The transition from high school to college is tricky in general and involves a lot of adaptation and changes to routines, support systems, and structures. For students with disabilities, losing structured support provided by an IEP or 504 plan can make an already daunting transition more difficult.

We’re not talking about just a handful of isolated cases either; the National Center for Education Statistics reports that nearly 1 in 5 college students has a disability, and despite 88% of postsecondary institutions reporting enrolling students with disabilities, only 24% of faculty receive training on accommodating these students.

Elena Wisniewski is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor who started a business to address the gap that exists between high school and college. As the Founder and Lead Strategist for Equipped Transitions, Elena directs clinical documentation audits for college-bound students with disabilities, helping them navigate the transition from IDEA to ADA to ensure institutional compliance and student access.

In our conversation, Elena explains how self-advocacy and understanding accommodations, inside and out, are crucial to a student’s success. Not to mention the ways in which CRCs are equipped to help students and their support systems prepare for all that’s ahead in this exciting next chapter.

Helpful Links for Equipped Transitions

Equipped Transitions Website

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Across organizations and agencies, disability services are reaching peak demand. The Case for Inclusion 2026 report finds that turnover for professionals working with disabled clients is the lowest it has been since 2014, and wages and employment rates are rising for individuals with disabilities. Despite this, funding for private and public programs across the United States is in question.

How does this make sense? Well, it really doesn’t, and the threat isn’t just to services and programs – it’s to the well-being of the individuals with disabilities who depend on them.

Aliza Hauser is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and Certified Vocational Evaluator, and the Program Director for the Neurological Vocational Services Unit at the University of Washington Medical Center. Aliza laid out a case for sustained investment in these programs during our conversation, as well as for CRCs as a natural fit for human resources departments across public and private organizations.

Learn more about NVSU at the UW Medical Center here.

Nobody gets more questions here at CRCC than our Certification Department. Certification Supervisor Jen Marcu works with her team to answer questions, clarify steps in the certification process, and connect with thousands of certificants and future CRCs across the US every week.

Jen returns as our guest this week, and we will explore some of the questions she hears most from CRCs and CVEs that are set to renew their certification.

We made a list of the top 10 most frequently asked questions about the renewal process and requirements and tackled them one by one, hopefully helping any of you out there preparing to stay certified!

Helpful Links Discussed in Today's Episode:

CRC Renewal Guide

CVE Renewal Guide