This study sought to understand the parental expectations of social attainments in the postschool years. The parents of 20 adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) attending special schools were interviewed. Most expected their children would be working in sheltered workshops or unemployed. All parents indicated that their children would…

Improving quality of life is the primary focus as adolescents with disabilities enter adulthood. They increasingly, however, encounter difficulties transitioning into domains such as employment as these services occur near the end of their high school experience. Using an ecosystems model within a developmental approach, the program sought to…

Responses in the parent interviews revealed that many trainees were still home based and family dependent. Some parents were prolonging the dependence of their young people rather than reinforcing the independent living skills training at the center. (Author)

The paper reports on a followup study of the work adjustment of 43 mildly retarded adolescents who had undergone training in social and work skills at the Granville Work Preparation Centre in Australia. Among the findings were that 40% of the Ss had a history of full open employment, with no unemployment at all, since leaving the Center; that 21%…

A Finnish study compared the career development, participation in vocational education, and working life 4 to 5 years after the completion of secondary school education of students with mild mental retardation (n=13) and students with other disabilities (n=72). Results found most of the subjects had completed their studies, however, only 25…

Twenty-seven teachers rated 196 retarded workers with respect to the frequency of maladaptive behavior and the 28 items of a language behavior rating scale with respect to the probability that a given behavior would result in termination of employment. (Author/SBH)

A study was conducted to determine (1) the entry level skills that are required for admission to selected North Dakota programs for the vocational education of the severely handicapped; and (2) the articulation, if any, between nationwide prevocational training programs' exit requirements and the North Dakota programs' entry requirements. Using a…

The study described in the first part of this two-part document identified the kind of ongoing support that would be most beneficial to all those concerned in the employment of young people with disabilities in England and Wales. Semistructured interviews were conducted with employers, representatives of preparation and placement agencies, and…