Career educators have the awesome responsibility to provide realistic, practical, and effective preparation for the exceptional population to work in a world where all the opportunities and advantages of our society can be available to them in spite of disabling characteristics. On-the-job exploration or some kind of involvement with one who has a similar handicap helps the student to see that others with similar problems have succeeded. This experience can often be a source of great inspiration and can provide the exceptional student with the necessary fortitude to develop realistic career goals. Involvement of the child's parents/family/friends may also encourage mature career decision-making as well. The crises surrounding one's search for identity during the teen-age years is much more difficult for exceptional students, many of whom may not even have reached the level of development where they must confront the task of integrating the idea of a severe limitation into their self-concepts. Thus, the identity search is a longer, more difficult process and presents a strong argument for the early development of career education for exceptional children. In addition to developing a good self-concept and settling upon an identity, exceptional children must prepare for the prejudices they will encounter in all areas of society and especially in the work world. However, not only must the student do the preparation; the general public and business personnel departments must be informed about the responsible and often superior performance of the handicapped to counteract the practice of finding loopholes around legislation for the handicapped. (VB)