Partners
The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (VCU-RRTC) on Employer Practices Leading to Successful Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities has partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. Dr. Fong Chan will serve as the Principle Investigator for this partnership and will lead Research Study #2. Dr. Chan is also a professor and the director of clinical training in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. Dr. Timothy Tansey will serve as Director of Research and provide leadership for Research Study #1 and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. Dr. Brian Phillips, an assistant professor and undergraduate coordinator of the rehabilitation psychology program in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education is also part of this research team. Dr. Travis Wright, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum Instruction with prior educational experience from Harvard Graduate School and George Washington University of Graduate School of Education will also support the research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Fong Chan, PhD, CRC
Co-Director, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor and Director of Clinical Training (PhD Program) at UW-Madison
chan@education.wisc.edu
Fong Chan, PhD, CRC, is a professor and director of clinical training (PhD Program) in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, he serves as the co-director of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Effective Vocational Rehabilitation Service Delivery Practices. Dr. Chan is a licensed psychologist, a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, and a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Distinguished Research Fellow.
Dr. Chan has more than 28 years of experience conducting rehabilitation health research in the topical areas of psychosocial aspects of disability, TBI rehabilitation, multicultural counseling, employer practices, evidence-based practice, outcome measurements, and program evaluation. He has published more than 250 refereed journal articles and book chapters. He is also the editor of three textbooks, Case Management for Rehabilitation Health Professionals, Counseling Theories and Techniques for Rehabilitation Health Professionals, and Understanding Psychosocial Adjustment to Chronic Illness and Disability: A Handbook for Evidence-Based Practitioners in Rehabilitation.
Documentary Films
The Forerunners, a documentary film produced by Sean Jourdan, Fong Chan, Elizabeth Cardoso, and Patrick Maher, touches upon the lives of individuals with disabilities who work in technology-based fields, encouraging students with disabilities to pursue knowledge in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines, while emphasizing the inherent strengths related to those disabilities that can translate to valuable skills in the professional work. The Forerunners was funded with a grant from the Minority-Disability (MIND) Alliance in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine at Hunter College - City University of New York.
View the video The Forerunners - STEM Success among Students with Disabilities.
The ADAAA and the ADA Job Accommodations videos are produced by Brian T. McMahon, Fong Chan, Sean Jourdan, and Cayte Anderson with support from a Wisconsin Medicare Infrastructure (MIG) grant. These videos are based on a decade of research documenting the most common objections of employers to the employment of Americans with disabilities. Dr. McMahon (screenplay and narrator), a national expert in ADA, presents hard facts that counter each employer objection. The results provide employers with the information in terms of how to comply with ADA or the ADA Amendments Act, but also how to go beyond compliance and reap the economic and public relations rewards that result from employing Americans with disabilities. In a common sense business approach, the videos lay out the "business case" for joining the burgeoning community of American businesses who have benefited from moving beyond basic compliance. This is not an educational video, but a "business to business" guide of how to benefit from the real facts regarding disability and employment. This is a two part, professionally produced and award winning presentation of the "how and "why" of utilizing this significant labor market resource.
Video 1 - Facts Are Stubborn Things: Employment and Disability for a New Century
Practical Wisdom--Positive Rehabilitation Psychology and the Legacy of Beatrice Wright, film produced by Henry McCarthy (Producer, Scriptwriter, and Interviewer), Fong Chan (Director), and Sean Jourdan (Cinematographer and Editor). The contributions of Beatrice Wright to psychosocial theory, research, and interventions in healthcare and rehabilitation are well recognized. Her constructive views of human dignity in relation to living with a disability have strongly influenced the philosophy and current principles of rehabilitation health practice. In this documentary film, Beatrice Wright discussed with Henry McCarthy, her contribution to the development of the field of rehabilitation psychology and several fundamental rehabilitative concepts that illustrate the need to emphasize people as individuals, not conditions or collectives. She also elaborated on one of the most important rehabilitative concepts "disability acceptance" based on her coping vs. succumbing frameworks that involves accepting one's disability as non-devaluing.
Brian Phillips, Ph.D., CRC
Brian Phillips, PhD, CRC, is an assistant professor and undergraduate coordinator of the rehabilitation psychology program in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Phillips is in his third year as an assistant professor after receiving his doctoral degree from Michigan State University's Rehabilitation Counselor Education program. He has published multiple refereed journal articles related to positive psychology, work-related social skills, and professional issues in rehabilitation counseling. He has also presented at several national and local professional conferences.
Dr. Tansey received his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001. He is an assistant professor in the Rehabilitation Psychology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Tansey has over 15 years experience as a rehabilitation counselor and rehabilitation researcher. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of vocational rehabilitation of veterans with disabilities, self-regulation, stress adaptation, and applying novel technology in vocational rehabilitation and rehabilitation counselor education. Dr. Tansey has extensive experience in adapting technology and utilizing social media for knowledge translation and dissemination activities. He has been awarded several research grants aimed at assessment of self-regulation, factors affecting vocational outcomes of persons with disabilities, and developing leadership skills in persons with disabilities. Dr. Tansey is a co-principal investigator on the Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training in Traumatic Brain Injury project (2013-2018).
Dr. Travis Wright
Dr. Travis Wright is the founder/director of the BASES Project, a school and community-based intervention for homeless preschool students, their families, and teachers. Dr. Wright is a nationally recognized expert on resilience and emotionally responsive teaching, especially for children developing in the midst of adversity. Previously, he worked as a school-based mental health counselor, public school teacher, and early childhood educator in Washington, D.D. and Boston Public Schools.