CASE EXAMPLES - SPINAL CORD INJURY CASE

APPENDIX B - VOCATIONAL WORKSHEET

ANTICIPATED LENGTH OF REHABILITATION PROGRAM

VOCATIONAL HANDICAPS

IMPACT ON PLACEMENT

IMPACT ON RANGE OF JOB ALTERNATIVES

REHABILITATION PLAN

VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS - POST-ONSET

PRE-ACCIDENT VOCATIONAL ALTERNATIVES - BY OPTION

POST-ACCIDENT VOCATIONAL ALTERNATIVES - BY OPTION

APPENDIX B

VOCATIONAL WORKSHEET

January 7, 2004

NAME:        Marion Gold
AGE:           36
DOB:          June 25, 1967
DOA:          March 8, 1999

ANTICIPATED LENGTH OF REHABILITATION PROGRAM

It is anticipated that Marion will require support care services for the remainder of her life expectancy. Marion is a candidate for reeducation and retraining in order to allow her to change careers, even with her need for personal care assistance. Her desire is to return to college in order to earn a degree that would allow her to work as a counselor. It is estimated that she would need two years to earn the credits needed for a Bachelor’s Degree, taking into consideration some of her credits from her current degree would transfer. She would need to continue her education to the Master’s Degree level, in order to work as a counselor, which will require an estimated additional three years to complete her studies.

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VOCATIONAL HANDICAPS

Restrictions and/or limitations are consistent with C5/C6, C7 ASIA-A quadriplegia. They include the following:

IMPACT ON PLACEMENT

Severe. Marion’s vocational handicaps have a severe impact on her ability to be placed in the labor market. Once she has completed her additional education, she will require a part-time position, which allows her flexibility in the hours she works and offers accommodations for her disability. This could make placement more difficult.

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IMPACT ON RANGE OF JOB ALTERNATIVES

Severe. Marion would like to return to school in order to change her career path to one that would be more suited to her disability. She should be able to work as a counselor as she plans; however, she will likely not work at a full-time schedule.

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REHABILITATION PLAN

See Life Care Plan.

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VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

PRE-ONSET

Continued direct placement in the labor market without additional training.

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VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
POST-ONSET

A return to college is recommended and the cost has been outlined within her Life Care Plan. She would like to return to school and study to be a counselor. This career path seems to be a good choice for Marion, but completing her education will likely take longer than ordinary, because of her need to pace herself when taking classes.

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PRE-ACCIDENT VOCATIONAL ALTERNATIVES
BY OPTION

At the time of injury, Marion was working at the All Star Inn & Suites in Forest Lake, Minnesota as the General Manager. She was earning $30,000 per year. Her Bachelor’s Degree is in Hotel and Motel Management and her primary work history, post-graduation from college, has been in the hotel management field. She was a front desk supervisor for Parkway Inn in Rhinelander, WI from 1994 to 1996. She was a student personnel manager at University of Wisconsin in Menomonie, WI. She worked for Residence Inn in Woodbury, MN as an assistant general manager beginning in May of 1997, and she worked for Stallworth Inn in Burnsville, MN as a front office manager in 1998.

For comparison purposes, in Wisconsin, where Marion would like to live closer to her family and friends, the mean wages for lodging managers are $35,980.

An economist review of her income tax records is recommended in order to obtain a more accurate earning history.

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POST-ACCIDENT VOCATIONAL ALTERNATIVES
BY OPTION

Post-injury, Marion has been connected with a company that pays her to do data entry from her home computer. The connection with this employer was facilitated through the Dawson Rehabilitation Center where Marion underwent some of her rehabilitation. She works only seven hours per month, and she is paid $12 per hour. This gives her earnings of $1,008 per year.

Marion has expressed a wish to return to college and study to become a counselor. I feel that this is a good career path for Marion, however, it will likely take her longer to complete her studies than the average person due to the need to pace herself.

Work is very therapeutic. A return to school and ultimately work will serve to improve Marion’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem, along with eliminating her sense of isolation and desertion. It will be an effective component of a counseling program in reducing depression and anxiety. Once she has completed school at the Master’s Degree level, which is estimated to be by age 43 (2010), then a return to work should be possible. She will require part-time flexible hours and a flexible schedule. It is reasonable to assume that she could work 20 hours per week, 48 weeks per year. Although Marion has expressed a desire to work as a Rehabilitation Counselor, the following are wages for several different types of counselors in the State of Wisconsin.

Mean 960

Hourly Hours

Rehabilitation Counselor $13.20 $12,672

Child, Family and School Social Worker $17.45 $16,752

Marriage & Family Therapist $19.75 $18,960

Mental Health Counselor $20.18 $19,373

Average Annual $16,939

It is, however, very important to note the statistics on employment of those individuals with a Spinal Cord Injury. Only 14% of complete lesion tetraplegics, and 21% of incomplete lesion tetraplegics, had returned to the labor market based on the five and twelve year follow-up studies in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.This is due to a number of factors, including the additional time and energy requirements for self-care, complications, loss of medical coverage, and other factors such as chronic pain and depression. More recent research on work and spinal cord injury shows improved statistics on re-employment when higher levels of education are involved, such as college degrees or advanced vocational training, post high school.

It remains within reasonable rehabilitation probability, that Marion could find it too difficult to attend school and complete her educational goals, and then to maintain even part-time work, at which point, she would have a total loss of earning capacity based on the statistical data.

Sources:

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, 2001 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Wisconsin. www.bls.gov

“Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,” 1992, James Krause, Ph.D.

Spinal Cord Injury – The Facts and Figures, 1996, the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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