Welcome to the AER Rehabilitation Counseling and Employment Division.
The Division promotes professional development in the disciplines of rehabilitation counseling and other employment-related professions. Its members may also enroll in one or more of AER’s other divisions to network with fellow specialists.
The Division produces a newsletter and supports an internet listserv to provide additional opportunities to share experiences, ideas, and promote mutual assistance among peers.
Here you will find information on our Mission Statement, Newsletters, Resources, and Awards.
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Rehabilitation Counseling and Employment Division is to enhance the education, effectiveness, and professional standing of its members and the economic independence of people who are blind, primarily through advocating for the profession the value and benefits of work in a continuum of the vocational rehabilitation process and employment settings.
RESOURCES
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
On August 19, 2016, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education announced the publication of the WIOA final rules in the Federal Register. The following documents are provided as resources for professionals involved in assisting people who are blind and visually impaired with employment issues.
Employment Outcomes Competitive Integrated Employment
Synopsis of Training Documents, Regulations Implementing the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Fiscal Overview Pre-Employment Transition Services
State Supported Employment Services Program
Transition of Students and Youth with Disabilities from School to Postsecondary Education
Technical Assistance Resources
AWARDS
The John H. McAulay Award was established to honor professionals who have contributed outstanding efforts and achievements leading to the placement of people with visual impairments in productive employment. The award is one of the premier awards presented at the AER International Conference. Recent winners include:
2016 John Mascia
2014 Margaret Cleary
2012 Kathleen Gallagher
2008 Adele L. Crudden
2006 Anthony Candela
2004 Chuck Young
2002 Karen Wolffe
2000 Gil Johnson
Louis Vieceli Award
In 2004, the executive board of AER’s Employment & Rehabilitation Counseling Division decided to name its biennial award after Louis Vieceli. The award is given to an outstanding employment specialist or rehabilitation counselor at the Division’s biennial business meeting at the AER International conference.
Past Louis Vieceli Award Winners
2016
Joe Strechay
Pennsylvania Bureau of Blindness & Vision Services for the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation
2014
Karen Wolffe, Ph.D.
Career Counselor and Consultant
2012
Adele Crudden
Mississippi State University
2010
Michael Gandy
Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services
2008
Greg Polman
Chicago Lighthouse
2006
Ed Bible
South Carolina Commission for the Blind
2004
Anthony Candela
American Foundation for the Blind
2002
Timothy Farnsworth
Arizona Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind
About Louis Vieceli
Lou Vieceli was born in 1921 in Illinois. He attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale where he received his B.A. (1948) in physical education and mathematics and his M.Ed. (1959) in guidance and counseling. He and his wife Jewell have a son and two grandchildren, all are currently living in Carbondale, Ill.
In 1948, Lou Vieceli began his professional career as a rehabilitation counselor for the Illinois Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, a position he held until 1959. At that time, he was invited to join the faculty of the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois University where he served until his retirement in 1993. He is best known for the development of his Placement Counselor Training Program for the Blind which he conducted from 1959 until 1993. He also provided Small Business Enterprise Supervisor Training for the Vending Stand Program.
As a nationally recognized authority on job placement of blind persons, his advice and counsel were in high demand. He served as consultant to numerous State Rehabilitation Agencies including Ohio Services for Visually Handicapped, Florida Commission for the Blind, Arkansas Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, and the Texas Commission for the Blind. He worked on the “Careers for the Blind” project for the American Foundation for the Blind. He was frequently asked to evaluate manuscripts for journals and book publishers as well as grant proposals for a variety of agencies.
Lou Vieceli was active in several rehabilitation associations. He served as president (1965-1966) of the Illinois Association of Workers for the Blind. He was treasurer (1969-1971) and board member (1979-1983) for the American Association of Workers for the Blind. He served as editor of the Employment Counselor’s Newsletter for AAWB’s Group 2. He was a Louis P. Ortale Lecturer for the Job Placement Division of the National Rehabilitation Association
(1980).
Fortunately for the field, some of Lou Vieceli’s expertise is in published form. He and Thomas Dickey edited the book Guidelines for the Selection, Training and Placement of Blind Persons in Information Service Expediting (Southern Illinois University Press,1975). Among a dozen chapters and articles, he co-authored with George Magers “Occupational Information and Job Development,” in Services to the Blind: A Community Concern (1973).
Lou Vieceli received many honors and awards in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the rehabilitation and job placement of blind persons. They include: AAWB’s John H. McAulay Award, Chicago, 1969 for outstanding achievement in the placement of blind persons; Certificate of Appreciation, State of Illinois, Department of Rehabilitation Services, 1982; the Ambrose Shotwell Memorial Award, AAWB Convention, Phoenix, Arizona, 1983; and Community Service Award, The Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, Chicago, 1985.