Disability Competencies
The ACA Code of Ethics (2014) requires competency and accommodation for individuals with disabilities. The Disability-Related Competencies as outlined in the ACA-approved document (2018) include:
- Understanding and Accommodating the Disability Experience
- Advocacy for PWDs and Support of Their Self-Advocacy
- The Counseling Process and Relationship
- Testing and Assessment (** Exercise caution)
- Working with or Supervising PWDs in School, Employment, Community, and Clinical Settings
Understanding and accommodating the disability experience and supporting self-advocacy is crucial to supporting the dignity and autonomy of your client. This involves research, knowledge, and implementation of disability-related competencies. Counselors are required to be knowledgable and working toward disability-competency according to the ACA.
American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA)
American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) is an organization created for educating and improving counselor’s knowledge of rehabilitation counseling for individuals who are disabled. The ARCA is a resource for counselors where important publications, research, webinars, and conferences are posted. ARCA is also a BBS approved continuing education unit (CEU) provider. Many of the webinars and conferences provided by ARCA can also provide you with CEUs. ARCA posted a short video on their YouTube channel discussing considerations for counselors working with individuals with disabilities. This video is also a good introduction to ARCA and their goals.
ARCA Publications
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin (RCB) is an ARCA publication that explores research and literature reviews on rehabilitation counseling to create better counseling tools for individuals with disabilities. It’s a great tool for counselors to keep up with new research.
The ARCA newsletter is another publication that can help you keep up with dates for upcoming webinars and conferences.
ARCA Membership and Webinars
The ARCA membership is $15 annually for students enrolled in a college program, $50 annually for professionals who have graduated within the past year, and $85 annually for licensed professionals in the field.
ARCA’s Webinars are great resources for counselors to learn more about emerging tools and ways for counselors to empower and serve their clients with disabilities. Registration for webinars comes with a small fee but past webinars are posted on YouTube for free.
Resources
About. (n.d.). American Rehabilitation Counseling Association. https://arcaweb.org/about/
Chapin, M., Mccarthy, H., Shaw, L., Bradham-Cousar, M., Chapman, R., Nosek, M., Peterson, S., Yilmaz, Z., & Ysasi, N. (2019). Disability-related counseling competencies: American rehabilitation counseling association (ARCA) task force on competencies for counseling persons with disabilities task force members. https://arcaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ARCA-Disability-Related-Counseling-Competencies.pdf
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