counselors was shared and
distributed setting the foundation for the Clearinghouse.
Nine years later, the Clearinghouse was awarded a federal
grant under the Department of Education, Rehabilitation
Service Administration (RSA). Its mission is: To promote
the exchange of information and enhance the outcome of the
public rehabilitation program by collecting, archiving,
and disseminating the rehabilitation training materials
developed by:
• Rehabilitation Service Administration Grantees
• Rehabilitation Practitioners
• Rehabilitation Educators
• Continuing Education Trainers
• Special Educators
Each fiscal year, approximately 220 rehabilitation education
training grants are awarded by the U.S. Department of Education,
RSA. NCRTM is one of twelve rehabilitation training programs
administered from Washington D.C. and is considered the
"sole" clearinghouse of the RSA.
Large volumes of material have been archived and disseminated
over the last forty years. To date, the clearinghouse has
7,000 resources/materials concerning rehabilitation of individuals
with disabilities served by the public rehabilitation program.
The resources have expanded beyond vocational rehabilitation
counselor educators to include:
• Interpreters for the Deaf
• Rehabilitation Specialists for Person with blind
or Low Vision
• Rehabilitation Psychologist
• Vocational Evaluation
• Work Adjustment Specialist
• Rehabilitation Engineers
• Other Specialties
NCRTM provides a full range of services that include customized
research services, locating and delivering training materials,
links to other disability and rehabilitation related sites,
and administration of several listservs for the national
rehabilitation associations. Our resources are utilized
by:
• State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies
• Rehabilitation Educators
• Independent Living Center's Information
• Individuals with Disabilities and Families
• Special Educators
• Advocates of Individuals with Disabilities
The history of the program is traced to a volunteer effort
by Clayton A. Morgan, Ed.D. of Oklahoma State University.
At a meeting of rehabilitation educators in 1961, Dr. Morgan
volunteered to collect and distribute the syllabi and other
curriculum materials developed by
rehabilitation educators. Dr. Morgan suggested that educators
share their syllabi and
curriculum used to prepare Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors
for the field. This modest collection of syllabi and other
materials was stored in a closet in Dr. Morgan's office.
As new materials arrived, Dr. Morgan would send a memorandum
to members of the group announcing the arrival of new items.
Mimeograph copies were sent to those who responded. Soon
the state VR agency human resource directors and RRCEP directors
learned about the collection and added materials used in
continuing education efforts. Later the Rehabilitation Research
and Training Centers and others made contributions to the
collection.
The
box of 3X5 cards listing available materials to educators
has been replaced by an interactive catalog of materials
available to all who visit the NCRTM web page. The memorandum
circulated to rehabilitation educators has been replaced
by the NCRTM Newsletter, distributed to thousands of patrons
in the U.S. and around the world on paper and electronically.
Dr. Morgan's volunteer effort to save rehabilitation educators
time and energy developed into the sole clearinghouse of
the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services
Administration. The field has expanded from only Vocational
Rehabilitation Counselor educator to include Interpreters
for the Deaf, Rehabilitation Specialists for Persons with
Blind or Low Vision, Rehabilitation Psychologists, Vocational
Evaluation and Work Adjustment Specialists, Rehabilitation
Engineers, and other specialties within the rehabilitation
career field.
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