Rehabilitation Counseling, Special Education, and Vocational Special Needs Education: Three Transition Disciplines

Abstract

LEGISLATION and litigation of the last 15 years have brought about major changes in employment preparation and employment opportunities for people with disabilities Schutz, 1988). The purpose of this paper is to explore the involvement of three key professions, rehabilitation counseling, special education, and vocational special needs education, in providing transition services. A brief review of background and recent changes in employment preparation of students with disabilities will be followed by descriptions of the three professions and their involvement in this area. Recommendations for a three level transdisciplinary approach to service delivery will be presented based on the preceding information.

Programs for Adolescents with Mild Handicaps: Evaluating Where We Are and Contemplating Change

“…Other promising ideas include the use of remedial programs, including before and after-school tutoring (peer and adult-mediated), parent training, and services to help students find and maintain jobs during the summer months (e.g., school-based job clubs). Finally, districts would pursue inservice or related training options for teachers in such areas as content organizers (see Derr & Peters, 1986), team-teaching techniques, interagency collaboration (see Kortering & Edgar, 1988;Rusch & Phelps, 1987;Szymanski & King, 1989;Szymanski, Hanley-Maxwell, & Asselin, 1990) and computer-assisted instruction (see Okolo, Rieth, & Bahr, 1989;Woodward, Carnine, & Collins, 1988).…”

<p>Perspectives on Employing Individuals with Special Needs</p>

“…Successful employment transition of nontraditional employees needs more professional coordination and transdisciplinary collaboration than individual service delivery systems (Szymanski et al, 1990). Accordingly, the following recommendations are offered: 1.…”

“…This response demonstrated that either employment transition plans needed further communication among legislative agencies and communities or the appropriateness and effectiveness of government regulations should be reevaluated. Disability professionals, therefore, play a crucial role in bridging the gap between employers and individuals with disabilities and facilitating the interdisciplinary collaboration for the success of employment transition for individuals with disabilities (Szymanski et al, 1990).…”

“…However, the current low employment rate of special needs populations seems to result from poor transition planning, lack of program coordination, and insufficient information resources (Szymanski et al, 1990). This study was conducted to further understand the existing obstacles and possible resolutions to the improvement of employment of individuals with disabilities.…”

“…Further, employers needed some flexible administration strategies for supervising these nontraditional employees (National Council on the Handicapped, 1987). That is, employer services should be included in transition plans to assure effective transdisciplinary coordination among employment transition service delivery agencies (Szymanski et al, 1990).…”