An Asset-Oriented Approach to Cross-Cultural Issues: Blacks in Rehabilitation

More than twenty years ago the 1965 Vocational Rehabilitation Act expanded rehabilitation to include persons with disabilities stemming from their cultural and social status. Yet, current appraisals of rehabilitation and Blacks who are disabled (BWO) reflect a bleak predicament. In spite of activities directed toward assisting rehabilitation professionals to become more effective with BWO, Blacks remain one of the least understood/accepted groups. Too much of what is assumed to be facts about BWO is predicated on a deficiency-oriented philosophy. Consequently, the author provides research-based approaches and recommendations focused on asset-oriented foundations to assist rehabilitationists in becoming more effective as counselors and cross-cultural advocates.

Visually Handicapped Travelers in the Rapid Rail Transit Environment

Visually impaired people often rely on mass transportation to maximize the benefits derivable from independent community living. Yet many of these individuals regularly encounter great difficulty while attempting to use urban transit systems. This article examines the concept of accessible environments for the visually impaired and then describes the role of the federal government in encouraging local transit authorities to comply with Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that requires barrier-free access to all users. It concludes with a summary of the particular problems experienced by visually handicapped travelers as they negotiate the rapid rail mode of transit.

Home Service Health Aide Careers for the Handicapped

In the past decade, many manpower programs have been designed and implemented in response to the needs and aspirations of the poor and minority groups in our society. One of the most innovative programs has been the New Careers Program. As articulated by A. Pearl and F. Riessman (1965), the New Careers Program was designed to respond to the critical manpower shortage in the field of human services, and, also, to enable disenfranchised groups to gain occupational and social mobility through simultaneous education and training programs.The New Careers Program had its fair share of labor pains, and, subsequently, its successes and failures. While New Careers was designed to serve the poor and minority group members, it tended to bypass the handicapped, who are, for the most part, both poor and members of a minority group—the handicapped. The 1968 Vocational Rehabilitation Act corrected that problem through Section 4(a) (2) (C), New Careers in Rehabilitation, and through Section 4(a) (2) (D), New Careers for the Handicapped. Only in June, 1970, however, was the New Careers Program in Vocational Rehabilitation begun. The purpose of this paper is to describe one such rehabilitation program.