A Follow-Up Study Of Special Education Graduates

This study investigated the vocational and community adjustment of 129 special education high school graduates. A questionnaire was administered via the telephone to verbal subjects, their parents, and adult service providers. All subjects had received a minimum of 3 years of self-contained (5 to 6 hours daily) special education on regular school campuses and some had received community-based instruction. The sample comprised graduates between the years 1983 and 1985; 64% were male. The employment picture was not optimistic for these individuals. When work-related placements such as day activity centers and sheltered vocational placements were counted as employment, 48% of women and 75% of men were employed. Only 33% of the sample were employed competitively; a majority of these subjects were severely learning disabled. Subjects who were mentally retarded were employed largely in subsidized work; 4 were employed competitively. Most subjects (70%) were living with their families, 15% were in group homes, 12% were living independently, and 3% lived in institutions. For the most part, respondents were mobile in the community.