Implications of Research Findings on Vocational and Career Education for the Mentally Handicapped. Occasional Paper No. 33.

Professionals in the educational field have recognized the special problems of the mentally retarded and since the early part of the 1950s have attempted to find out just how to intervene between the limitations of the retarded and the demands in the world of competitive work. Since some retarded individuals become competent employees while others do not, studies have examined differences between these persons. Studies have also examined problems which have caused retarded individuals trouble on their jobs--poor personal and social skills, poor work habits, and fault of employers, coordinators, or parents. Professionals have attempted to take into account these conditions. For example, attempts are being made to broaden the range of training opportunities through cooperative efforts with other disciplines--notably vocational rehabilitation and vocational education. This occurred in the 1960s at about the same time change began to make itself felt in many social institutions influenced by humanism, resulting in the concept called mainstreaming--the integration of handicapped into regular classrooms. But is integration the best policy? Studies show that there appears to be a real danger that handicapped students will become lost in regular classes, or they will not receive the special support they need from instructors and students of regular classes. Research suggests what educators should be doing with the mildly retarded: (1) Label the students, but not refer to them as "mildly retarded"; (2) give them a highly structured program which recognizes their delayed readiness and their slower than average academic progress; (3) present material in a competency-based, individualized format, and (4) plan enrichment experiences. (SH)