000 was diagnosed with panic disorder 01:10:08.000 --> 01:10:11.000 depression and PTSD and then 01:10:11.000 --> 01:10:13.000 she has this IQ and so I sat down with the 01:10:13.000 --> 01:10:15.000 psychologist and I'm going what 01:10:15.000 --> 01:10:17.000 what does this mean I mean did 01:10:17.000 --> 01:10:18.000 this person just have a fluke 01:10:18.000 --> 01:10:20.000 test I mean is she really genius level IQ 01:10:20.000 --> 01:10:21.000 because in my 01:10:21.000 --> 01:10:22.000 mind I thought genius level 01:10:22.000 --> 01:10:24.000 IQ right you should be able to 01:10:24.000 --> 01:10:25.000 think your way through thirty 01:10:25.000 --> 01:10:27.000 levels of chess before you even 01:10:27.000 --> 01:10:28.000 speak right or before you even start 01:10:28.000 --> 01:10:30.000 the game that's not really 01:10:30.000 --> 01:10:32.000 how it works an IQ 01:10:32.000 --> 01:10:34.000 rating really is just an 01:10:34.000 --> 01:10:37.000 assessment from one individual 01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:39.000 psychologist as to what a 01:10:39.000 --> 01:10:41.000 persons potential for cognitive 01:10:41.000 --> 01:10:44.000 ability is or is right now 01:10:44.000 --> 01:10:47.000 based on certain information 01:10:47.000 --> 01:10:49.000 she'd never seen what success 01:10:49.000 --> 01:10:50.000 looked like in her life she 01:10:50.000 --> 01:10:52.000 had never been explained to 01:10:52.000 --> 01:10:53.000 how to get out of a situation 01:10:53.000 --> 01:10:54.000 like this she'd never been 01:10:54.000 --> 01:10:55.000 exposed to the idea of 01:10:55.000 --> 01:10:60.000 thinking like that thinking 01:11:00.000 --> 01:11:02.000 one step after the other 01:11:02.000 --> 01:11:03.000 she'd always thought within 01:11:03.000 --> 01:11:05.000 the realm of what she knew 01:11:05.000 --> 01:11:06.000 and within that realm she was 01:11:06.000 --> 01:11:07.000 very intelligent she could 01:11:07.000 --> 01:11:10.000 operate better than most 01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:11.000 but she'd never walked out of that 01:11:11.000 --> 01:11:13.000 bubble she'd never seen the 01:11:13.000 --> 01:11:14.000 outside realm there so we sat 01:11:14.000 --> 01:11:16.000 down and we worked a lot on 01:11:16.000 --> 01:11:17.000 this scenario but these are the 01:11:17.000 --> 01:11:19.000 questions I want to ask you 01:11:19.000 --> 01:11:21.000 how would you proceed can you 01:11:21.000 --> 01:11:22.000 see any initial behaviors or 01:11:22.000 --> 01:11:23.000 thought processes that might 01:11:23.000 --> 01:11:25.000 impact her ability to work or 01:11:25.000 --> 01:11:27.000 navigate her life to employment 01:11:27.000 --> 01:11:28.000 can you see how you might assist 01:11:28.000 --> 01:11:30.000 this person and prioritize 01:11:30.000 --> 01:11:31.000 and address her difficulties 01:11:31.000 --> 01:11:36.000 with specific goals to achieve 01:11:36.000 --> 01:11:38.000 yeah very astute -- so 01:11:38.000 --> 01:11:41.000 basically -- stated that 01:11:41.000 --> 01:11:42.000 there's a lot of potential 01:11:42.000 --> 01:11:43.000 there and a lot of positive 01:11:43.000 --> 01:11:44.000 potential there for this person 01:11:44.000 --> 01:11:46.000 and if this person can address 01:11:46.000 --> 01:11:48.000 self esteem and other factors 01:11:48.000 --> 01:11:49.000 that she's dealing with could 01:11:49.000 --> 01:11:50.000 potentially overcome the 01:11:50.000 --> 01:11:52.000 situation but the specifics 01:11:52.000 --> 01:11:54.000 obviously are kind of aloof 01:11:54.000 --> 01:11:55.000 at this point right we have to 01:11:55.000 --> 01:11:57.000 come up with those but that's 01:11:57.000 --> 01:11:59.000 very very good observations -- 01:11:59.000 --> 01:11:61.000 and I will say in particular 01:12:01.000 --> 01:12:03.000 when she saw what her IQ was 01:12:03.000 --> 01:12:05.000 she almost fell out of her chair she 01:12:05.000 --> 01:12:06.000 couldn't believe it she's going 01:12:06.000 --> 01:12:08.000 what this has got to be you 01:12:08.000 --> 01:12:10.000 know a mistake and I said no 01:12:10.000 --> 01:12:12.000 I spoke with the doc you're -- this is 01:12:12.000 --> 01:12:13.000 what you've got -- and what I 01:12:13.000 --> 01:12:15.000 tried to equate it to her as 01:12:15.000 --> 01:12:16.000 is that if most of us are driving 01:12:16.000 --> 01:12:18.000 a Prius she's got a Ferrari 01:12:18.000 --> 01:12:21.000 you know -- and that's just 01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:22.000 that's just the numbers it's not 01:12:22.000 --> 01:12:23.000 saying anything else with any 01:12:23.000 --> 01:12:24.000 connotation that's just what 01:12:24.000 --> 01:12:26.000 it is she has potential with 01:12:26.000 --> 01:12:29.000 her IQ to achieve a lot more 01:12:29.000 --> 01:12:31.000 than say the average individual 01:12:31.000 --> 01:12:34.000 you guys understand percentiles 01:12:34.000 --> 01:12:37.000 okay so for her I mean if 01:12:37.000 --> 01:12:38.000 you think about it she has 01:12:38.000 --> 01:12:40.000 the capability above ninety 01:12:40.000 --> 01:12:41.000 nine point one percent of the 01:12:41.000 --> 01:12:42.000 population in all the world 01:12:42.000 --> 01:12:44.000 at least tested individuals 01:12:44.000 --> 01:12:45.000 so I mean you really think about that if 01:12:45.000 --> 01:12:46.000 you try to visualize what that 01:12:46.000 --> 01:12:49.000 means wow that's pretty 01:12:49.000 --> 01:12:52.000 incredible but she did react 01:12:52.000 --> 01:12:53.000 that way actually exactly as 01:12:53.000 --> 01:12:55.000 you said she was very heartened 01:12:55.000 --> 01:12:56.000 by it it actually gave her a sense of hope 01:12:56.000 --> 01:12:58.000 she was proud of something 01:12:58.000 --> 01:12:59.000 she kind of thought wow I 01:12:59.000 --> 01:12:60.000 didn't realize I had this 01:13:00.000 --> 01:13:01.000 kind of ability I didn't have this 01:13:01.000 --> 01:13:05.000 kind of for her again value 01:13:05.000 --> 01:13:07.000 but anyone else want to take 01:13:07.000 --> 01:13:09.000 a stab yeah so you believe 01:13:09.000 --> 01:13:11.000 that one of the most important 01:13:11.000 --> 01:13:13.000 factors here is the person's 01:13:13.000 --> 01:13:15.000 emotional responses to stimulus 01:13:15.000 --> 01:13:16.000 and that that could have a 01:13:16.000 --> 01:13:18.000 really negative impact on her 01:13:18.000 --> 01:13:20.000 ability to operate within the 01:13:20.000 --> 01:13:21.000 realm of employment probably 01:13:21.000 --> 01:13:23.000 personal life sleep all sorts 01:13:23.000 --> 01:13:25.000 of things -- and based 01:13:25.000 --> 01:13:27.000 on that you would identify 01:13:27.000 --> 01:13:29.000 that as the goal to address 01:13:31.000 --> 01:13:33.000 have the most impact and in 01:13:33.000 --> 01:13:34.000 stabilizing wellness for her 01:13:34.000 --> 01:13:35.000 to get on to the next point is 01:13:35.000 --> 01:13:39.000 that true okay wow you are all awesome 01:13:39.000 --> 01:13:40.000 you're doing great here yeah again 01:13:40.000 --> 01:13:42.000 another home run on this -- 01:13:42.000 --> 01:13:43.000 those are all absolutely true 01:13:46.000 --> 01:13:48.000 had lots of trouble sleeping 01:13:48.000 --> 01:13:49.000 lots of trouble being able to 01:13:49.000 --> 01:13:50.000 function within -- conflict 01:13:50.000 --> 01:13:53.000 resolution -- one thing in 01:13:53.000 --> 01:13:54.000 particular you would want to 01:13:54.000 --> 01:13:55.000 be real careful of here and 01:13:55.000 --> 01:13:56.000 I'm using you as an example I hope you don't 01:13:56.000 --> 01:13:60.000 mind -- as a male to a female 01:14:00.000 --> 01:14:02.000 in this role her abusers have all 01:14:02.000 --> 01:14:05.000 been male and diving into 01:14:05.000 --> 01:14:07.000 some of those things could 01:14:07.000 --> 01:14:09.000 potentially be difficult for 01:14:09.000 --> 01:14:11.000 her and could very well be 01:14:11.000 --> 01:14:13.000 intrusions you know what I mean and 01:14:13.000 --> 01:14:14.000 no matter how well intended it 01:14:14.000 --> 01:14:17.000 is -- I would always suggest 01:14:17.000 --> 01:14:18.000 and this might be something you 01:14:18.000 --> 01:14:20.000 you take or not take or leave it's 01:14:20.000 --> 01:14:22.000 up to you -- always asking a 01:14:22.000 --> 01:14:24.000 person first before you delve 01:14:24.000 --> 01:14:25.000 into those things is it okay 01:14:25.000 --> 01:14:27.000 if we talk about this if you 01:14:27.000 --> 01:14:29.000 ask a person their permission 01:14:29.000 --> 01:14:31.000 I'd say the majority of the time 01:14:31.000 --> 01:14:32.000 they will they will give you 01:14:32.000 --> 01:14:33.000 their decision as yes or 01:14:33.000 --> 01:14:35.000 no and that allows you to 01:14:35.000 --> 01:14:37.000 know as a counselor is it is 01:14:37.000 --> 01:14:40.000 that okay territory is it not 01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:42.000 and if the person says yes then 01:14:42.000 --> 01:14:43.000 you have absolutely developed 01:14:43.000 --> 01:14:44.000 report at that point and then 01:14:44.000 --> 01:14:45.000 and -- so what you're talking 01:14:45.000 --> 01:14:47.000 about is exactly what I had 01:14:47.000 --> 01:14:49.000 to do with her -- once she 01:14:49.000 --> 01:14:50.000 told me a little bit about her 01:14:50.000 --> 01:14:52.000 trauma background I was able 01:14:52.000 --> 01:14:55.000 to understand okay so it sounds 01:14:55.000 --> 01:14:56.000 like you might have trouble 01:14:56.000 --> 01:14:58.000 working with men is that true 01:14:58.000 --> 01:14:60.000 she said depending she said depending 01:15:00.000 --> 01:15:02.000 on the individual and what the 01:15:02.000 --> 01:15:03.000 person represents and I said well 01:15:03.000 --> 01:15:04.000 do I represent those things 01:15:04.000 --> 01:15:05.000 to you do you think you might 01:15:05.000 --> 01:15:07.000 have reactions to me and I said 01:15:07.000 --> 01:15:09.000 it's not personal this is 01:15:09.000 --> 01:15:11.000 all professional I said you 01:15:11.000 --> 01:15:13.000 someone you're comfortable with 01:15:13.000 --> 01:15:14.000 and she was very comfortable 01:15:14.000 --> 01:15:16.000 with that and she said yeah 01:15:16.000 --> 01:15:17.000 I'll talk to you about those 01:15:17.000 --> 01:15:18.000 things and it's exactly one of the 01:15:18.000 --> 01:15:20.000 realms we went into but one 01:15:20.000 --> 01:15:21.000 of the other ways that I'd like to 01:15:21.000 --> 01:15:23.000 too in the thought process is 01:15:23.000 --> 01:15:26.000 always remembering your role so 01:15:26.000 --> 01:15:29.000 yes there absolutely is mental 01:15:29.000 --> 01:15:30.000 health counselling involved 01:15:30.000 --> 01:15:32.000 in VR absolutely but are 01:15:32.000 --> 01:15:33.000 we mental health counselors 01:15:33.000 --> 01:15:35.000 absolutely not in that role 01:15:35.000 --> 01:15:37.000 you know what I'm saying so it's 01:15:37.000 --> 01:15:39.000 an interesting line you walk 01:15:39.000 --> 01:15:41.000 there that yes you do use those 01:15:41.000 --> 01:15:42.000 techniques and you do address 01:15:42.000 --> 01:15:44.000 these things and you do discuss 01:15:44.000 --> 01:15:45.000 them and you do come up with coping 01:15:45.000 --> 01:15:46.000 strategies which is almost 01:15:46.000 --> 01:15:48.000 exactly the same paradigm as 01:15:48.000 --> 01:15:49.000 mental health counseling but you 01:15:49.000 --> 01:15:50.000 always have to remember what 01:15:50.000 --> 01:15:53.000 that eventual goal is so like 01:15:53.000 --> 01:15:54.000 what I said before about the 01:15:54.000 --> 01:15:57.000 idea of -- time limited goal 01:15:57.000 --> 01:15:59.000 oriented mental health for her 01:15:59.000 --> 01:15:60.000 in particular I knew that if I 01:16:00.000 --> 01:16:02.000 delved into that enough that I 01:16:02.000 --> 01:16:05.000 could help her identify resources 01:16:05.000 --> 01:16:07.000 that she can go and utilize 01:16:07.000 --> 01:16:08.000 that I wouldn't necessarily 01:16:08.000 --> 01:16:10.000 be able to do so like ongoing 01:16:10.000 --> 01:16:11.000 mental health counseling for 01:16:11.000 --> 01:16:14.000 people who have had -- sexual 01:16:14.000 --> 01:16:15.000 abuse trauma does that make 01:16:15.000 --> 01:16:17.000 sense and so what our goal 01:16:17.000 --> 01:16:18.000 was at that point is we found 01:16:18.000 --> 01:16:19.000 that information out we talked 01:16:19.000 --> 01:16:20.000 about a little bit as much as 01:16:20.000 --> 01:16:22.000 she was comfortable we're able 01:16:22.000 --> 01:16:23.000 to utilize that to go well 01:16:23.000 --> 01:16:25.000 what you want to do next well I 01:16:25.000 --> 01:16:26.000 think I probably ought to see 01:16:26.000 --> 01:16:27.000 a counselor about it oh that's 01:16:27.000 --> 01:16:29.000 a great idea -- what -- who would 01:16:29.000 --> 01:16:30.000 you want to see well I don't know 01:16:30.000 --> 01:16:32.000 I have OHP OHP doesn't 01:16:32.000 --> 01:16:33.000 get accepted by a lot of places 01:16:33.000 --> 01:16:34.000 you know and it's again 01:16:34.000 --> 01:16:36.000 the socieconomic 01:16:36.000 --> 01:16:37.000 status comes into play in 01:16:37.000 --> 01:16:38.000 almost every decision a person 01:16:38.000 --> 01:16:41.000 makes right so she has OHP 01:16:41.000 --> 01:16:42.000 well what services 01:16:42.000 --> 01:16:43.000 can we utilize at that point 01:16:43.000 --> 01:16:44.000 who accepts OHP 01:16:44.000 --> 01:16:45.000 well I don't really know okay 01:16:45.000 --> 01:16:47.000 well that's our task at hand 01:16:47.000 --> 01:16:48.000 figuring out who we can get 01:16:48.000 --> 01:16:50.000 her hooked up with so she can 01:16:50.000 --> 01:16:52.000 go address that thing and then 01:16:52.000 --> 01:16:53.000 we can continue to move on and 01:16:53.000 --> 01:16:55.000 we do constant updates so when we 01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:57.000 address it it's more of a check 01:16:57.000 --> 01:16:59.000 in it's more of a maintenance 01:16:59.000 --> 01:16:60.000 it's more about how how's it 01:17:00.000 --> 01:17:02.000 going and are you improving 01:17:02.000 --> 01:17:04.000 are these things actually -- 01:17:04.000 --> 01:17:07.000 helping you you see what I'm saying so yeah 01:17:07.000 --> 01:17:09.000 absolutely spot I mean -- dart 01:17:11.000 --> 01:17:13.000 you do as a counselor right 01:17:13.000 --> 01:17:14.000 so the services that I offer 01:17:14.000 --> 01:17:16.000 her at that point were let's 01:17:16.000 --> 01:17:18.000 help you find mental health 01:17:18.000 --> 01:17:19.000 let's help you find mental health that 01:17:19.000 --> 01:17:21.000 works for you let's develop a 01:17:21.000 --> 01:17:22.000 plan a long term plan on how 01:17:22.000 --> 01:17:24.000 to address the stuff and then 01:17:24.000 --> 01:17:25.000 let's try to figure out the 01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:26.000 socioeconomic factors that are 01:17:26.000 --> 01:17:28.000 impacting you and how do we get 01:17:28.000 --> 01:17:30.000 over that so the question was 01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:32.000 do I have background on the 01:17:32.000 --> 01:17:33.000 individuals when I first meet 01:17:33.000 --> 01:17:35.000 them at intake meetings and 01:17:36.000 --> 01:17:38.000 do I have and does the 01:17:38.000 --> 01:17:42.000 information create biases so 01:17:42.000 --> 01:17:46.000 maybe I'll -- I'll do that in order 01:17:46.000 --> 01:17:48.000 I guess so depending on the 01:17:48.000 --> 01:17:50.000 individual -- we may or may 01:17:50.000 --> 01:17:51.000 not have information on them 01:17:51.000 --> 01:17:53.000 it all depends on what they 01:17:53.000 --> 01:17:54.000 give the HSAs who are up 01:17:54.000 --> 01:17:56.000 front who take the calls 01:17:56.000 --> 01:17:58.000 schedule the intakes the questions 01:17:58.000 --> 01:17:60.000 they ask the individuals they 01:18:00.000 --> 01:18:02.000 have to willingly provide right 01:18:02.000 --> 01:18:04.000 so they could tell us a lot 01:18:04.000 --> 01:18:05.000 of information or very little 01:18:05.000 --> 01:18:07.000 depending on how they want to 01:18:07.000 --> 01:18:08.000 go about it and sometimes they 01:18:08.000 --> 01:18:09.000 really don't talk about things 01:18:09.000 --> 01:18:10.000 because it's very personal 01:18:10.000 --> 01:18:12.000 trauma related there's a lot of 01:18:12.000 --> 01:18:13.000 things a person doesn't want to talk about 01:18:13.000 --> 01:18:14.000 but they may say something in 01:18:14.000 --> 01:18:16.000 general like -- I have anxiety 01:18:16.000 --> 01:18:18.000 or I have PTSD or I've been 01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:19.000 diagnosed with this or I -- 01:18:19.000 --> 01:18:20.000 I've been injured and I can't do 01:18:20.000 --> 01:18:22.000 this kind of work most people 01:18:22.000 --> 01:18:25.000 who come in kind of over share I would 01:18:25.000 --> 01:18:26.000 say and so we have a wealth of 01:18:26.000 --> 01:18:31.000 information I tend to not like 01:18:31.000 --> 01:18:32.000 to know people's information 01:18:32.000 --> 01:18:33.000 up front I like to get to know 01:18:33.000 --> 01:18:35.000 them and understand them who 01:18:35.000 --> 01:18:38.000 they are from their report to 01:18:38.000 --> 01:18:40.000 me and then that way I can kind 01:18:40.000 --> 01:18:42.000 of establish something in a very 01:18:42.000 --> 01:18:44.000 objective lens the problem with that is 01:18:44.000 --> 01:18:45.000 that that can work a majority 01:18:45.000 --> 01:18:47.000 of the time there are other times 01:18:47.000 --> 01:18:48.000 where you really do need to know 01:18:48.000 --> 01:18:49.000 as much as you can about the 01:18:49.000 --> 01:18:50.000 person before you meet them 01:18:50.000 --> 01:18:51.000 especially if they're a repeat 01:18:51.000 --> 01:18:53.000 client especially if someone 01:18:53.000 --> 01:18:55.000 has manipulative behaviors or 01:18:55.000 --> 01:18:57.000 they've had violent backgrounds 01:18:57.000 --> 01:18:58.000 or they don't work well with 01:18:58.000 --> 01:18:61.000 certain -- counselors certain 01:19:03.000 --> 01:19:05.000 that -- like I said before lot 01:19:05.000 --> 01:19:07.000 of prison population -- stuff a 01:19:07.000 --> 01:19:09.000 lot of people from really rough 01:19:09.000 --> 01:19:11.000 backgrounds at times -- and 01:19:11.000 --> 01:19:14.000 those things can play into a 01:19:14.000 --> 01:19:15.000 really interesting dynamics in 01:19:15.000 --> 01:19:17.000 that first meeting -- you know 01:19:17.000 --> 01:19:18.000 sometimes yelling and screaming 01:19:18.000 --> 01:19:19.000 matches and things like that 01:19:19.000 --> 01:19:21.000 I mean it's really -- it can get 01:19:21.000 --> 01:19:22.000 out of hand if you don't know 01:19:22.000 --> 01:19:23.000 who you're dealing with and you 01:19:23.000 --> 01:19:24.000 don't have an idea of how to 01:19:24.000 --> 01:19:26.000 prepare for that meeting but to 01:19:26.000 --> 01:19:28.000 ask or to answer the question very 01:19:28.000 --> 01:19:30.000 specifically about bias I think 01:19:30.000 --> 01:19:33.000 everybody has bias right I 01:19:33.000 --> 01:19:35.000 mean I think we all do on some 01:19:35.000 --> 01:19:36.000 fundamental level and it's not 01:19:36.000 --> 01:19:38.000 always negatively or -- it's not 01:19:38.000 --> 01:19:41.000 always negative or positive or 01:19:41.000 --> 01:19:43.000 good or bad it's -- more in the 01:19:43.000 --> 01:19:44.000 lines that especially if you're 01:19:44.000 --> 01:19:45.000 an objective individual coming 01:19:45.000 --> 01:19:47.000 into this you might recognize 01:19:47.000 --> 01:19:48.000 those things and know how you 01:19:48.000 --> 01:19:50.000 react to them and maybe choose 01:19:50.000 --> 01:19:52.000 to not work with a person or to 01:19:52.000 --> 01:19:54.000 work with the person -- when I 01:19:54.000 --> 01:19:55.000 first went into the field I'd say 01:19:55.000 --> 01:19:56.000 sex offenders in particular I 01:19:56.000 --> 01:19:59.000 had a really hard time thinking 01:19:59.000 --> 01:19:60.000 about how I would work with 01:20:00.000 --> 01:20:01.000 that population because how 01:20:01.000 --> 01:20:03.000 do I take my own bias out of 01:20:03.000 --> 01:20:04.000 that right especially if they've 01:20:04.000 --> 01:20:05.000 hurt children or things like 01:20:05.000 --> 01:20:06.000 that to me I have really strong 01:20:06.000 --> 01:20:08.000 reactions to that so how do I work 01:20:08.000 --> 01:20:11.000 with that population well I had 01:20:11.000 --> 01:20:12.000 to deal with it I had to figure 01:20:12.000 --> 01:20:14.000 out how how I was going to -- in 01:20:14.000 --> 01:20:15.000 the moment so when I first had 01:20:15.000 --> 01:20:16.000 people who would come in that would 01:20:16.000 --> 01:20:17.000 tell me about these things 01:20:17.000 --> 01:20:19.000 especially people who would deny the 01:20:19.000 --> 01:20:20.000 background you know people who go 01:20:20.000 --> 01:20:21.000 to jail for fifteen sixteen 01:20:21.000 --> 01:20:23.000 years they could be innocent I 01:20:23.000 --> 01:20:25.000 mean I'm not gonna sit here and 01:20:25.000 --> 01:20:26.000 say I know all things I mean 01:20:26.000 --> 01:20:28.000 nobody really does right 01:20:28.000 --> 01:20:29.000 but if someone comes in who's been 01:20:29.000 --> 01:20:30.000 convicted of something and it's 01:20:30.000 --> 01:20:33.000 been proven by a court of law 01:20:33.000 --> 01:20:35.000 happened that puts you in a really 01:20:35.000 --> 01:20:38.000 weird spot as a counselor 01:20:38.000 --> 01:20:39.000 because that's really the issue 01:20:39.000 --> 01:20:40.000 to address is you have some 01:20:40.000 --> 01:20:42.000 denial aspects around something 01:20:42.000 --> 01:20:45.000 you did how do we -- how do we 01:20:45.000 --> 01:20:46.000 deal with that some people do 01:20:46.000 --> 01:20:47.000 not want to deal with that and 01:20:47.000 --> 01:20:49.000 they react very violently 01:20:49.000 --> 01:20:51.000 to it -- you know standing up 01:20:51.000 --> 01:20:52.000 posturing yelling screaming 01:20:52.000 --> 01:20:55.000 things like that -- 01:20:55.000 --> 01:20:56.000 that's it's pretty rare to be 01:20:56.000 --> 01:20:57.000 quite honest with you that's a 01:20:57.000 --> 01:20:60.000 really really isolated incident 01:21:00.000 --> 01:21:01.000 but as time has gone on for 01:21:01.000 --> 01:21:02.000 myself you actually when you 01:21:02.000 --> 01:21:03.000 get exposed to these things 01:21:03.000 --> 01:21:04.000 that you think you will have 01:21:04.000 --> 01:21:06.000 bias to it actually lessens the 01:21:06.000 --> 01:21:07.000 bias quite a bit because if 01:21:07.000 --> 01:21:08.000 you can objectively look at 01:21:08.000 --> 01:21:10.000 people as just people people 01:21:10.000 --> 01:21:11.000 who have made decisions people who have 01:21:11.000 --> 01:21:13.000 done certain things it's not 01:21:13.000 --> 01:21:15.000 mine right it's not mine it's 01:21:15.000 --> 01:21:17.000 not yours it's theirs and so at 01:21:17.000 --> 01:21:18.000 that point if you can look at 01:21:18.000 --> 01:21:20.000 that person objectively it can 01:21:20.000 --> 01:21:23.000 help you lessen your reaction to 01:21:23.000 --> 01:21:25.000 biases and also be more aware 01:21:25.000 --> 01:21:27.000 of the biases you do have and 01:21:27.000 --> 01:21:29.000 mitigate them in counseling 01:21:29.000 --> 01:21:33.000 music 01:21:33.000 --> 01:21:36.000 music