Work Experience Employers' Attitudes Regarding the Employability of Special Education Students

Special educators have become increasingly concerned with the relatively low rates of employment of special education graduates. It is estimated that 50 to 75 % of adults who are labeled handicapped in the United States are unemployed (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1983), where &dquo;handicapped&dquo; refers to in-dividuals with a wide variety of mild to severe cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities. Recent studies in Vermont and Colorado found that 30 to 45 % of former high school special education students were not working at all and that large percentages of those who had jobs were working part-time (70%) for very low wages (Hasazi, Gordon, & Roe, 1985; Mithaug, Horiuchi, & Fanning, 1985). This result is especially disturbing when we consider that most subjects in both the Vermont and Colorado studies were mildly handicapped. These recent studies seem to confirm the conclusion of earlier studies that, while employment rates of 70 % might be considered encouraging, these individuals are making a relatively unsuccessful transition to the world of work when we consider the high levels of part-time employment and very low wages (Heber & Dever, 1970).