Course Overview: Students with Disabilities and Employment

This course explains what is required in assisting students with disabilities with employment, including how research-based practices can help you. The module and its resources are designed to take users about an hour to complete.

Materials

This course is designed for learners to complete in a specific sequence.

View the Presentation first. (30 min. 19 sec.)
Use the Learning Check to assess what you’ve learned.
Read each Resource in sequence.
Read the Scoping Review Section.

Use the menu on the left to navigate the course materials.

Presentation

After viewing the course presentation video, complete a Learning Check to assess your knowledge.

Pre-Employment Transition Services and Students With Disabilities

The content of this training was developed under grant number 90DP0077 from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this presentation, you will be able to:

Identify research-based recommendations for vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors serving students with disabilities aged 14 to 26 years, related to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and pre-employment transition services; and
Identify best practice recommendations for VR counselors serving students with disabilities.

This presentation will prepare you to work with VR counselors to support them in implementing best practices for working with students with disabilities.

Overview of Required WIOA Pre-Employment Transition Services: Understanding the requirements for students with disabilities

WIOA Requirements for Pre-Employment Transition Services

The services provided for in the WIOA are known as the Pre-Employment and Transition Services (Pre-ETS) and are composed of five required service elements:

Job exploration counseling
Work-based learning
Counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs
Workplace readiness training
Instruction in self-advocacy

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act requires vocational rehabilitation agencies to set aside at least 15 percent of their Federal funds to provide pre-employment transition services to students with disabilities who are eligible for VR services. These services have five required elements:

Job exploration counseling
Work-based learning
Counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs
Workplace readiness
Instruction in self-advocacy

Pre-Employment Transition Services are not required to be provided to all students with disabilities who qualify for VR services. Rather, the five service elements must be available statewide so students with disabilities can access one or more of them.

1. Job Exploration Counseling

Job exploration counseling includes career awareness to help a person understand the way personal work-related values apply to employment options, or the skills and qualifications necessary for specific careers.

Job exploration counseling is the act of helping students become aware of career options and pathways and of how work-related values apply to employment outcomes.

Job exploration counseling may include exploring

Vocational interests
Potential careers and career pathways
Activities that recognize the relevance of a high school and post-school education to their futures, both in college and/or the workplace
The labor market, particularly industries and occupations in high demand.

2. Work-Based Learning

Work-based learning is an educational strategy that gives students real work experiences that can be applied to academic and technical skills.

Work-based learning is an educational strategy that allows students to participate in real work experiences that can be applied to academic and technical skills.

Work-based learning may include

Informational interviews
Career-related competitions
Presenting careers through simulated workplace experiences
Apprenticeships
Job shadowing or career mentoring
Paid work experiences, including internships or employment and
Unpaid work experiences

3. Counseling on Opportunities for Enrollment in Comprehensive Transition or Postsecondary Educational Programs

These opportunities include VR counselors’ providing information on an array of career options, academic and occupational training, and postsecondary opportunities.

Counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs includes providing information on things like

Course offerings
Career options
The types of academic and occupational training needed to succeed in the workplace
Postsecondary opportunities associated with career fields or pathways
Academic curriculums and
College and financial aid process and forms.

Since the objective of the literature review was focused on transition to employment, this category was covered under job exploration counseling.

4. Workplace Readiness Training

Workplace readiness training refers to social skills related to success in employment settings, often also called soft or interpersonal skills. They support appropriate interactions with managers and colleagues, and are common across all workplace environments.

Workplace readiness training refers to common social skills used in employment that are needed to maintain appropriate interactions with managers and colleagues across all workplace environments.

Example social skills may include

Effective and professional communication skills—including timely and professional communications
Understanding employer expectations for punctuality and performance
Appropriate communication skills—showing respect and listening
Teamwork: cooperating and supporting others
Positive attitude
Making decisions and problem solving and
Professionalism through good manners, professional body language, timeliness, and a positive attitude.

5. Instruction in Self-Advocacy

Self-advocacy refers to a person’s ability to conceptualize, understand, speak for, and generally exercise control over personal needs and interests in his or her own life activities.

Self-advocacy refers to a person’s capacity to communicate his or her interests. Self-determination, on the other hand, refers to people’s ability to plan their lives on the basis of what is important to them.

These skills may include

Understanding oneself
Understanding one’s disability
Ability to disclose one’s disability
Decisionmaking
Identifying independence
Identifying necessary accommodations in the workplace
Requesting and using accommodations
Understanding one’s rights and responsibilities and
Knowing how to request assistance and requesting it

Note: Self-determination refers to a person’s ability to plan life according to what he or she values.

Cultural Diversity and the Successful Implementation of WIOA and Pre-ETS

African American and Hispanic students with disabilities have significantly lower percentages of employment and postsecondary education than White students with disabilities.¹
Students with disabilities from minority cultures/languages need special attention to develop self-advocacy and self-determination skills in relation to their cultural and linguistic identities.²

Recently, there has been an increased focus on understanding the ways that youth from different cultural or linguistic backgrounds experience the services provided through WIOA, such as Pre-ETS. For example, studies have tried to understand the ways diverse cultural backgrounds can affect an individual’s willingness or ability to disclose his or her disability. In a recent review of the existing literature, researchers concluded that students with disabilities from minority cultures, and who spoke minority languages, faced unique challenges with self-advocacy. As a result, the researchers recommended that these students with disabilities be given special attention in developing these skills in the context of their cultural and linguistic identities.

Cultural Diversity and the Successful Implementation of WIOA and Pre-ETS

Cultural reciprocity “offers each person in an interaction equal power, assumes equal capability, and demonstrates that each person is equally valued”.² (p.240)
Reciprocity builds on respect and balances power between persons in dialogue.³
Cultural bump: “a social encounter (verbal, nonverbal) that results in mild to moderate discomfort stemming from a misunderstanding around cultural affiliations or identities”⁴ (p.170)

Many culturally or linguistically diverse families have experienced a lack of cultural reciprocity in their interactions with special education and transition personnel. As a result, they report encountering racial and cultural stereotypes and biases, lack of knowledge about immigration issues and language proficiency, and a lack of respect for themselves and their children, as well as their hopes and dreams for their children’s future.

While the importance of encouraging skills such as self-determination and self-advocacy for posttransition success is well-substantiated in the literature, encouraging these skills may be perceived as culturally insensitive or inappropriate by some families of students with disabilities. When a transition counselor asks a student with disabilities to engage in a skill or behavior that differs from her family’s desired behaviors, this can result in a “cultural bump,” or moment of discomfort caused by a misunderstanding around cultural norms. So how should a counselor help the student develop the behaviors that result in higher rates of posttransition success, while avoiding cultural bumps?

Improving Employment Outcomes for Students with Disabilities: Research-based findings related to the required WIOA activities

Now that we have provided a brief overview of the five requirements for Pre-Employment Transition Services from WIOA for students with disabilities, as well as the importance of being culturally sensitive, we will discuss what the research says.

It is our understanding that not all VR agencies have counselors providing the Pre-Employment Transition Services, as outlined by WIOA. Please note that, although the research findings and best practice recommendations are focused on the five Pre-Employment Transition Service elements, the information contained within this module can be applied to the transition process in general and does not strictly adhere to the five service elements.

Methods

Research question: What strategies for VR counselors have been successful in supporting improved employment outcomes for students with disabilities?
Conducted search of literature and products from 1998 through 2017 that provided evidence-based information related to the required elements of pre-employment and transition services.
- Of 96 products reviewed, 34 research studies and products were included in the review.

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (or NIDILRR) funded the American Institutes for Research’s Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center to conduct a literature review that examined successful methods that VR counselors could leverage to support employment outcomes for students with disabilities.

Literature and products such as research-based trainings were examined to identify themes based on research that have been found to improve employment outcomes.

Methods (continued)

Research was categorized into the five Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS)

Job exploration counseling
Work-based learning
Counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs*
Workplace readiness
Instruction in self-advocacy

We categorized the research into the five Pre-Employment Transition Services but found that the research relating to counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs was either very similar to the research related to job exploration counseling or not focused on employment outcomes. Therefore, we focused on four of the five categories.

* Counseling on opportunities . . . was either related to job exploration counseling or not focused on employment

Job Exploration Counseling: Pre-Employment Transition Services requirement 1

In this module, we’ll be discussing job exploration counseling strategies that VR counselors can leverage to improve employment outcomes for students with disabilities.

Job Exploration Counseling

Results addressed four areas:

Career goal development
Family involvement
Cultural reciprocity
Interagency collaboration

Job exploration counseling is multifaceted in scope. Because of this, more than often, multiple overlapping strategies need to be used when assisting students with disabilities. When reviewing the research on this topic, four characteristics emerged:

Career goal development
Involving family
Cultural reciprocity and
Interagency collaboration

Strategy 1: Develop career goals

Definition: Career goals help individuals explore career interests by setting achievable vocational targets.
What the research says:
- Measurable career/postsecondary goals lead to better employment outcomes.⁵
- Best practice:
  - VR counselors should begin working with schools as early as possible on assisting in the development of career-related activities, which could include identifying vocational goals.⁶

Even though the development of career goals can be achieved through a variety of ways, they all ultimately serve the purpose of helping individuals explore career interests through setting achievable vocational targets.

Maintaining career goals can help transitional youth achieve employment outcomes. One study evaluated a transition program in New York State and found that students who developed measurable postsecondary goals in their education plans were twice as likely to participate in work experiences as their peers. Because of the employment knowledge and experience VR counselors bring to the table, this study stressed that VR counselors could provide invaluable insight in informing the development of postsecondary and employment goals. Another study noted that special education programs might not have the career development interventions available to assist with identifying vocational goals. To remedy this, VR counselors should be begin working with schools as early as possible to help develop career-related activities, which could include identifying vocational goals.

Overall, four studies highlighted the importance of VR counselors’ involvement in the development of career goals for students with disabilities.

Strategy 2: Involve family

Definition: In the context of VR counseling, family involvement is the concerted effort to communicate with families to get a better sense of a student’s unique needs and aspirations.
What the research says:
Involved parents can help facilitate employment.⁷
Families are sometimes underequipped.⁸
Involving families can build cultural reciprocity.²

Family involvement occurs when a VR counselor makes an effort to communicate with family members or guardians to get a better sense of a student’s aspirations, which include career goals.

Parents often know their children’s interests, goals, and dreams better than anyone else. This remains just as true for parents of children with special needs. Connecting parents of students with disabilities to VR counseling can help both sides of the equation gain a better understanding of the youth’s career aspirations. One study stated that some parents were underequipped when it came to helping their children find employment. This study suggested that VR counselors work together with parents to provide support and help facilitate the job process. A literature review that explored transition outcomes stated that transition personnel should familiarize themselves with the broader cultural community of the family when developing a comprehensive transition program for culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities.

Overall, five studies highlighted the importance of VR counselors’ involving family in the career-planning process.

Strategy 2: Involve family (continued)

Best Practices:

To engage families, VR counselors should use a combination of phone calls, letters, and home visits. ⁷
Especially with regard to families that are culturally and linguistically diverse, VR counselors should speak in a way that reflects respect.⁷
VR counselors should be flexible and accommodate the logistical barriers of family involvement.⁷

One study looked at VR personnel's beliefs about strategies that successfully facilitated the transition from school to employment and found that involving parents was essential to the process. The three primary practices to engage and establish relationships with families were

Using a combination of phone calls, letters, and home visits
With families that were culturally and linguistically diverse, speaking in a way that reflected respect, and
Being flexible and accommodating the logistical barriers of family involvement.

Strategy 3: Build cultural reciprocity

Definition: Cultural reciprocity is the consideration of the cultural, environmental, and situational factors that influence one’s life.

What the research says:

Culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities often have diverse needs.²
Interconnectedness of environmental and situational factors can influence the job placement and retention process.⁹

Best practice:

To gain a better understanding of their students’ career aspirations and goals, VR counselors should familiarize themselves with the situational factors and cultural background of students with disabilities.⁹

Cultural reciprocity takes into account the cultural and situational factors that affect one’s life. In regard to students with disabilities, these factors can directly affect employment. Students with disabilities come from various cultural backgrounds and all walks of life. Understanding how cultural context shapes and influences career aspirations is undoubtedly important for VR counselors. One of the studies conducted interviews with 17 employment specialists to identify the core practices they used to help transitional-age youth, or students with disabilities, find employment. Cultural competence was identified as a key attribute. The study stated that the employment specialists interviewed displayed a commitment to understanding the youth’s life circumstances and took the time to learn about their support systems within and outside the family. These employment specialists also demonstrated an understanding of how cultural and situational factors could influence employment. For example, students with disabilities who lived in high crime areas might have more difficulty getting to and from work.

Overall, four studies cited cultural reciprocity as a practice important to VR counseling.

Best Practices for Involving Culturally Diverse Families

Carefully mediate between the differing visions for the future of the family and the student with disabilities, taking into account both perspectives and trying to find common ground.²
Be sensitive to the basic survival needs of the family.²
Provide the family with basic information about special education law (e.g., encouragement of student self-determination and self-advocacy).²
Use a bilingual, bicultural interpreter who is familiar with the cultural perspectives of both the family and the student with disabilities.²

Culturally reciprocity and family involvement often work in harmony. In practice, culturally responsive transition planning allows a transition counselor to mediate between the different visions of the future that the students with disabilities, the family, and the counselor himself or herself may hold. This kind of planning allows the counselor to take into account all perspectives, and try to find common ground. One of the most important things the counselor can do is to be sensitive to the basic survival needs of the family. Some families may expect their children to primarily help around the house once they finish school, or work at a family business. It is important to understand that the work the child will perform may be essential to the family, and to take this into account while coming up with a transition plan for the students with disabilities. The family may also be unfamiliar with special education law and the many different ways that this can affect both the students with disabilities and themselves. By ensuring that parents understand special education law, it is more likely that the students will be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities that it affords. Finally, it is wise to involve a bilingual, bicultural interpreter who is familiar with the cultural perspectives of the family, in order to negotiate any unforeseen cultural bumps.

Strategy 4: Attention to Interagency Collaboration

Definition: Interagency collaboration occurs when stakeholders and related agencies work together to solve problems, enhance communication, and improve services.

What the research says:

A working relationship among rehabilitation professionals, students with disabilities, family, and the school system is imperative.¹⁰
Interagency agreements between VR agencies and local education agencies can help get students with disabilities involved early in transition planning.¹¹

Best practice:

VR counselors should devise ways (i.e., interagency agreements) to determine key partners in the community that could help support successful transition for students with disabilities.

Interagency collaboration happens when stakeholders and related agencies work together to improve services and solve problems. For students with disabilities, many stakeholders and agencies exist to help them succeed in career and in life. Nevertheless, collaboration among these agencies must be well aligned in order to achieve maximum success. Eleven studies emphasized that VR counselors should be working alongside the family, schools, and other related stakeholders to achieve the best outcomes for the students with disabilities they serve. According to two of these studies, the earlier such collaborative relationships are established the better. For instance, one of the studies stated that the establishment of cooperative agreements between VR agencies and local education agencies can help students with disabilities get an earlier start in the transition-planning process. The other study suggested that VR counselors begin working with special education personnel as soon as possible to assist with career-related activities and interventions.

Work-Based Learning: Pre-Employment Transition Services Requirement 2

Work-Based Learning

Results addressed three areas:

Previous or early work experience can lead to employment.
Supplemental Social Security Income payments can impede employment.
Mentoring and other work-based social supports can lead to successful employment.

Research has shown work-based learning to be an effective educational strategy that can lead to employment. When reviewing the research on this topic, three characteristics from the findings emerged:

Previous or early work experience can lead to employment.
Supplemental Social Security Income payments can impede employment.
Mentoring and other work-based social supports can lead to successful employment.

Strategy 1: Leverage early work experience.

Definition: Early work experiences provide students opportunities to participate in the workforce firsthand before graduating from high school.

What the research says:

Previous work experience is a predictor of future work experience among persons with disabilities.¹²
Skills learned in “practical on-the-job situations" are the primary benefit of work-based learning.¹³

Best practice:

VR counselors should help students identify internships, volunteer activities, and short-term jobs for students to participate in.

Previous work experience is in any work-related experience that a student has engaged in before graduating from high school. This includes

Previous paid employment
Internships and
Volunteer or community work.

VR counselors can help students identify internships, volunteer activities, and short-term jobs for students to participate in. When it comes to future employment for students with disabilities, work-based learning experiences can play a critical role. Nine studies discussed the value of previous or early work experience in supporting employment posttransition. For instance, three of those studies reported that paid work during secondary school predicted employment following graduation. Four studies identified the skills learned in “practical on-the-job situations” as the primary benefit of work-based learning. While participants in all these studies cited internships or other time-limited transitional employment as a good way to gain this experience, VR counselors who participated in a series of focus groups recommended developing and practicing interviewing, communication, and job-readiness skills in a variety of different ways, including

Camps
Summer jobs
School-sponsored work activities
After-school employment
Volunteer work
Job shadowing
Supported employment
On-the-job trainings and
Internships.

Strategy 2: Carefully Consider Supplemental Social Security Income.

Definition: Supplemental Social Security Income payments are benefits paid to adults with disabilities and children who have limited income and resources.

What the research says:

Limits on the earning potential that accompany Supplemental Social Security Income payments can be a barrier to employment.¹⁴
Waivers of some Supplemental Social Security rules may lead to better employment outcomes.¹⁵

Best practice:

VR counselors should carefully weigh the pros and cons of Supplemental Social Security Income payments and how they affect employment.

Supplemental Social Security Income payments are benefits that disabled adults and children with limited income receive.

For VR counselors to assist students with disabilities effectively, they need to be familiar with the different kinds of barriers that can impede employment. Four studies discussed the role that Supplemental Social Security Income plays in encouraging or discouraging employment among students with disabilities. Each of the studies identified Supplemental Social Security Income payments as a negative predictor of employment. Two of the studies looked at a program that offered waivers of certain Supplemental Social Security Income rules. One of these two studies evaluated three different waiver programs and found that they led to better employment outcomes for students with disabilities. At the same time, access to Supplemental Social Security Income may be critical to some individuals with disabilities.

Strategy 3: Know what work-based social supports exist, including mentoring.

Definition: Mentoring and other work-based social supports are any work-based social support or advocate for a student with disabilities.

What the research says:

Work-based social supports—including mentoring and identification of role models or other work-based advocates—can lead to successful employment.¹³

Best practice:

VR counselors should be aware of the types of social supports that exist for students with disabilities and should develop strategies to identify potential role models, mentors, and advocates.

Mentoring and other work-based social support include advocates who support students with disabilities in a workplace setting. These can include formal mentors, implicit or formal role models, or any person in a position to advocate for students with disabilities.

Five studies cited the importance of work-based social supports such as mentoring and role modeling as an important factor that can lead to successful employment. In one study, students with disabilities reported increased self-confidence following an employment-training program, which some youth attributed to their contact with peer mentors. Furthermore, both parents and youth in the study said that they would have liked to continue with a mentor or buddy system after the program ended. In another study, VR counselors who participated in a focus group suggested providing visually impaired youth with both blind and sighted role models as a means of developing positive social skills.

VR counselors need to be aware of the types of social supports that exist for students with disabilities and develop strategies to identify potential role models, mentors, and advocates.

Workplace Readiness: Pre-Employment Transition Services Requirement 4

Workplace Readiness

Results addressed three areas:

Communication/interview skills are critical for obtaining employment.
Social skills supports are imperative.
Transportation proficiency is a factor in employment.

Research shows that workplace readiness can also lead to employment. When reviewing the research on this topic, three characteristics from the findings emerged:

Communication and interview skills are critical for obtaining employment
Social skills supports are imperative, and
Transportation proficiency is a factor in employment

Strategy 1: Leverage communication/interviewing exercises

Definition: Communication/interview skills are specifically those skills needed to support successful employment through interactions with potential employers, supervisors, and coworkers, or with customers.

What the research says:

Peer social/communication skills are a significant predictor of employment.^{16, 17}

Best practice:

VR counselors should leverage communication exercises (such as mock interviews) to helps students with disabilities develop the skills needed to support successful employment.

Communication and interview skills are the skills needed to support successful employment through interactions with potential colleagues and customers. These skills include such activities as listening, following directions, understanding expectations, presenting a positive attitude, making decisions, and problem solving.

Nine studies reported on the area of social communication and interviews as important for students with disabilities obtaining employment. A general conclusion of four studies reporting on communication skills for job interviews, cultural differences, and general interpersonal communication indicated that communication competencies were important to students with disabilities or emerged as predictive factors for successful employment postschool.

VR counselors should leverage communication exercises (such as mock interviews) to helps students with disabilities develop the skills needed to support successful employment.

Strategy 2: Emphasize social interactions

Definition: Social skills (not necessarily learned through work) refer to social interactions or contact needed to function successfully in collaboration with superiors and peers.

What the research says:

Inclusion of social skills training for students with disabilities is typically related to work performance and success with coworkers, employers, and customers.^7,18
Social activities related to peer interactions were significantly related to postschool employment.¹⁷

Best practice:

Since social skills cover a vast range of different skills sets, it is important for VR counselors to be able to identify both the social skill areas that need improvement and the opportunities that exist to improve them.

Social skills are the social interactions required to function and collaborate successfully with superiors and peers. These skills may include but are not limited to such social graces as showing respect, being helpful, requesting assistance, managing time, maintaining good hygiene, and dressing appropriately in the workplace.

A total of seven studies were identified as addressing the topic of social skills in terms of development of, need for, or barrier to successful transition programming for students with disabilities. Social skills training for students with disabilities mostly addresses work performance and successful relationships with coworkers, employers, and customers. One study found that social activities in relation to peer interactions were meaningfully related to postschool employment. Similarly, another study found that social skill affect how students with disabilities understand the use of social skill at work, home, and in social life.

Social skills cover a vast range of different skills sets, which means it is important for VR counselors to be able to both identify the kinds of social skills their students with disabilities need to improve and the opportunities that exist to improve them (for example, work-based learning, mock-interviews, and occasions to interact with peers).

Strategy 3: Transportation Proficiency

Definition: Transportation proficiency refers to the ability to deliberately and successfully navigate different modes of transportation to reach specific destinations.

What the research says:

Transportation proficiency is a significant factor in both school-based and postschool-based employment.^{16, 17}

Best practice:

VR counselors should help their students with disabilities become familiar with different modes of transportation. This could involve practicing taking the bus, train, or other methods of getting to work.

Transportation proficiency refers to the ability to successfully traverse different modes of transportation to reach a specific destination.

Seven studies identified the importance of transportation proficiency. Two of those studies reported that transportation and travel independence were statistically significant predictors for postschool employment for the visually impaired. Three other studies found that difficulty with transportation was a significant predictor of failure to achieve postschool employment.

VR counselors should help their students with disabilities become familiar with different modes of transportation. This could involve practice taking the bus, train, or other methods of getting to work.

Instruction in Self-Advocacy: Pre-Employment Transition Services Requirement 5

This section will go over best practices for self-advocacy, a Pre-Employment Transition Services requirement under WIOA.

Setting the Stage

Awareness of disability is needed in order to disclose, and subsequently self-advocate.
Students with disabilities must be aware of the accommodations and protections that exist for people with disabilities before they can access them.

Some potential barriers that students with disabilities might experience to self-disclosure and advocacy center on the lack of knowledge about the kinds of protections available to them, or even about their disability itself. This is a problem, because students with disabilities must be aware of what accommodations and protections exist before they can self-advocate to receive them.

Self-Advocacy and Employment

Results addressed three areas supporting self-advocacy:
- Self-determination
- Disclosure
- Workplace accommodations
Clear and consistent need to involve students with disabilities in discussion of risks and benefits of self-advocacy

After looking at the literature, three key areas were identified as addressing self-advocacy: self-determination, disclosure, and workplace accommodations. Research also showed that there is a clear and consistent need to involve students with disabilities in discussions of the risks and benefits of self-advocacy.

Self Advocacy Strategy 1: Encourage self-determination

Definition: Self-determination is the ability to plan, make decisions, and carry out the activities that one considers to be of personal worth.

What the research says:

Self-determination skills are linked with an individual’s quality of life.^{19, 20}

Self-determination leads to increases in satisfaction, competence/productivity, empowerment/independence, and social belonging. ^{19, 20}

Training in self-determination teaches students with disabilities about potential accommodations, and their rights regarding workplace discrimination. ^19,20

Self-determination, a concept closely related to self-advocacy, has been linked to an increase in a person with disabilities’ quality of life. Self-determination is an integral part of quality of life, and is included in Schalock’s definition of the eight core quality-of-life domains. While quality of life is subjective, it is measured through the domains of satisfaction, competence and productivity, empowerment and independence, and social belonging. When people with disabilities show higher levels in these domains, they are likely to have a higher quality of life.

Because self-advocacy and, subsequently, self-determination are important to an individual’s quality of life, we should figure out how to ensure that students with disabilities have the skills necessary to advocate for themselves in the workplace. Three studies indicate that one of the benefits of self-advocacy training is that students with disabilities learn to identify potential accommodations that they can access to support gainful employment. They also learn what their rights are if they happen to be discriminated against in the workplace.

Self Advocacy Strategy 1: Encourage self-determination (continued)

Best practice:

VR counselors should look for and suggest opportunities that will allow students to exercise their decision making skills. This could include having them create academic/career goals, developing schedules, thinking through post–high school aspirations, and so forth.

As a best practice, VR counselors should look for and suggest opportunities that will allow students to exercise their decisionmaking skills. This could include having them create academic/career goals, developing schedules, thinking through post–high school aspirations, and so forth.

Self Advocacy Strategy 2: Train in disclosure

Definition: Disclosure is the practice of revealing a diagnosis of disability and the nature of the effects that disability can have on the individual.

What the research says:

Studies indicate that students who disclose their disability are more likely to remain employed postschool.^{2, 8, 16, 21, 22, 23}
Students who receive transition orientation in high school are more likely to disclose a disability early in their college career.²³

Likewise, studies have shown that students who disclose their disability are more likely to remain employed after they leave school. However, these same studies also note that only low levels of disclosure training are available to students with disabilities. This means that there is a need for stronger trainings in disclosure skills to be available, for all disability types and levels of severity.

Self Advocacy Strategy 2: Train in disclosure (continued)

Best practice: Transition orientation services should inform students about the kinds of services available to them postgraduation (either at an institution of higher education or in the workplace), and teach students that these services can only be accessed if a disability is disclosed.²³

To meet this need for stronger disclosure trainings, studies recommend that students receive transition orientation services while still enrolled in high school.

Pre-Employment Transition Services, Self-Advocacy Strategy 3: Workplace Accommodations

Definition: Workplace Accommodations are reasonable adjustments to the work environment that allows an individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job.

What the research says:

Only 35 percent of students with a disability, and who have received accommodations in secondary school, disclose their disability in postsecondary school. ²⁴

Only 24 percent of students who had received accommodations in secondary school received accommodations in postsecondary.²⁴

Best practice:

Students with disabilities should be engaged in activities that help them identify potential accommodations to support the goal of gainful employment.²⁴

Requesting appropriate workplace accommodations is a skill that can help students with disabilities find and maintain employment. Students with disabilities may not be aware of the accommodations that are available to them in postsecondary education or that they can reasonably ask for in the workplace. VR counselors should ensure that the students with disabilities they work with are engaged in activities that support identifying potential accommodations. This might include going over with students withdisabilities what accommodations are available in the workplace and having them identify what accommodations they need most to succeed. Having students with disabilities practice asking for workplace accommodations in mock-settings might also help them develop the self-advocacy skills necessary for making these types of requests.

Citations

¹ Newman L, Wagner M, Cameto R, Knokey, AM. The post-high school outcomes of youth with disabilities up to 4 Years after high school. National Center for Special Education Research. 2014. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED505448.pdf

² Greene G. Transition of culturally and linguistically diverse youth with disabilities: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. 2014;40(3):239-245.

³ Barrera I, Corso RM, Macpherson D. Skilled dialogue: Strategies for responding to cultural diversity in early childhood. Brookes Publishing, PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624; 2003.

⁴ Archer CM. Culture bump and beyond. Culture bound: bridging the cultural gap in language teaching. 1986:170.

⁵ Brewer D, Erickson W, Karpur A, Unger D, Sukyeong P, Malzer V. Evaluation of a Multi-site Transition to Adulthood Program for Youth with Disabilities. Journal of Rehab. 2011;77(3):3-13.

⁶ Fabian ES. Urban youth with disabilities: Factors affecting transition employment. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin. 2007;50(3):130-138.

⁷ Crudden A. Transition to employment for students with visual impairments: Components for success. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 2012;106(7):389-399.

⁸ Stone RA, Delman J, McKay CE, Smith LM. Appealing Features of Vocational Support Services for Hispanic and non-Hispanic Transition Age Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions. J Behav Health Serv Res. 2015 Oct;42(4):452-65.

⁹ Tilson G, Simonsen M. The personnel factor: Exploring the personal attributes of highly successful employment specialists who work with transition-age youth. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. 2013;38(2):125-137

¹⁰ Awsumb JM, Balcazar FE, Alvarado F.Vocational rehabilitation transition outcomes of youth with disabilities from a Midwestern state. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education.2016;30(1):48-6

¹¹ Giesen JM, Cavenaugh BS. Transition-age youths with visual impairments in vocational rehabilitation: a new look at competitive outcomes and services. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 2012;106(8):475-487

¹² Wehman P, Sima AP, Ketchum J, West MD, Chan F, Luecking R. Predictors of successful transition from school to employment for youth with disabilities. J Occup Rehabil. 2015 Jun;25(2):323-34.

¹³ Madaus JM. Improving the transition to career for college students with learning disabilities: Suggestions from graduates.Journal of Postsecondary Education & Disability. 2006;19(1):85-93.

¹⁴ Wehman, P., Lau, S., Molinelli, A., Brooke, V., Thompson, K., Moore, C., & West, M. (2012). Supported employment for young adults with autism spectrum disorder: Preliminary data. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 37(3), 160–169.

¹⁵ Hemmeter J.Earnings and disability program participation of youth transition demonstration participants after 24 months. Social Security Bulletin. 2014;74(1):1-25.

¹⁶ Carter EW, Austin D, Trainor AA. Factors associated with the early work experiences of adolescents with severe disabilities. Intellect Dev Disabil. 2011 Aug;49(4):233-47.

¹⁷ McDonnall MM. Predictors of employment for youths with visual impairments: Findings from the second national longitudinal transition study (duplicate). Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 2011;105(8):453-466.

¹⁸ Verhoef JA, Roebroeck ME, van Schaardenburgh N, Floothuis MC, Miedema HS. Improved occupational performance of young adults with a physical disability after a vocational rehabilitation intervention. J Occup Rehabil. 2014;24(1):42-51.

¹⁹ Foley KR, Dyke P, Girdler S, Bourke J, Leonard H. Young adults with intellectual disability transitioning from school to post-school: a literature review framed within the ICF. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2012 Oct 1;34(20):1747-64.

²⁰ Lachapelle Y, Wehmeyer ML, Haelewyck MC, Courbois Y, Keith KD, Schalock R, Verdugo MA, Walsh PN. The relationship between quality of life and self-determination: an international study. Journal of intellectual disability research. 2005 Oct 1;49(10):740-4.

²¹ Lindsay S, McDougall C, Sanford R. Disclosure, accommodations and self-care at work among adolescents with disabilities. Disabil Rehabil. 2013;35(26):2227-36.

²² Lindsay S, DePape AM. Exploring differences in the content of job interviews between youth with and without a physical disability. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0122084.

²³ Newman LA, Madaus JW, Javitz HS. Effect of transition planning on postsecondary support receipt by students with disabilities. Exceptional Children. 2016;82(4):497-514.

²⁴ Newman LA, Madaus JW. Reported accommodations and supports provided to secondary and postsecondary students with disabilities: National perspective. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals. 2015 Dec;38(3):173-81.

Next: After watching the course presentation video and completing the learning check, continue to Resource 1.