Rehabilitation Professionals

You may be a rehabilitation professional or someone interested in exploring rehabilitation as a career choice.  This new section of our site currently provides basic information in the following four areas. We will be adding more information throughout the year.

Rehabilitation Careers

Learn about rehabilitation careers available at Florida Division of Blind Services.

Certification Programs

Serving people who are blind or have severe vision loss is serious business.  Therefore many professionals in the field will becoming certified.  Two key certification agencies are listed below.

Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC)

Learn the requirements to become a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) sets the standard for quality rehabilitation counseling services. As an independent, not-for-profit organization, CRCC has certified more than 35,000 counselors since its incorporation in 1974. Learn how to become a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. 

Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP)

The Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) is a private, non-profit 501 (c) (6) organization.  ACVREP’s mission is to offer professional certification for vision rehabilitation and education professionals in order to improve service delivery to persons with vision impairments.  ACVREP offers certification in three disciplines: Orientation & Mobility, Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (formerly Rehabilitation Teaching), and Low Vision Therapy. Learn more about ACVREP certification programs.

Keep up with Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Material from two recent online seminars are available from AFB. Other courses are listed as well. If you know of other online courses for Rehabilitation Professionals, please contact us at web.administrator@dbs.fldoe.org.

AFB Webcasts-audio and text transcripts now available

AFB CareerConnect® presented two free online seminars for professionals working with children and adults with visual impairments in April 2009. Each session is now available through audio streaming to your computer or text transcripts. You may also access the information from the PowerPoint presentations that were available for each session.  Continuing Education Credits are available.

Session 1: Lifelong Learning in Career Education

Dr. Karen Wolffe, Director, Professional Development and CareerConnect, will discuss the career education model, how to help move children and adults through the appropriate stages of the model, the activities and resources available to instruct children and adults with visual impairments in career education, and more.

Session 2: Determining Current and Future AT Needs

Ike Presley, Project Manager, Professional Development, will show attendees how to create a "toolbox" for success by presenting the tools needed to access and create printed and electronic information. This session will also feature professionals with visual disabilities discussing the career planning techniques and assistive technologies that have helped them compete in the workplace and advance their careers.

Get more information or download at http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=7&TopicID=405

Other Courses

The "ADA Basic Building Blocks" is an introductory web course on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) that explores the legal requirements and spirit of the ADA. The ADA Basic Building Blocks web course has been approved by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) for 3.5 CRCC clock hours.

The Bridging the Gap: Best Practices for Instructing Adults Who Are Visually Impaired and Have Low Literacy Skills , a free, on-line course is both self-paced and self-directed. The lesson  consists of six modules that are designed to provide an understanding of the social, legal, and practical issues faced by rehabilitation, adult education, and workforce development staff when working with adults who have varying types and degrees of visual impairment and low literacy skills.  No textbooks are required. The course is approved by ACVREP for continuing education (CE) hours.

On-line Information for Counselors

Two information resources are currently listed. Please e-mail us with other resources.

National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials

The National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials (NCRTM) Web site has information that may be of value to rehabiliation counselors, managers, students and educations. The NCRTM is sponsored by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and hosted by Utah State University. The NCRTM serves the profession of Vocational Rehabilitation as a centralized resource for the development, collection, dissemination, and utilization of training materials; as a forum for advancing knowledge through applied research and open dialog; and as a marketplace for career and staff development.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration has developed a series of Technical Assistance Seminars to be conducted over the course of the next year. There will be live and asynchronous training modules available on a variety of topics. The NCRTM hosts a Calendar of Events with links to course pages and registration and provides information that you will need to set up your computer for participation in these seminars.

Cognitive Information Processing Theory

Learn about the Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) Theory to the acquisition of career problem solving and decision making skills.  CIP Theory builds upon the self-directed career service delivery strategies which were developed at Florida State University.