斯蒂芬奧斯汀州立大學

The Rehabilitation Services coursework includes 15 hours of core courses and 21 hours of additional rehabilitation courses, plus 12 semester hours from special education, rehabilitation, or speech-language pathology courses. A 6-hour practicum course gives students hands-on experience working with persons with disabilities. A summer internship provides a wonderful opportunity to work full-time in a rehabilitation agency or facility and apply the knowledge gained in the classroom.

The mission of the Rehabilitation Education Program at Stephen F. Austin State University is to provide rehabilitation education, research, and community services that are in the forefront of the rehabilitation field and that foster practical leadership in our students at both the bachelors and masters degree level. At the bachelors level, we focus on case management and prepare qualified rehabilitation professionals to work in a wide variety of community rehabilitation programs, nongovernmental organizations, and other facilities, as well as preparing students to enter graduate school.

Objectives:

Our graduates will be equipped with the requisite attitudes, knowledge, and skills to enrich the lives of persons with disabilities.
Our graduates will be able to demonstrate the cultural competence necessary to work with people with disabilities from both traditional and underserved communities.
Our graduates will demonstrate ethical and professional behaviors that are consistent with the ethical standards set forth by CORE and the American Counseling Association.
Our graduates will provide effective delivery of professional rehabilitation services for individuals with physical, mental, and social impairments.
Our graduates will be reflective practitioners and life-long learners who are committed to advocacy, independent living, and community service for people with disabilities.

And finally,

Our programs will provide continuing education to state rehabilitation services and other rehabilitation personnel for further skill development and/or completion of a degree.

Our program endorses the philosophy that rehabilitation is an empowering process in which persons exercise control over their own lives. Our program adheres to concepts of the holistic nature of people, self-responsibility for health promotion and wellness, the uniqueness of each individual, equal opportunity for health care and social and economic involvement for all persons with disabilities. These concepts form the philosophical basis for coursework that prepares students to provide vocational guidance, rehabilitation case management, and job development and placement services for persons with any type of physical, mental, emotional or social disability. The following nine statements represent beliefs of the faculty that guide program development and delivery with the Rehabilitation Education Program.

We believe every person with a disability has the civil and moral right to live as independently as possible.
We believe every program graduate, at whatever level of training, has the responsibility to advocate for the civil and moral rights of persons with disabilities.
We believe that every program graduate should possess the competencies necessary for effecting independent functioning of people with disabilities.
We believe that every program graduate should possess the ability to critique and modify their performance relative to the needs of the field and the current state of the art in the field.
We believe that the knowledge from the Rehabilitation Education Program should be shared with other programs, departments and constituents that deal with people with disabilities.
We believe that we should have a leadership role at the regional and national level in terms of advocacy, training and research for the advancement of the field of rehabilitation.