Connecting Youth With Significant Disabilities to Paid Work: An Innovative School-Based Intervention

Early work experiences are associated with subsequent employment for students with significant disabilities, but they rarely receive such opportunities. This article presents two case studies illustrating a school-based intervention that connected students with significant disabilities to paid work during high school and included training for special educators, a team approach to employment planning, job connections, and postsecondary planning. We collected and analyzed data on employment outcomes over 18 months from the perspectives of students, their parents, and teachers during and after the intervention. One student was successfully connected to a paid job; the other student was not. We describe the proposed intervention, in-depth student experiences, and lessons learned for informing a randomized control trial evaluating the intervention.