what is it that we believe: a rehabilitation professional belief

I am happy to say that I am a graduate of the rehabilitation and mental health counseling program at the University of South Florida. I am a mental health counselor. I also believe that I am a rehabilitation counselor. Rehabilitation counseling as a discipline that focuses on working with individuals that have disabilities, mainly in issues dealing with employment and community involvement. Many of you know that I am actively involved in the disability rights movement in the state of Florida. One of the things that I like about rehabilitation counseling is the code of ethics that we ascribe to. The ethical aspects of this profession I take very seriously. One of the foundational ethical principles is that we as professionals must do what is in the best for the client at all times.

Recently I was at a meeting of professionals in the rehabilitation field, were I was giving a presentation. I had the opportunity to attend a legislative update that the executive director of the national rehabilitation Association was giving. She discussed briefly about the ending of sub minimum wage for individuals with disabilities. I wasn't really clear about what was the position of the national rehab Association on some minimum wage. For those of you that don't know, this is a technique utilized for rehabilitation desiring to get individuals with disabilities to get a job. Often sub minimum wage happens in segregated environments made up of individuals that just have disabilities. This is something as a disability rights advocate, that I have advocate for the elimination of these practices. This is not the best method to get individuals with disabilities employed. We knew that individuals with disabilities will have the greatest possibility of employment outcomes if they are supported on the job with individuals that do not have disabilities. Also, if there is a implementation of customized employment strategies, they can be supported in the community.

I was shocked with the response that I received from the executive director. The national rehab Association is in different about whether sub minimum wage should stop. Some people in the room, advocated for the belief that some minimum wage practices wore a good thing. This is a hypocrisy in the rehabilitation professional community. We as rehabilitation professionals have a ethical obligation to advocate for what is best for are client. We know from decades of research that segregate any employment does not work for individuals with disabilities, especially those that may have what society calls a more complex disability. Segregation does not work.

I am happy that I am a rehabilitation professional. I am disappointing at my professional organization, for not taking a more active stance on advocating for full employment for individuals with disabilities. If we cannot do this, and I believe that we as a profession have somehow lost are way. I am not asking you to agree with me, I'm just giving you something to think about