2017: State Rehabilitation Council - VR
State Rehabilitation Council – 2017 Annual Report on Minnesota's Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program
OCTOBER 1, 2016 to SEPTEMBER 30, 2017
Marybeth and Success
If there's one thing that Marybeth Winkelman wants the world to understand, it's this: "Autism isn't a cookie-cutter. There are levels, and levels within levels. We're not all the same." This insight came as a surprise to the 24-year-old Community Options 2 (CO2) student; another thing she's learned: "you can't give us all a fidget spinner and think it'll all be good." Sitting in a classroom on the campus of St. Cloud Technical and Community College, Marybeth says she has begun to learn how to make a place for herself in a world that often seems to be defined by stress, anxiety, and depression.
"I'm learning to hold in my insanity, and my stress, and my panic."
In September 2014, a few years after graduating from Apollo High School, she enrolled in the CO2, a transition program for area students, 18-21, with developmental or cognitive disabilities or autism spectrum disorders. That's when she met and began working with Kathy Fischer, a VR counselor in the St. Cloud office. In the fall of 2016 she enrolled at SCTCC, where she is working on a two-year degree in accounting. She received a scholarship last year, makes the dean's list each semester, and her instructors ask her to mentor other students struggling in classes.
The Council conducted a survey that indicated that VRS participants feel high levels of comfort, satisfaction, and support in their current work with VRS counselors and staff. They identified the following as the most helpful services they received:
- Help finding or searching for a job
- Communicating and meeting with VRS counselor or staff
- Assistance planning or coordinating services
- Assistance with goal setting
- Help with education

Marybeth Winkelman

