Career Education

Career Education

Week 1
Here is a career exploration opportunity--get to know community workers. Contact local people in different jobs. Interview local workers about their jobs and talk about the similarities and differences between jobs. This will be a good start to the career portfolio.

Week 2
Develop a survival kit for college. Move beyond doing the trouble shooting for your students. Set up situations for them to take over management of things and being independent. For example, think about local numbers for bus routes, register for RFB&D and Bookshare, add all the technology-related contacts for repair and support needs, look into a refillable credit card for supplies and emergencies, and connect with reader services and online news services.

Week 3
Promote both volunteer and paid work opportunities. Have students make a list of local organizations they may work with during school and in the summer. Script the call with them. Have them talk about themselves, what skills they may offer, and why they want to help the organization. Call the organization and follow up with a letter.

Week 4
Support development of mentorship opportunities with adults who are blind or have low vision. Ask students to think of questions that they may ask visually impaired adults, such as what role did your family play in making you an independent adult or what adaptive tools supported your education program? For older students, encourage them to mentor younger kids too.

Resources:

Resources for the Expanded Core Curriculum (RECC)

Sewell, D. (1999). Career education for applied academics. Austin: Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Career Education for Applied Academics

Wehman, P. (1992). Life beyond the classroom: Transition strategies for young people with disabilities. Baltimore: Paul Brooks.

Wolffe, K. (Eds.). (1999). Skills for Success. New York: AFB Press.

RFB & D

Bookshare

For local people interested in mentoring: Contact American Council of the Blind, National Federation of the Blind and contact alumnae groups from schools for the blind.

DCMP Resources:

The Art of Persuasive Writing

Real Life 101: College Prep