Volume 16, Issue 3
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
Summer 2014
A Note from the Executive Director
John Lui, Ph.D., MBA, CRC, PVE
Inside This Issue
A Note from the
1
Executive Director
Staff Retirement
2-3
Tips for Reducing AT
4
Abandonment &
RESNA Conference
Transition Events
5
SVRI Systems
6-7
Partner Profile
Learning the “Skills
8
to Pay the Bills”
Across the Lifespan
9
Conference & New
Staff Member
SVRI Open House:
10
Luanne Reckin &
Professional Development/Upcoming
Events
Finding Answers,
Creating Solutions,
Ensuring Futures.
With summer comes
many changes… Welcoming a new chancellor,
greeting new students,
and saying “farewell” to a
beloved SVRI staff member. As you may know,
staff member Luanne
Reckin has retired from
SVRI. You can read contributions from individuals who have worked with
Luanne on the next two
pages of this newsletter.
Though we miss her greatly here at SVRI, we wish
her all the best and know
that she will enjoy her well
-deserved retirement!
this conference.
In this newsletter, WisTech, Wisconsin’s Assistive Technology Program,
has contributed an article
for tips on how to reduce
Assistive Technology (AT)
abandonment. Also in AT
news, SVRI staff members
Paul Schwartz, Meghan
Donahue, and Erika Peterson attended the annual RESNA conference. The
article inside includes a
link to view some of the
speakers’ projects from
name is Chris Sell, and he
works for the Department
of Health Services (DHS)
as a program and policy
analyst for I Respect I Self
-Direct (IRIS). You can
learn more about him
from the interview profile
article.
The SVRI Transition
Committee has also been
very busy attending, as
well as presenting at,
transition conferences.
The committee set up informational booths at the
conferences on behalf of
SVRI, and students and
their families are finding
the services we provide to
be very beneficial! You can calendars for the Across
the Lifespan Conference
read more about these
being held in Wisconsin
events in the article.
We would like to highlight Dells on November 13 and
14! All of the need-toanother partner whom
SVRI has the opportunity know details can be found
inside the article.
to collaborate with; his
We would like to welcome
our newest staff member,
Sara Witek, to the SVRI
team! She will work as an
Office Operations Associate. You can also learn
more about her inside of
this newsletter.
Please feel free to contact
The SVRI Soft Skills Team me with any comments or
questions you may have,
held a soft skills training
and enjoy the quickly apon August 15. Be sure to
proaching Fall season!
read all of the details in—John Lui
side of this newsletter.
Don’t forget to mark your
Volume 16, Issue 3
Page 2
Staff Retirement
Luanne Reckin, a member of our administrative support staff, retired from SVRI on August 29. Luanne has
spent almost 30 years working here at SVRI. Her passion and dedication, as well as her thoughtfulness and
kindness, will be greatly missed. Here is what people had to say about Luanne’s retirement:
Luanne is the Queen of Customer Service – her
pleasant demeanor is welcoming face-to-face and
over the phone. We have received all kinds of compliments from clients, referral sources, visitors, and
students. While she is usually calm and collect, Luanne has contributed tremendously to SVRI and certainly its Mission for many dedicated years. Enjoy
your well-deserved retirement!!
—John Lui, SVRI
I have always viewed Luanne as the core, and heart and soul
of SVRI. She has significantly contributed to the mission
and goals of SVRI, and has positively impacted the lives of
our consumers, referral sources, and staff. She is irreplaceable and will be greatly missed.
—Casey Lubinsky, SVRI
Since starting as the new Graduate Assistant
in January, Luanne has always made me feel
welcomed here at SVRI. She greets me with a
smile every day. She goes out of her way to
help anyone in any way she can. Her positivity and kindness is contagious. Enjoy your
retirement, and we will miss you!
—McKenzie Anderson, SVRI
Congrats Luanne on your retirement! Since I started with DVR 10 years ago, you have been the front
person, behind the scenes person, all around person
for the SVRI Voc Eval program-the GLUE! You have
always been right on the ball with everything I
needed (or reminding me of the things YOU needed
and I forgot) and also so helpful and reassuring to
our consumers and their families. Thank you for
being such a great partner to work with! I will miss
you! —Erin Barstad, WI DVR
As a new student in the early 80’s campus seemed
pretty overwhelming. What a joy it was to be greeted warmly by Luanne when bustling between classes. Over the years I observed that same warmth
help ease the first day jitters of many people seeking services. Luanne's courtesy and kindness
helped to create community for us all. —Susie
Eberhard, Former Professor, UW-Stout
Luanne knows all that is SVRI. She is instrumental in all our daily activities. She will not
be replaced; others will only try to fill her
shoes. —Sara Dekan, SVRI
Luanne is someone who is always smiling, and you
can tell that it comes from the heart. There were
days when I would see her outside, dusting snow
and scraping ice off of cars for people who could
use extra help, without being asked to do so. She
does things like this out of pure kindness. Luanne is
an awesome lady, and we are going to miss her. —
Anonymous Staff Member, SVRI
Luanne has a special talent for making everyone,
particularly our consumers, feel welcome. She excels
at taking care of the numerous “behind-the-scenes”
details that contribute to a positive experience for
our visitors. I know that Luanne will enjoy retirement—especially spending time with her family. We
will miss her a great deal! —Beth Biederman, SVRI
Luanne has been the face and voice of SVRI for almost the entire time I have been part of the team. In addition to ensuring
that customers, guests, and staff members are well-taken care
of, Luanne also serves as the records custodian, resident archivist, long-term memory for events and activities, and a go-to
person for protocol/best practices, especially related to customer service. I think one of the frequent questions that Luanne answers for me is: “Luanne, do you know how
we ...?” Luanne’s dedication to SVRI, its mission, and vision is
much appreciated. I think I speak for all us when I say that she
is a treasure who will be missed greatly. —Cheryl Fine, SVRI
Luanne was always so helpful and friendly. She helped me send
my very first fax at the age of 26! :-) I will miss her greeting me
in the morning, or any time of day, when I went into VR 101. I’ll
miss walking into 101 and seeing her reading the daily newspaper and making jokes like, “I was reading the obituaries to
make sure I wasn’t in there.” —Amanda Schlegelmilch, SVRI
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
Page 3
Staff Retirement (Continued)
The smile when you walk in the lobby belongs to Luanne.
She greets you, makes you feel welcome, and helps you
however she can.
At times, we all need a Rock (someone
we can count on to be there for you), and
Luanne was that for me, and I am sure,
for so many others as well. Consistently
pleasant, kind-hearted, and always able
to make time for others, that’s our
Luanne. —Jim Hubbard, formerly of
SVRI
No matter the weather, the time, or the task, all you simply need to do is ask: Luanne takes care of the rest and will
always give you her best.
Good luck and godspeed wherever you go, as ours was the
pleasure to come to know you. —Mari DeJarlais, WI DVR
I have enjoyed Luanne’s always helpful ways
and professionalism. I have worked with her
for many years. She IS Stout. I wish her a
happy retirement. I will miss her as I know
many will. —Gwen Steele, WI DVR
We two Canadians have known Luanne Reckin
for 20+ years. Thank you for your kindness
and your commitment toward Stout, SVRI,
faculty, staff, students and the Menomonie
community. Congratulations on your retirement, Luanne! —Michelle Hamilton and Kim
MacIsaac, UW-Stout
Wishing you the best in all that lies ahead, Luanne!
Much gratitude for all the hard work you have dedicated
to SVRI, you had an unbelievable work ethic, impacted
so many lives, and were always willing to help with whatever at the drop of a hat. I have learned so much from
you and I am truly going to miss our chats as well as the
kind, gentle, and welcoming spirit you possess. Enjoy the
new adventures that come your way, spend as much time
with your family as possible, and always keep searching
for that “really good book!” —Sara Beguhn, SVRI
Luanne is truly one of the most sincere, kind, and
thoughtful persons we know. She was always our “go-to
person” when we needed anything from SVRI. She could
track someone down for us, get an answer to any question we had, or happily take any calls we may transfer to
her. If anyone needed help, they could count on Luanne
to be there. She was also a wonderful Lost and Found
resource person for our students! On any given day, you
could find Luanne at the front desk with a smile on her
face from early in the morning to quitting time… and
sometimes later! She was always willing to drop something off at Registration and Records for us when she was
going that way. And, when we had a rehabilitation history question, she was full of information. We will miss
Luanne in more ways than one… but especially when it
comes time for another meeting/function on campus—
she was there to welcome us to join her. Enjoy your retirement Luanne—you earned it! —Deb Allen Schumacher, Julie
Harmon, and Betty Herman, Front Office, Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling
To Luanne, I want to say how much I admire your
dedication and friendly manner. It is obvious from
all the people around you, that you will be missed. I
wish you all the best. —Wanda Johnson, WI DVR
John Lui presenting Luanne Reckin with a retirement
gift and card from SVRI staff at the social gathering at
The Abbey in Menomonie on Tuesday, August 26.
Volume 16, Issue 3
Page 4
Tips for Reducing Technology Abandonment
This article was submitted on behalf of WisTech, Wisconsin’s Assistive Technology Program.
There are times when a piece of technology ends up
in the closet or simply rejected by the end user. This
is called technology abandonment. There are a few
reasons why this can happen:
his/her needs most appropriately.
2. Fully understand the expectations of your
technology.
You should be aware of the predicted longevity of
The user of the device was not asked what his/her your technology, if the device will need updates, and
opinion was during the selection process
any warranties offered with your product.
 The technology was provided just because there
3. Training, Training, Training!
was funding available
This is a crucial step to ensure the user has been
 The device did not work well or there was not
properly educated on the capabilities of the technoloenough training
gy. Follow-up training may also be necessary. The
 The technology no longer meets the person’s
user should identify once he/she feels comfortable
needs
and confident using the technology. This will help
determine when training can be completed.
To help use assistive technology to the fullest and

reduce technology abandonment, follow these simple 4. What works for someone else, may not
steps:
work for you.
1. Make sure the end user is involved in the
process of choosing their technology.
Just because a piece of technology is trending, or others have success with it, doesn’t necessarily mean the
The individual should trial a variety of technology to same technology will work for your specific needs.
Make sure you are identifying your specific needs for
identify the pros and cons of each device. Then, he/
the technology and match the appropriate technology
she will have the knowledge to make an informed
choice on which type of assistive technology will meet to those needs.
RESNA 2014 Conference
SVRI staff members Paul Schwartz,
Meghan Donahue, and Erika Peterson attended the Rehabilitation
Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America
(RESNA) Annual Conference,
“Racing Towards Excellence in
Assistive Technology (AT)” from
June 11 to June 15 in Indianapolis,
Indiana. Paul, SVRI’s AT manager,
stated that the Plenary Sessions
were very engaging this year. You
can catch a glimpse of the Plenary
speakers’ projects online here:
http://www.resna.org/conference/
live-webcast-.dot.
“Using Your Mobile Device to Control Your Home Environment.”
Meghan was also elected chair of
RESNA’s Engineers and TechnoloMeghan, Rehabilitation Engineer
gists Professional Specialty Group.
at SVRI, presented at the RESNA
Her term began on August 1, 2014.
Conference on Friday, June 13 and It was also recently announced that
Sunday, June 15. The presentation Meghan was appointed to the REStopics were, “Using Remote Access NA Board of Directors.
in AT Service Delivery” and
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
Page 5
Transition Events
The Transition Committee at SVRI
has been busy attending transition
events, both representing SVRI
and giving presentations to students and their families!
On April 3, 2014, SVRI and Menomonie High School paired up
and collaborated to create a Transition Resource Night for students
and their families, which was held
during parent-teacher conferences
at the high school. Families from
Menomonie, Colfax, and Elk
Mound all attended and participated in the event. Jeff’s Pizza,
Topper’s Pizza, and Swiss Miss
donated to the Transition
Resource Night. Many agencies in
the community and the resources
that they offer were represented at
the event, including: Aging and
Disability Resource Center, ARC
of Dunn County, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Social Security, Housing Authority, Aurora
Community Services, Stepping
Stones of Dunn County, Center for
Independent Living for Western
Wisconsin, Special Olympics, Joyful Noise Choir, Thrill Seekers,
ContinuUs, IRIS, and PostSecondary Education Disability
Services. At their exhibit booths,
these agencies presented everything from obtaining job supports
and independent living supports,
to joining recreation and leisure
groups in the community. Staff
members Sara Beghun, Sara Dek-
an, and Lyndsey Ebling represented SVRI and the services that are
offered at the institution, such as
assistive technology, benefits analysis, employment and evaluation
services, and how the staff members in each service area at SVRI
can help.
as what leads to getting fired. Her
presentation provided the audience members with great tips to
set themselves up for employment
success.
Sara, along with Betty Olson from
Riverfront, Inc., presented a session titled, “Everything You Need
On May 20, 2014, SVRI staff
to Know About Benefits Counselmembers Lyndsey Ebling and Sara ing.” In their presentation, Sara
Dekan also attended and present- and Betty discussed special beneed at “The Next Step” conference fits and incentives offered to indiat Western Wisconsin Technical
viduals who have disabling condiCollege in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
tions through Social Security.
La Crosse is one of 72 counties in They also discussed eligibility
Wisconsin that has a CCOT
requirements that qualify the stu(County Community on Transidents to receive the benefits. This
tion), which is a regional group
presentation helped students and
that meets on a regular basis to
their families understand financial
identify issues, barriers, supports, resources that may be available to
and solutions to better assist stu- them.
dents with disabilities make a sucIn addition to the presentations,
cessful transition after high
Lyndsey and Sara set up a booth
school, depending on their goals in
representing SVRI services. Some
regards to training, education,
students and their families even
employment, and/or independent
came through and said that they
living. This is the third Next Step
had previously been to SVRI for
conference La Crosse has held;
the driving simulator and found it
this year, the conference presentato be very beneficial. Great job on
tions were geared towards stuyour presentation sessions, Lynddents and their families to help
sey and Sara!
them begin formulating plans for
their lives after high school.
Lyndsey presented a session titled,
“How to Stack your Deck: Employability Skills.” In this presentation,
Lyndsey discussed how to get
noticed in a crowd of job seekers,
the best way to get hired, as well
Volume 16, Issue 3
Page 6
SVRI System Partner Profile
SVRI has the pleasure of working
with a wide variety of colleagues
and collaborators across systems.
In each edition of our newsletter,
we will be featuring one of our
partners. For Summer 2014, we
are featuring Chris Sell (pictured
below).
First, tell us a little about
yourself—where you grew up,
current position, etc.
I grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin
and moved to Madison in 2000 to
attend the University of Wisconsin
-Madison where I obtained a BS in
Sociology with a concentration in
Analysis and Research. Currently,
I work for the Department of
Health Services (DHS) as a program and policy analyst for
I Respect I Self-Direct (IRIS), selfdirected long-term support program. I currently serve as the IRIS
Employment Lead, Data and Ana-
lytics Lead, and co-lead on Centers may not have a personal interest
for Medicare and Medicaid Seror experience driving them to the
vices (CMS) initiatives.
field of employment for people
with disabilities.
How did you first get involved
in disability and employment What do you find most reissues?
warding about your work?
After graduating from the UW, I
was anxious to begin a career and
was open to a wide variety of
fields. I was always interested in
government, and being a very loyal
and proud Wisconsinite, state government was even more intriguing. As one can imagine, a sociology degree doesn’t necessarily
funnel you into one field or another. While job-hunting, I worked as
a taxi cab driver in Madison
(Union Cab) for about nine
months until I found a job working
with the University of WisconsinStout Vocational Rehabilitation
Institute (SVRI). At the time, SVRI
was looking for a research specialist to work on the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) analyzing
employment-related issues. I didn’t have a lot of experience working with people with disabilities,
but the position intrigued me. So
long story short, I kind of fell into
the field of disability and employment. But as the saying goes,
“Everything happens for a reason.”
I will always feel grateful to SVRI
for giving me the opportunity, and
I think it is very important for the
disability field to continue to
engage younger individuals who
What I find most rewarding about
my eight years working in the area
of long-term care is the benefit of
working to improve programs and
policies that directly affect the
lives of Wisconsin residents. I
strongly believe that all individuals
should be treated equally, and I
can apply this belief in my work
with employment and people with
disabilities. I take pride in finding
ways to use state taxpayer dollars
efficiently. Lastly, I enjoy working
for the State, because frankly, I
love Wisconsin.
What do you wish other people knew about the IRIS program?
IRIS is a fairly new program
(began in 2008) and the State has
been devoting more resources to
the program due to the increasingly high demand. IRIS was implemented as an alternative to Wisconsin’s Family Care program,
which utilizes a managed care
model. Originally, the state anticipated that few people (less than
500) would want to self-direct
their own care.
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
Page 7
SVRI System Partner Profile (Continued)
As of June 2014, there were over
10,500 WI residents enrolled in
IRIS. So that said, if I could try to
debunk one misconception, it
would be that IRIS is run by an
IRIS Consultant Agency (ICA).
The truth is that DHS administers
the IRIS program and that it is not
operated solely by contracted
agencies. We do have IRIS consultants who are employed
through a contracted entity/
entities, but program policies and
operations are developed and
implemented by DHS.
What do you think will
change about disability and
employment policy over the
next five years?
How would your friends and
co-workers describe you?
I think my friends and co-workers
would describe me as funny, creaThere have been many exciting
tive, detail-oriented, and hard
changes at the federal level recent- working. I’m generally in a good
ly that will act as the catalyst for
mood and friendly and will say
major systems change within long- that if I’m not in a good mood, it is
term care. The Medicaid-funded
obvious. Ha. I pride myself in havHome and Community-Based Ser- ing a very strong work ethic, so I
vice (HCBS) waivers final rule
hope people notice that.
issued by CMS, the new DepartWhat do you do when you
ment of Labor (DOL) issued guidaren’t working?
ance, Olmstead and Department
of Justice (DOJ) rulings, all are
I enjoy traveling and spending
What might your colleagues
moving the needle towards more
time with my wife. I’m an avid
be surprised to know about
community inclusion and integrat- tennis player… Although my physyou?
ed employment. It’s always hard
ical stature probably doesn’t lend
to anticipate where government
itself to that conclusion. Ha.
Well, the IRIS section at DHS is
may be in five years, but we will
still pretty small and we all get
have a good idea in the next year
along, so my day-to-day colleagues
or two as states begin to operaprobably know more about me
tionalize the new federal changes.
than they ever wanted to. The
majority of my colleagues would
I think the most important part of
probably be surprised to know
these changes regarding employthat I have been a bass player in a ment policies is to remember that
fairly successful band for the last
they take time. Employment for
ten years. We still occasionally
people with disabilities really is a
tour the Midwest and have done a bi-partisan issue, but it takes a lot
few small national tours. It’s a
of work to change policies and
great hobby and a nice release
infrastructure while maintaining
from the daily grind.
the health and safety of the population served. These changes are
going to happen and perhaps the
hardest part of these changes is
remaining patient through the
growing pains.
Volume 16, Issue 3
Page 8
Learning the “Skills to Pay the Bills”
What brought 66 youth to SVRI on
a warm summer day in August?
Soft skills training! On August 15,
youth who participated in Workforce Resource’s summer programming gathered at the Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
(SVRI) to learn about soft skills as
part of a pilot training. Thirteen
trainers from Workforce Resource,
Aurora Services, and SVRI had a
chance to practice facilitating soft
skills training and to provide the
SVRI Soft Skills Team (Cheryl
Fine, Sally Scheidegger and
Samantha Ninnemann) with valuable feedback on the train-thetrainer model being developed for
PROMISE.
The next step for the Soft Skills
Team is to recruit trainers
statewide who will provide soft
skills training to PROMISE participants and their families using a
Request for Applications process.
If you have any questions, please
contact Cheryl
(finec@uwstout.edu), Sally
(scheideggers@uwstout.edu) or
Samantha
(ninnemannsa@uwstout.edu).
youth react to the training? When
asked what they learned and how
they will use it at work or at school,
here is what some of the youth
said:
“If someone asks me a question
about my weakness I could turn it
The trainers led the youth in activi- into a possitive [sic] and say that
ties from “Skills to Pay the Bills,” a im [sic] working on it.”
curriculum developed by the Office
“Networking to get jobs/info, on
of Disability Employment Policy
my potential career”
(ODEP) that uses hands-on activities to help youth learn about and “Talking about your strengths”
practice soft skills. How did the
You can find more information
about soft skills training on the
Wisconsin PROMISE website,
including an overview handout and
a video that describes the training.
Check it out at the following link:
http://promisewi.com/training/.
You can also find more information about “Skills to Pay the
Bills” at the following website:
http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/
youth/softskills/.
PROMISE Grant Enrollment Update!
Currently, there are 309 participants enrolled in the PROMISE grant research study. 153 of
the participants are in the PROMISE treatment group, and 156 are in the “usual services,” or
control group. The PROMISE team has also mailed out 3,639 enrollment packets to eligible
youth, ages 14-16 years old in Wisconsin.
Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute
Page 9
Across the Lifespan Conference
Building on the great success of
last year’s exciting co-conference,
Wistech, Wisconsin AHEAD, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and the Stout Vocational
Rehabilitation Institute have again
collaborated. Across the Lifespan,
“Bringing the Best Together,”
brings you one conference, one
location, one exhibit hall, more
than 40 educational sessions and
workshops, and hundreds of networking opportunities.
The conference will be held on
November 13 and 14, 2014, in Wisconsin Dells, WI. The fee to attend
the two day conference is $75.
Along with students, consumers,
and families, attendees also represent the fields of: Assistive Technology, Education, Case Management, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Pathology, and Rehabilitation Counselors.
The Across the Lifespan Conference provides educational sessions
approved for CRCs, as well as
CEUs (fee required for CEUs).
To register for the conference, visit
the website at
www.atacrosslifespan.org, and
click on the “Attend” tab. The website provides further information
and details. If you have additional
questions, please email
info@atacrosslifespan.org, or feel
free to contact the co-chairs Jaclyn
Wilsey, (715) 232-5231, or Scott
Ritter, (262) 472-5239.
New Staff Member
We would like to welcome our
newest staff member, Sara Witek,
to SVRI! Sara is a UW-Stout alumni with a degree in Management
with a concentration in Human
Resources. She is SVRI’s Office
Operations Associate. She will be
assisting a number of other staff
members with many different projects. Specifically, she will be helping with the PROMISE grant, the
Across the Lifespan Conference,
website maintenance, and other
support staff duties as needed.
For fun, Sara enjoys playing volleyball, camping, and shopping.
She also helps out at the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Upper
Wisconsin during her free time.
Much of her time lately has been
consumed with wedding planning,
as she is getting married on
September 20, 2014.
Welcome to the SVRI team, Sara!
Open House: Luanne Reckin
SVRI hosted an Open House in honor of
Luanne Reckin’s retirement on Thursday,
August 28. Staff, faculty, friends, and family
all joined in acknowledging Luanne’s dedicated service to SVRI, as well as wishing her all
the best in her retirement!
Professional Development
Upcoming Events
Opportunities
CRC Exam Preparation Workshops
Wheelchair Clinics

January 8—March 5, 2015

September 9, 2014

May 14—July 9, 2015

October 14, 2014
Rehabilitation Ethics

November 11, 2014

December 9, 2014

August 28—October 2, 2014
Apples to Androids: Using Cool New
Technology to Create Consumer BuyIn

October 30—December 11, 2014
Show Your Support!
“Like” and “Follow” Us!