Recruiting Structured Discovery Coaches
Dear NOMC
You may, or may not be aware that recently the Alabama Department for the
Blind and Deaf has embarked on a new endeavor and has begun a residential
training program in Birmingham called The Freedom Center. Their goal is to
provide Structure Discovery training to their consumers. I have been brought
in to manage a project to help them meet their objectives. I can tell you
that they have a long way to go and that their success in becoming a true
Structured Discovery center is by no way assured. However, I strongly
believe that all blind individuals deserve the best training possible
regardless of their ability to relocate to one of the currently recognized
training facilities and so I am willing to do what I can to ensure that the
administration and staff of The Freedom Center have the tools to function
under the spirit and expectations that we espouse under the Structured
Discovery Trademark. Toward that end, I'm recruiting coaches like yourself
to help in this effort.
My ask. I am asking you to travel to Birmingham for at least a few days,
preferably a full five-day week to provide coaching and mentoring. By
mentoring, I mean encouragement, suggestions, and recommendations. By
coaching, I mean being straight with them where their practices are not
effective and helping to draw the line between what is Structured Discovery,
and what is not.
What is my role? I have made it perfectly clear to everyone involved with
the project that I will assist in every effort to assist them become a
Structured Discovery program. I have been equally clear that I will not
recommend that they be recognized by the National Blindness Professional
Certification Board as a Structured Discovery center unless they meet the
standards that you are familiar with.
What I am asking you to do is to communicate with me before the trip
regarding any questions, logistics or details and then to communicate with
me during or after the trip about your experience and impressions. I will
need you to be completely and brutally honest with me regarding the good,
the bad, and the ugly. Many of the staff are sincerely dedicated to the
spirit and life that is Structured Discovery. Realizing this ideal, however,
is sometimes easier said than done. I will keep any communications from you
confidential but I will use your valuable input towards developing future
training, in my own evaluations of the program, and in the final analysis of
the overall health of the center.
Compensation. For this work, I will cover your transportation, lodging, and
an honorarium for your time. The honorarium is up to $1,000 for the full
five days on-site, but I will have to prorate it based on the actual amount
of time you can commit.
I hope I can call upon you to provide your invaluable experience and
professionalism in this project. Structured Discovery is a brand of
rehabilitation that we have perfected for more than 70 years, and it is
something that you and I have worked very hard to ensure that it does not
become bastardized or watered down by those who want the title but not the
work. I commit to you that I am dedicated towards this mission as well.
Wherever a center like this truly shares in our passion, dedication, and
philosophy I am committed to helping them achieve a first-class training
program. With equal passion, I am committed to discrediting, disavowing, and
calling out all of those who would seek to use our name without merit. I
hope you have the time and ability to help me build this program, and as
importantly, to hold its feet to the fire that is Structured Discovery.
Please call or email me with any questions. I look forward to your active
participation in this effort.
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC
Director, Professional Development and Research
Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax)
Skype: edwardbell2010
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