VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 2
74
Jennifer L. Cmar, Ph.D., COMS, jcmar@colled.msstate.edu,
Michele C. McDonnall, Ph.D., CRC
The National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low
Vision
Mississippi State University
Helping students prepare to transition from school to the workplace is a key
focus of teachers of students with visual impairments. Research has been
conducted to identify factors associated with success after high school, and one
factor consistently found to predict post-high school employment is early work
experiences (Mazzotti et al., 2016; McDonnall, 2010, 2011; McDonnall &
Crudden, 2009; Test et al., 2009; Wehman et al., 2015). Additional research has
documented that the type of work experience matters; in other words, not all work
experiences may have equal positive impacts on future employment. A study of
work experience programs indicated that results are mixed for the effectiveness of
these programs for youth with barriers to employment and that all programs with
A Curriculum for Teaching Job Search Skills to Youth
with Visual Impairments
