Occupational Experiences for Handicapped Adolescents in Day Schools. Bulletin, 1937, No. 30
Author: Martens, Elise H.
Date: 1937-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Adolescents,Enrollment Trends,Physical Disabilities,Career Choice,Vocational Adjustment,Day Schools,Special Classes,Mental Retardation,Job Skills,Job Training,School Role,Student Placement,Vocational Education,Mainstreaming,Equal Opportunities (Jobs),Visual Impairments,Blindness,Deafness,Hearing Impairments

The occupational adjustment of handicapped adults is a matter that vitally concerns the schools in which handicapped children are taught. It is not a problem that can be ignored until the child becomes of employable age or until he is ready to leave school to go to work. The years which he spends in the classroom must at least furnish the foundation upon which he can build a specific occupational training. They must bring to him an intelligent guidance for making a wise occupational choice. They must give to him a basis for making that choice through self-analysis. They must teach him to compensate for his limitations through service well rendered in a field from which his handicap does not exclude him. In some cases they should furnish the actual vocational preparation which shall equip him for wage-earning responsibilities. The first step in encouraging the further development of any type of program is to find out what is being done about it. Accordingly, the present study represents an investigation of what day schools are doing in the occupational preparation of mentally and physically handicapped adolescents. It is not an exhaustive survey of all school systems, but a preliminary study of a group of representative cities in which progressive practices are under way in the education of one or more groups of handicapped children. The cities included in the study and the number responding to the inquiry for each type of handicap under consideration are given in Table 1. The term "mentally handicapped," as defined in the questionnaire used, refers to pupils who are or have been members of special classes for the mentally deficient or subnormal. For these, data are available from 43 cities. The "physically handicapped" studied include the blind and the partially seeing, the crippled, and the deaf and the hard-of-hearing. For these groups 28, 36, and 37 cities, respectively, furnished information. In most cases the questionnaires were filled in by the director, supervisor, or principal directly in charge of the educational program developed in the city for the group in question. All quotations given, unless otherwise indicated, are from the comments made by these persons, who by preparation and experience are well qualified to make evaluations and suggestions. Schools alone cannot solve the problem of vocational adjustment of handicapped persons; however, the school, rehabilitation service, employment agency, and the employer can together bring about an adjustment that without such combined effort would be an impossibility. What some schools are doing about the problem is portrayed in this bulletin. What all schools should be doing about it is suggested, directly or indirectly, in connection with the presentation of facts. It is hoped that, in light of these facts, many school systems will find it possible to make further studies of the local situations, determine what additional responsibility should and can be accepted, and take steps toward the realization of the ideals for a program of occupational experiences for handicapped adolescents. A list of selected references is provided. (Contains 5 tables and 10 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]