This research identifies the soft (employability) skills that key stakeholders view as essential for young people with intellectual disability (ID) to gain and maintain open employment. The study subsequently examined the work experience opportunities for young people with ID to develop these soft skills during their school years. Qualitative data…

Recently, consensus among researchers and professionals has emerged about factors that contribute to postschool success of youth with disabilities. Prominent among these factors are targeted academic preparation, family involvement, youth empowerment, and service collaboration and linkages. Work experience and paid employment have been identified…

Supported Employment is an evidence-based practice that helps people with mental illness find and keep meaningful jobs in the community. Given these outcomes the challenge for Supported Employment programs is to rethink the emphasis on immediate work for everyone and help consumers utilize appropriate education and training opportunities available…

Examined large sample of consecutive cases whose individuals participated in intensive transitional job-coaching program akin to job-coaching strategy emphasized within supported employment model. Findings from 84 consecutive cases illustrated effectiveness of transitional job coaching model to assist individuals with acquired brain injury in…

The availability of trainees, service providers, private employers, and low effective costs attest to the success of the Massachusetts Supported Work model, a state-funded transitional employment program for mentally retarded persons, featuring graduated stress and performance requirements, intensive supervision, supportive services, easy…

Project WorkAbility is a California program serving special education secondary and postsecondary students. The model design for WorkAbility is based on well-known transition models and contains components common to those models. The design views transition as both a process and a product, supports interagency cooperation and collaboration, and…

This article argues that the trend toward supported employment and transition services still rests on a dependency model of disability. It proposes a model of education for the empowerment of full citizenship in which persons with disabilities are seen as one of many groups disadvantaged by current social prejudice and exclusion. (DB)

This catalog describes 22 programs selected as exemplary by the Regional Rehabilitation Exchange (RRX) project, in the areas of supported employment, job placement services, school-to-adult life transition, and independent living services. The programs are located in federally designated Region VI, consisting of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico,…

The Vocational Education to Work model is a system of communication and support between vocational and special educators, designed to train students with disabilities in mainstreamed vocational education. The model's four sequential components include active recruitment, guided placement, continuing support, and job placement followup.…

This guide is designed to provide teachers in King County, Washington, with a single resource for much of the information needed to help students with disabilities transition from school to adult life and to make informed employment decisions. It begins by providing an overview of federal and state regulations that affect students with…

This manual has been prepared to orient school personnel in the development of programs for the transition of students with disabilities from school to adult life so that they can fulfill their responsibilities in planning and providing services. The laws under which such services are required are reviewed, and the services and planning are…

This resource guide profiles 12 exemplary programs serving people with disabilities through interagency collaboration for transition, supported employment, and parent-professional collaboration. The guide opens with a description of the North Central Regional Information Exchange, a federally funded project that is identifying and promoting…

Describes a transitional program that empowers special education students to make informed decisions about their vocational preferences and skills relative to the local job market. Focuses on self-directed assessment, job placement, development of self-management skills, long-term followup, and career development. Stresses the importance of…

This newsletter issue describes the Community Based Inservice Model (CBIM) of the Teaching Research Infant and Child Center (Oregon). This project provides training to personnel who serve secondary age students with moderate to severe disabilities. The project's has been funded by the Federal Government and is based on the philosophy of teaching…

Six papers address issues in the transition of students with disabilities into the adult world of work. In "Workplace Support," Jeff McNair defines "support," differentiates types of support, and considers various foci of intervention. The second paper titled, "Cross-Cultural Transition: An Exigent Topic for Study" by Nancy Kronick, reviews…