ABSTRACT
Students with disabilities and their families must consider carefully the nature of the secondary programs in which they are enrolled. Decisions made, knowledge learned, and skills acquired during this critical time can have an enormous impact on the quality of personal, social, educational, and economic opportunities available upon graduation. Although some students have personal and employment goals that require additional education, many students with disabilities plan on entering the workforce immediately upon graduation from high school. In this chapter, we make a case for vocational education being a major component of secondary programs for these students. We begin with a brief discussion of the goals of secondary education and options for students to consider for life after high school. We then defi ne vocational education, describe the components, and discuss how it can increase the likelihood that students with disabilities will be prepared for employment, providing them with the economic resources needed to pursue the lifestyle of their choice. We also describe how recent legislation is having a tremendous impact on vocational education, and emphasize the importance of transition planning and the development of self-determination skills.
