Assessments and VR Intervention for People with Disabilities

Case: Sharon
Sharon is 49 years of age and is a Canadian citizen by birth. Her first language is English. She is single and lives alone in an apartment in a public housing development with her elderly mother, who emigrated from the Ukraine. She attended an inner city high school but left before graduating when she was 16 years old. She got a job with a local tailor as a seamstress almost immediately and has worked in the same occupation all her working life. Over the past 5 years her eyesight gradually deteriorated. Initially, she lost some central vision and more recently her peripheral vision has also been affected. Initially, it was thought that she had macular degeneration but her condition was finally diagnosed as Late-Onset Retinal Degeneration. It is likely that within 10 years she will be completely blind. Last year she it found too onerous to carry out the fine needle work required in her job and she resigned. Her GP referred her to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) which has been supporting her in putting together a support package. She is now in receipt of a Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit. Her mother is in receipt of an old age pension. Through the CNIB she is being provided with counselling to help her to explore her options and has been provided with a range of assistive technology for use in the home. With the assistance of Closed Circuit TV she can read books and newspapers and she has been provided with a variety of kitchen aids which allow her to prepare food for herself and her mother. She also attended a 12 week introductory course in ICT for people with visual impairments. She found it relatively easy to learn the basics of word processing and spreadsheets. She has been assisted to acquire a desktop computer with a large screen and magnification software. The computer is also equipped with screen reading software. Sharon is well connected to her community and volunteers with a local charity store. She is a resilient individual and has decided that she would like to find an occupation that she could carry out at home to earn additional income to augment her benefits. The main question for Sharon is how she can turn her new skills and equipment into an income earning activity.
In this assignment, please respond to the following:
1. Propose two types of assessment and two VR interventions that could help the person progress towards a job;
2. Justify your suggestions with reference to the readings and materials for Sessions 3, 4, and 5.