![\"Group](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cr23.webp\")
Dierolf, of\u00a0Larksville, understands better than\u00a0most\u00a0the impact that can be made\u00a0with\u00a0proper resources and a supportive team.<\/p>\n
Diagnosed with autism at three years old, Dierolf was told by professionals that she may never drive nor live independently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got my driver\u2019s license at 16 and have built an independent life while pursuing a meaningful and fulfilling career path,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While Dierolf kept her diagnosis private for many years, she has openly shared her story in hopes that it inspires others to embrace their identities. This,\u00a0she believes,\u00a0will help\u00a0with\u00a0treating clients \u2014 and it already aided her in other\u00a0opportunities, such as serving as a job coach and direct support professional for adults with intellectual disabilities at PA Inclusive.<\/p>\n
A graduate of Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Dierolf\u00a0has\u00a0made the most of her time at Scranton by getting involved with the Performance Music program and earning induction into Chi Delta Rho, the counseling honor society, among other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach experience has reinforced my commitment to advocacy, accessibility and empowering individuals with disabilities to reach their full potential,\u201d Dierolf said.<\/p>\n
Unlike Redis and Dierolf, Sandy completed her undergraduate studies at Scranton. She says she was \u201cforever changed\u201d while pursuing her degree in counseling and human services \u2014 and not\u00a0only because of her coursework and mentors but because of a foundational experience with First-years Involved in Reflective Service Together (FIRST), a weeklong volunteer program that allows students to get involved in the community and see the impact they can make.<\/p>\n
After graduating from Scranton in 2023, Sandy, a Scranton native, took a gap year to complete a service experience as an AmeriCorps member at Maggie\u2019s Place in Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n
She returned to Scranton in 2024, prepared and inspired to follow another Jesuit ideal of \u201cwalking for and with others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are taught from the beginning of the program that anyone, at any time, can be diagnosed with a disability or acquire one,\u201d Sandy said. \u201cThis career path became my passion, but like many counselors, I struggled with impostor syndrome and worrying about working with clients who may have\u00a0very different\u00a0life experiences compared to my own. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experience at Maggie\u2019s Place was fundamental in my choice to return to Scranton. I was surrounded by so many individuals with\u00a0very different\u00a0life experiences, and at the core of it all, I was relying on my rehabilitation background to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sandy,\u00a0who\u00a0completed her graduate studies this past spring\u00a0and was immediately hired\u00a0by\u00a0 the\u00a0Pennsylvania Bureau of Blind and Visual Services in Wilkes-Barre,\u00a0shares fond recollections of the fourth floor of McGurrin Hall, where she was pushed to learn and acquire the skills and tools that she now shares with clients.<\/p>\n
![\"Nine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cr1-2.webp\")
For Sandy, though, those classrooms, hallways and peers\u00a0represent\u00a0something even deeper, having suffered the unexpected death in November of her father. She leaned on her clinical rehabilitation counseling community to get through her toughest times, including stepping up to become the legal guardian for her two teenage siblings.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people would offer guidance and share their experiences, which healed me in so many ways,\u201d Sandy said. \u201cIt is something I will\u00a0never, ever\u00a0forget\u00a0and something that I will always carry with me. I never felt\u00a0alone, and there is nothing more important to me than making sure whoever I work with has the same experience. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, as students, get a lot more from this program than just a good education. We get to understand the commitment of showing up for ourselves, our clients and most importantly each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The need for highly qualified rehabilitation counselors is significant, as is their\u00a0impact. Scranton\u2019s clinical rehabilitation counseling program recently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[15729,103265,42501,178,180,179,274],"class_list":["post-240271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-clinical-rehabilitation-counseling","tag-rehabilitation-service-administration","tag-rsa","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-the-university-of-scranton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}