This session will dive into Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Attendees will learn what services VRS offers and how to obtain them. We will share success stories of students who have reached their career goals with the help of VRS.
Susan Holton began her career in the Deaf Community as an educational interpreter through Faribault Public Schools/Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (MSAD). She worked in that role for 3 years and left to accept a position in the Minnesota State Academies' Due Process office. During her 5 years at MSAD, she learned about Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) and found her chosen career path. Susan returned to college and received her master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, from Minnesota State University-Mankato, and obtained her CRC (Certified Rehabilitation Counselor). Currently serving as a VRS Counselor Career, Susan has been with the State of Minnesota and Vocational Rehabilitation Services for 19 years. Her caseload includes high school students and adults. Throughout her career path, Susan has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving, and advocating for, people who live with multiple and varied disabilities. Her specialty is providing services to people who have hearing loss. Fluent in American Sign Language, Susan values all communication methods and strives to meet the modes preferred by her clients. She navigates between cultures and facilitates communication. Her counseling style is person-centered and delivered in a conscientious, kind, and a supportive manner. In her time outside of work, Susan enjoys being with her husband, visiting (some) family members, exercising, and taking her lazy bulldog, Lulu, on forced walks.
Chandra Petersen is a Rehabilitation Counselor Career with Vocational Rehabilitation Services who provides employment counseling and resources to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in 15 counties across Southeast Minnesota. As a Rehabilitation Counselor, Chandra works to remove barriers and ensure access to jobs and resources for people with hearing loss in Southeast Minnesota and across the state. She works with youth and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing and have a variety of communication methods and needs. She supports students from school districts across the area and the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf.
Chandra's education includes a Bachelor of Science in Biology with minors in Psychology and Deaf Studies from the University of Minnesota Duluth and a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Wisconsin Stout. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Chandra has worked for the state of Minnesota for over 13 years, having worked for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services as an Administrative Assistant before starting with VRS in 2015. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family. Chandra is an Advisory Committee Representative on the Board of Minnesota Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing.
