Article Summary
A New
Era: Revitalizing Special Education for Children and their Families
Dr. Paul Wehman
provided testimony to the President’s Commission on Excellence in
Special Education Transition Task Force Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee,
on April 18, 2002. Following are specific research areas that Dr.
Wehman feels must be addressed.
Research regarding employment
outcomes should include longitudinal research on the benefits
experienced by students who have had real work experiences
before they graduate versus those who have not. Research is
also needed on how to include youth with disabilities in
One-Stop Career Centers as well as how One-Stop Career Centers
can work most effectively with youth with disabilities.
Additionally, research is needed on how businesses and schools
can work together most effectively to facilitate employment
outcomes for youth with disabilities. Finally, Research is
needed to determine the effects of participation in the Social
Security Administration Ticket to Work Program for students ages
14 to 18, as well as on the effects of SSI redetermination.
Research on Postsecondary Education is
needed on the differential effects on admission rates, as well as on
employment outcomes, for students with disabilities who have used
accommodations in high school versus those who have not. Research on
the effectiveness of strategies and academic support techniques on
student access, performance, and retention in higher education must be
investigated. There is no current research in the area on which models
of service delivery most effectively encourage self-identification of a
disability and use of the accommodations provided. Additionally, the
specific impact of comprehensive career planning services and their
ultimate effect on the long-term employment of students within their
chosen careers should also be examined. Finally, the barriers to, and
supports for, succeeding in postsecondary environments, as perceived by
students with disabilities, must be identified, and research is needed
on the strategies or accommodations that students themselves believe to
be most effective in overcoming those barriers.
Wehman, P. (2002). A New Era:
Revitalizing Special Education for Children and their Families Focus
on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(4), 194 – 197 |
Employment