Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals

Post-school outcomes are poor for youth with disabilities, in general, but even more discouraging for certain subpopulations of individuals with disabilities, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. The authors discuss structural inequalities in public schools which potentially contribute to the poorer transition outcomes of CLD youth with disabilities compared with their White peers with disabilities and identify 11 research-based practices (RBPs) for supporting CLD youth with disabilities and their families during the transition planning process. A study is subsequently described involving the development and implementation of a survey measuring the degree to which these 11 RBPs are being implemented in public school districts. The survey was administered during 2011 to 2016 to interdisciplinary transition teams representing more than 90 school districts in the United States who were attending state capacity-building transition services training institutes. Group consensus was sought on the 11 items appearing on the survey. Results from the study found that most school districts were not implementing any of the RBPs to any significant degree, school staff were in need of cultural competence professional development training, CLD families of transition-aged youth with disabilities lacked access to quality resources and supports, and CLD youth with disabilities lacked opportunities to strengthen their self-determination skills. Implications for practice and future research on this topic is presented and discussed.

Efficient vocational skills instruction is needed to meet the needs of a growing number of job seekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This study examined the effects of self-directed video prompting used to teach transition-age students with IDD chained vocational tasks. A multiple probe design across behaviors was replicated across two students. Both students mastered iPhone navigation after observing a model and completing two to three sessions in a training phase. After training, students independently navigated the iPhone and played video prompts. Both students made substantial progress on all three tasks, reaching 100% accuracy in two of the tasks.

Many secondary students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are not taught employability skills and routines needed for competitive or supported employment in regular community environments. Literacy-based behavioral interventions (LBBIs) that combine print, pictures, and behavioral rehearsal are effective for promoting acquisition and maintenance of numerous skills, but have not been investigated as a job coaching intervention for individuals with ASD. In this study, a peer coworker was taught to deliver an LBBI guide to students with ASD as a job coaching intervention for three skills in an employment preparation routine: preparing and selling coffee in a work-site food truck. Results showed students’ accuracy with the skills in the work routine increased, and maintained after the intervention.

The sense of purpose, which directs and motivates goal attainment, is associated with health and happiness as students make transitions from high school to college and work. Despite its importance for student well-being, little empirical work has addressed the development of purpose among students with disabilities. This article expands on a model of the relationship between purpose development, career aspirations, and disability identity in a sample of 59 college students with a variety of visible and invisible disabilities. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach to the analysis of extensive interviews, results present five pathways to purpose and the processes through which students’ disabilities contribute to their sense of purpose. Implications for practice and future research emerge from this rich source of student voices.

As college becomes an increasingly important prerequisite for employment, it is important that all students have access to postsecondary education (PSE). The passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act has provided students with intellectual disability (ID) a pathway to college, though some barriers in this transition still exist. This article is meant to highlight strategies instructors at the postsecondary level can utilize to support the transition and inclusion of students with ID in college-level courses. The role PSE programs play establishing what college readiness for individuals with ID is also discussed. A specific focus will be paid to how the universal design for learning (UDL) framework can be applied to instructional materials to support the inclusion of students with ID in college, and how these strategies can be modeled for secondary educators to support the transition planning process for students with ID.

School-based microenterprises and vocational training opportunities represent an effective approach to developing transferable vocational skills in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The authors describe the implementation of an online, school-based microenterprise at a rural high school that emphasizes functional digital literacy and uses an integrated system of visual supports to increase the autonomy of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a workplace setting.