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ECC at Perkins: Career education readies kids for world of work
Career education helps students develop the skills and self-awareness they need to find their dream job.
Career education is one of nine life skills kids with visual impairments and multiple disabilities learn through the Expanded Core Curriculum at Perkins. Designed to get kids ready for life after school, our career education is all about experiential learning. Our students enjoy structured visits to community sites, discussions with real people who perform various jobs and classes that build important work life skills.
Here are just a few of the ways we help set students up working life after school, and a bit more on why career education is such an important part of the Expanded Core Curriculum.
Why is career education so important
The national rate of unemployment and underemployment of working-age adults who are blind or have additional disabilities is disproportionately high. Kids with disabilities also aren’t always given the same opportunities for first jobs like babysitting or lawn mowing that their sighted peers benefit from.
That means this area needs attention throughout the school years to help students with vision loss develop marketable job skills.
How is career education taught?
- Vocational planning: Our students work with teachers to identify their skills, interests and dream job opportunities. From there, teachers help students develop a sense of what types of jobs might align with their interests and career aspirations, and work on skills that will help set them up for success in those fields. For example, a student might have really strong social skills and be interested in radio. So they could take classes in the Perkins radio station, both to learn more about radio, sharpen their social skills and get practice in work-like environments.
- Experiential learning: There are a number of campus jobs available to students, from receptionist to cashier at the cafe. Worksite visits are also really important for kids and teens with visual impairments and multiple disabilities, as they offer a place for candid conversations about what it takes to succeed with employers in different sectors.
- Expectation management: Because students with disabilities don’t always have the same exposure or access to early career education opportunities, they may have skewed expectations of what’s available to them. That’s not to say kids should limit their aspirations, and it’s important to be clear that most jobs can be adapted. But it’s important to balance ambition with reality.
- Self advocacy: This skill is so important that it has its own section in the Expanded Core Curriculum. It’s also a huge part of career education. Here, kids learn to talk about their skills with confidence and pride, and also speak up for the types of accommodations they need in a workplace.
What is the Expanded Core Curriculum?
The Expanded Core Curriculum is built of of nine life skills Perkins students with visual impairments, deafblindness and additional disabilities learn on top of their core academics. It covers everything from using technology to independent living to socializing with peers — knowledge most sighted children acquire by observing everyday life. The Expanded Core Curriculum gives students who are blind, deafblind and have additional disabilities a toolbox of crucial skills they need to succeed at school, in social situations, at home, on the job and everywhere else.
