TRC Today, Volume 18, Number 9, October 1995 Page: Page 2
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TRC Today - Page 2
Seeing is Believing...
I t's been said by almost
everyone involved that it
was the tireless work of
advocates which resulted in the
recent victory in the House for
people with disabilities. The
numerous letters, faxes and calls
sent to show concern about VR's
inclusion in HR 1617 turned the
tide in VR's favor.
And while many can claim to
have sent one or even 10 letters,
how many can say they wrote
1,000 letters to advocate for the
program. Jo Miller, mother of
TRC client Nic Richards, did just
that. She is responsible for
writing, getting signatures and
sending over 1,000 letters to
members of the Goodling
McKeon Committee. Nic's
counselor, Bob Cogburn, helped
Jo in this effort by giving her
"talking points" for the letters
and information on appropriate
congressmen/women to contact.
When asked about why she
felt such a great need to do this,
she replied: "When my son
landed in the hospital, the doctortold me he would be a vegetable
the rest of his life. For six weeks
he just laid there, without any
attempt at rehabilitation. Then we
got a visit from a TRC counselor
and it became a different story."
Nic's trip to the hospital was
unexpected. While working in a
bank, a robbery attempt resulted
in two bullet wounds - one to
the head and one to the back of
the neck. And it wasn't the first
time for him. Two years earlier
While many can claim to have
sent one or even 10 letters,
how many can say they wrote
1,000 letters to advocate for
the program.
while managing a restaurant,
Richards was shot in the forehead
during a different burglary. The
first time he lost sight in one eye.
This second time resulted in
quadriplegia.
With TRC's help, Nic re-
ceived intensive therapy at Dallas
Rehabilitation Insititute and gotsome significant return in func-
tion. He now attends North
Texas University where he will
receive a master's degree in
Computer Science.
"When I met Nic, he was
working hard to overcome
spasms in his legs with the help
of a physical therapist. I could
see his determination and
commitment," says Cogburn.
"Right there I knew I had a very
special client who was going to
benefit from everything this
agency had to offer."
"A voucher is not what I
needed when I was in the hospi-
tal," says Richards. "You
know, the same injury can have
a lot of different outcomes.
You need someone there to
guide you and help you make
decisions best for you. Each
situation is different."
Both mother and son have
grit and a positive attitude.
And both fight hard for what
they believe in. Lucky for us,
they believe in TRC and the VR
program. "One man wouldn'tsign a letter and told me that
you've got to start cutting the
budget somewhere," recalls
Miller. "So I asked him what he
would do if his son faced a
situation like mine did. He
didn't have an answer. Well, I
know the answer is VR."Jo Miller and iic Ricnaras
Let's talk about Choices
N ew and veteran
counselors across the
state got to test drive
on-line tools such as the PDR
and Choices while they were
in Central Office recently.
Choices, the auto-
mated vocational assessment
tool, will give a quick picture
of a client's interests and
aptitudes and match these with
specific job titles. It also gives
reasons why certain jobs aren't
appropriate and provides
information on colleges, trade
schools, etc.
Training is currently
going on in the regions and
counselors are expected to 1 Tim Spong, counselor in the Austin
have this software available to DHS Office, gives area managers and
them between November and counselors a quick spin through the
January. program and discusses with them the
different ways this software can be
used to help better plan services.Temporary Services -
a new look at an old problem
F ive years after ADA, two-thirds of Americans with disabilities
between the ages if 16-64 are still not working. No other demo-
graphic group under 65 has such a small proportion working.
At the same time, big business is downsizing, trimming staff and
employee benefits. A new approach is needed to allow people with
disabilities to compete in the workplace of the 90s and beyond. Here is
one that shows a lot of promise.
Goodwill Temporary Services of Austin and Peak Performers, a
special employment program of the Texas Industries for the Blind and
Visually Handicapped, are breaking ground in the temporary services
market to provide people with disabilities a new gateway into the job
market.
Peak Performers has a contract through the General Services Com-
mission to provide temporary employees in 47 clerical and light industrial
job classifications to several state agencies. These programs are designed
to focus on reversing employers' attitudes about the productivity of
people with disabilities, cracking the door into the jobs they might not
have access to any other way.
"People with disabilities can compete in the workplace," says Bert
Whaley, director of Employment Services for TIBH. "Peak Performers
just gives them the opportunity to prove themselves."
U.S. Department of Labor information points to a workforce in the
year 2000 that will be 75% temps and contract workers. 65% of busi-
nesses already use temp help regularly as part of their staffing strategy
and the temporary services industry is one of the youngest, fastest grow-
ing and profitable businesses in the country.
These new temp programs for people with disabilities will help them
benefit from this new workforce development and provide a faster track
for people with disabilities into the job market of the future.
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Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas Rehabilitation Commission. TRC Today, Volume 18, Number 9, October 1995, periodical, October 1995; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1033856/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.