Vocational Rehabilitation: Funding for College, Job Training & Entrepreneurship

Mom Autism Money

In this week's episode of Mom Autism Money, Dena Gassner teaches us the ins and outs of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Your state's office of vocational rehabilitation can provide funding for job training, college, and even entrepreneurship. Dena has used her VR office to secure nearly $20k in startup funding for her own business, and used it to facilitate her son's college education.

This programming can be immensely helpful, but you're going to want to come in with a concrete plan. Otherwise, you or your child could end up being funneled to a job that pays less than minimum wage.

We also talk about:

-Federal student loan discharge based on disability. -Why you should not shy away from expensive college options even if you're not loaded. -Why you probably shouldn't take out Parent PLUS loans as the parent of a disabled child. -How Dena and her son approached the college selection process.

Dena's Center for Understanding FB page: https://www.facebook.com/CenterforUnderstanding/

Find your state's vocational rehabilitation office: https://rsa.ed.gov/about/states

Find your state's office of protection & advocacy if you're having trouble with your VR office: https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/

Learn more about federal student loan disability discharge: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/disability-discharge

Learn more about the special minimum wage certificate: https://autisticadvocacy.org/actioncenter/issues/employment/

Project Search: https://projectsearch.us/

Think College: https://thinkcollege.net/

Find your local chapter of The ARC: https://thearc.org/find-a-chapter/

Find your local chapter of The Autism Society: https://autismsociety.org/contact-us/

Contact Dr. Connie Anderson to check audit availability for Dena’s class at Towson: https://www.towson.edu/chp/departments/health-sciences/faculty-staff/canderson.html

Full transcript: https://momautismmoney.com/vocational-rehabilitation