The transition from school to work is complex for all young people, but those with disabilities face particular obstacles. A national study reported that 43% of young people with disabilities remained unemployed three to five years after completing high school. The high rate of dropout among students in special education further hampers their chances for vocational success. Barriers to successful employment include negative expectations of employers, teachers, and others about the capabilities of young people with disabilities. Students with disabilities also tend to have lower expectations for themselves, and are twice as likely as their non-disabled counterparts to have no educational aspirations beyond high school. Young people with disabilities are often pigeonholed into certain types of jobs and discouraged from pursuing other careers.
In this paper, we employ a career taxonomy as the conceptual framework for looking at how young people with disabilities move into the work force. The career taxonomy is based in part on O*NET and the Standard Occupational Classification System. We analyze data on how many people with different functional limitations are currently working in different job categories as well as the job outlook for each category. We identify barriers to employment faced by youth with disabilities and introduce findings on the value of role models in overcoming those obstacles. This conceptual framework, which maximizes students’ opportunity for choice and self-determination, was developed as part of the creation of an Internet site featuring adults with disabilities who can serve as role models for transition-age students.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to: 1) identify barriers to employment faced by young people with disabilities, 2) understand disability statistics on numbers of people in different job categories and which job categories show the greatest growth, and 3) describe how exposure to role models with disabilities can motivate young people to explore a variety of careers.
Keywords: Disability, Statistics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Handout (.ppt format, 27.5 kb)