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

The Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY), founded in 1978, is a Manhattan-based non-profit organization advocating for the civil rights and independence of New Yorkers with disabilities. In 2024, CIDNY served over 40,000 consumers, connecting them to community programs and prodiving peer-support to address the challenges of living with a disability in a major metropolitan area.

Our guest for this episode is Sara Schacter-Erenburg, CRC, Director of Vocational Employment Rehabilitation, who aptly quoted the Liam Neeson film Taken when describing that she sees CRCs as having a very particular set of skills. In our conversation, we highlighted the work of her and her peers at CIDNY and talk about the ways in which many of the challenges facing people with disabilities today make CRCs more vital than ever.

During the week this episode is releasing, we observe Veterans Day, and as we all know, military service and the veteran community are the bedrock of how rehabilitation counseling came to be. Many Certified Rehabilitation Counselors themselves are veterans or have close ties to the veteran community, including those who directly work with individuals to find employment and navigate their return to civilian life. Julianne Hansen is the Founder and CEO of Team Hansen Education and Empowerment. Much of Julianne’s work has focused on showing the veteran community that they are supported. As a CRC with a disability and spouse to a permanently disabled veteran, Julianne has a unique perspective on the support necessary to help this population thrive, and it begins with meeting each person where they are.

Since the late 1970s, the Pittsburgh Public School system has hired Certified Rehabilitation Counselors to provide services for students with disabilities, ranging from ensuring accommodations are in place to providing transition services that prepare them for life after high school. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 7.5 million, or 15% of all public school students, receive special education services. Because these services are so vital, Pittsburgh Public Schools prioritizes ensuring that qualified, highly trained professionals deliver them by hiring Certified Rehabilitation Counselors as part of the interdisciplinary team working in the special education program at their schools. One of those CRCs is our guest for this episode.

Crystal Evans is the Transition Coordinator for Pittsburgh Public Schools and has been with the school system for 18 years. Crystal spoke with me about the impact transition services make on not only students with disabilities and their families, but also the community. You’ll also hear some thoughts on how employer outreach can help destigmatize hiring individuals with disabilities, and a few success stories that point to the importance of ensuring every student has this quality of professionalism and service.

According to the World Health Organization, around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, making it one of the most common neurological disorders globally. One of the challenges of epilepsy is that folks experiencing the disorder can’t always get a precise diagnosis. On top of that, many people misunderstand epilepsy, leading to stigma and a lack of public awareness of how to help someone experiencing a seizure. That’s where organizations like the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia come in.

The Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia serves over 110,000 residents facing epilepsy and seizure disorders, and Dr. Courtney Dean, the Director of Programming, is our guest for this episode. As a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Courtney utilizes her skills and training to oversee statewide programming and outreach initiatives, serving as a prime example of how CRCs can leverage their expertise in leadership positions to drive change for individuals with disabilities.

Helpful Links:

Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia Socials

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Secure First Aid Training (Seizure First Aid) | Epilepsy Foundation

There are two ways to get certified in Seizure First Aid:

• On-demand, at your own pace
• Live, instructor-led, offered virtually or in person

Certification is available through the Epilepsy Foundation national website or by contacting your local Epilepsy Foundation affiliate.

An increasing amount of research is exploring the connection between work and wellness. This includes mental wellness and physical health, both of which can be positively impacted by having employment, particularly for those navigating a disability. Simply put, work is more than just a means to earn a living or spend a significant portion of your week.

For veterans who return to work after service, it can be tricky in general. When you combine the return to civilian life with a disability, it’s important to have the right people in your corner helping you to navigate that transition. On this episode, I had a conversation with three individuals who have meaningful insight into serving veterans. You’ll hear from:

Monnie Rebecca Waltz, BS, MRC, VE, CRC - Program Manager in Vocational Rehabilitation at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center

Christopher Briggman, MRC, CRC, CVE, LCMHC, LPC - a CRC and Vocational Expert who previously worked for the VA, now runs two practices, Balance Consulting & Counseling, and Adjusted Ability Vocational Group

Keith Hosey - Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center.

References to Research Mention in Today's Episdode:

Large meta-analyses of the available research has provided support for the conclusions that (1) unemployment leads to decline in mental and physical health and increased risk of suicide, and (2) re-employment leads to significant improvements in these states (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005; Paul & Moser, 2009).

Findings from (Kukla 2012) demonstrate Working clients had fewer days of hospitalization, and had greater reduction in negative symptoms than non-working clients.

(Burns 2014) found Those who worked had better global functioning, fewer symptoms, less social disability; greater job tenure was associated with better functioning.

(Elbogen 2020) found that Veterans lacking money to cover basic needs (food, clothes, shelter, transportation, medical care) had triple the risk of endorsing suicidal ideation compared to Veterans with money to cover basic needs (22% versus 7%).

Other research examining Veterans and homelessness shows that peak risk of suicide occurs just prior to eviction (Culhane et al., 2019).

In research findings by (Abraham 2022), employment was associated with 45.9% lower suicide risk in the year following discharge from VR.