Vocational education is an important component of the bridge leading from school to employment for special needs youth. Studies indicate that special needs youth are not being adequately prepared for work. Unemployment and underemployment of special needs youth seem to stem from three causes: lack of interpersonal skills, lack of job-related…

The career development program for students with mental disabilities should be integrated into the total special education curriculum, should provide training of specific skills needed in particular jobs as well as a general orientation to the world of work, and should relate academics to activities of daily living. The program should begin at the…

This report summarizes results obtained for the first cohort of students (n=98) with disabilities involved in the pilot Transition Project begun in 1989 in New South Wales (Australia). Students were in either special schools (56 percent), special classes in regular high schools (40 percent), or integrated regular settings (3.5 percent). Of the…