Eligibility     Services     Getting Started

 Eligibility           top

NVSU provides primarily no cost vocational rehabilitation services to persons with neurological conditions. The majority of the people who seek services through our program have conditions such as:

  • ·    Epilepsy

  • ·    Traumatic brain injury

  • ·    Stroke

  • ·    Multiple sclerosis

  • ·    Other neurological concerns such as an aneurysm, ADHD, learning disability, or other form of brain impairment

Regarding funding, we will refer clients to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) in order to attempt to obtain financial coverage for services not provided by our program.

Open Orientation every Tuesday at 10:30 am.
An initial consultation about services that NVSU can provide you is available every Tuesday at 10:30 am at our offices at 401 Broadway Ave Room 2088 (corner of Broadway and Jefferson). For more information feel free to contact us.

Services           top

The following is a list of services provided by NVSU.

"What job is right for me?"

Vocational Counseling
Our staff works with clients to help identify, obtain, and maintain appropriate employment by reviewing job evaluation reports, test results, medical information and other relevant information.

Vocational counseling can be useful for people who currently hold jobs but are dissatisfied with their employment or are having trouble with assigned job duties. Program participants may also be referred for informational interviews and contacts with established community employers.

Vocational Assessment
Vocational assessment involves several full clinical meetings in order to better understand your needs and concerns. The assessment also includes testing in order to clarify your vocational interests, work values, barriers to working, personality style, and academic abilities (as helpful). Recommendations are made as to types of job placement, job tryouts, on the job training, or other types of formal training.

Because many people who come to our program have experienced brain injury, we also help people to obtain neuropsychological testing. Neuropsychological tests are non medical tests which measure important areas of brain functioning, such as memory, problem solving, "multi tasking", intellectual functioning, and other areas of brain functioning important to employment. Concerns in this area are incorporated into the vocational evaluation recommendations.

"How do I find the right job?"

Job Club
Sometimes looking for employment on your own can be discouraging. The NVSU has created Job Club, a group oriented vocational activity held twice a week to help prepare clients for employment interviews and job search process.

Activities in Job Club include:

  • ·    Lectures on resume building

  • ·    Interview techniques, including practice interviews on video

  • ·    Efficient strategies for finding appropriate employment

  • ·    Developing your own approach to a job search

Periodically, the Job Club invites local employers to address members on up-to-date vocational topics, such as:

  • ·    How to disclose medical conditions to employers

  • ·    Informational interviewing

  • ·    Effective use of employment websites

  • ·    Job Search Organization

Clients of our program frequently report that Job Club is one of the most useful services they receive from us and because Job Club is geared toward finding employment as quickly as possible, all Job Club members must have met with one of our counselors and have decided on a specific vocational goal.

Job Search
NVSU helps clients in the process of finding employment. Searching for jobs can include the following activities:

  • ·    Looking through want ads

  • ·    Reviewing openings which employers mail to our job bank

  • ·    Using our onsite computers to search for employment on the Web.

  • ·    Calling employers on the telephone for interviews

  • ·    Videotaping and reviewing with each client practice job interviews

  • ·    Participating in informational interviews with employers

  • ·    Performing targeted mailings of resumes with cover letters to selected employers (Our program helps coordinate this activity, and provides free mailing services.)

"How do I obtain and keep my job?"

Job Placement
Job placement is helping people to obtain or keep a desired position. For clients currently employed, the program works with the employer to develop accommodations for specific problems people have (such as making sure people with seizure conditions don't have to work rotating shifts, or helping people who have memory concerns organize work schedules). The following are specific programs available for job placement:

Job Tryout
Job Tryout is a 12 week tryout with an employer geared toward assessing a client's functional abilities, work behaviors and interpersonal skills. The tryouts are generally non-paid with bi-monthly evaluations, and client exploration, assessment and skill training. The emphasis is on establishing individuals in the private sector, giving the 1993 US Department of Labor Waiver for "tryouts" for people with disabilities. If during the tryout, the potential employer is not able to cover industrial insurance, our supporting non-profit board, NVS, will fund the L&I industrial insurance for NVSU clients.

Home Based Work
Home based work may be the best option for people who have medical conditions which make it very difficult to commute. While home-based employment or "telecommuting" may be a major employment pattern in the future, home-based jobs today are frequently difficult to find. Many of the home-based jobs that do exist in the market are given to persons who have first worked successfully in office situations, and then "graduated" to telecommuting jobs. Nevertheless, we do attempt to help people find home-based employment.

To date, most of these situations are computer/telephone related jobs which involve contacting companies in order to do market research. They typically paid a minimum wage between $12 and $13 an hour, and generally offer between 10 and 25 hours employment per week. People generally see these jobs as useful for supplementing SSI/DI or other stipends.
Part Time Work
Some people only want to work part-time, so they can keep Social Security benefits or disability payments. When appropriate, we help people plan work budgets so that they can participate in part-time employment without jeopardizing their main source of income and medical care.

Job Site Accommodation Consultation
A job site accommodation consultation is provided for both clients and employers who need assistance in determining whether a procedural change, work site modification, or assistive equipment would result in a client with a neurological condition being able to do the essential functions of the job.
 

Getting Started           top

If you are interested in any of the services above or would like more information about the program and NVSU, please contact us by phone, email, or in person.

A rehabilitation counselor is available onsite on Tuesdays at 10:30 AM to explain our vocational services and take new applications. It is helpful to bring any medical records with you.