Jennifer Schüler and Steven Sribnik: Exploring Vocational Rehab

Jennifer Schuler is a computer skills instructor for Rusk’s Vocational Rehabilitation program at NYU Langone Medical Center and Steven Sribnik is a Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Officer at the Veterans Administration. Jennifer has nearly 10 years’ experience working with individuals with neurological, physical, and psychiatric disabilities and 15 years’ experience training individuals in the use of speech recognition software. She also has expertise in employing further software specific assistive technologies to accommodate more complex medical conditions. Her work with Rusk Vocational Rehabilitation includes contracted instruction for the Department of Veterans Affairs where she conducts small session tutoring for Veterans with PTSD, TBI, and spinal cord injury. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Steven has more than 35 years’ experience in Vocational Rehabilitation. He has worked in a variety of settings, including New York State Vocational Rehabilitation, as a Rusk Supervisor in Vocational Rehabilitation, as Associate Executive Director at a Not for Profit mental health agency, and 14 years at the Veterans Administration, including 5 years in the New York Regional Office. He supervises counselors and a support staff who serve 2,300 disabled Veterans in Eastern New York State. He obtained a Masters’ Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation at New York University and another Masters’ Degree in public Administration from John Jay College.

In this interview, Jennifer and Steven discuss vocational rehabilitation for veterans, the use of assistive technologies to accommodate more complex medical conditions experienced such as PTSD, vocational assessments, kinds of activities funded, and differences in providing services for veterans from the Gulf War/Afghanistan and the Vietnam conflict.