Editor's comment.

As usual, the articles in this issue of the Journal of Rehabilitation include some very interesting information. The initial article by Walls, Misra and Majumder analyzed trends in the state-federal programs over the past three decades. Many interesting trends were identified, including the fact that the percentage of clients entering competitive employment has increased each decade. Roessler's article on the TWWIIA program of work incentives provides a clear description of the program and program requirements. It provides one of the most comprehensible explanations of the program I have encountered.

The third and forth articles focus on direct practice. Mannock, Levesque and Prochaska's article on assessing client readiness to engage in job seeking behaviors provides insight into a critical aspect of rehabilitation practice. Drebing, et al present a study of the relationship of participation in rehabilitation programs and the outcome, interestingly finding that older participants (over age 55) have a very different pattern of participation and success than younger participants in the program.

Weston, Koller and Dunham provide information on counselor perception of the usefulness of the General Educational Development Test in rehabilitation, a test used by many clients to obtain a high school equivalency degree. While counselors are aware of the test generally, they often are not aware of the accommodations that are available for students with not only physical but also learning disabilities. The final article by Graf and Stebnicki studied the process of using email communications as a method of supervising rehabilitation counseling practicum students. A qualitative analysis of emails of students indicated that attitudes towards clients became more positive during the process, while attitudes towards self and supervisors were more likely to vary. For example, student attitudes toward self became less confident midway through the practicum, only beginning to improve toward the end of the experience. An advantage of email communications may be that it allows the study of this process more definitively, with the potential for improving the experience of all involved.

I want to thank the authors for their contributions to the issue.