TITLE:
Compulsory School Is Over and Now? Vocational Experiences of Women with Intellectual Disability
AUTHORS:
Helga Fasching
KEYWORDS:
Intellectual Disability, Women, Vocational Orientation/Experience, Work Placement, Vocational Participation
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.5 No.10,
June
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: This contribution
explores the question of the vocational experiences which women with intellectual
disabilities have after leaving school. The main part of the contribution
contains an analysis of three interviews with women with intellectual
disabilities about their post-school vocational orientation. The research
method applied for the analysis was grounded theory. The results show that the
three women changed from school directly to a sheltered workshop/occupational
therapy or to external vocational preparation measures. They were only able to
gain work experience on the regular labour market in the framework of work
placement, which led them to express their wish to find employment on the
regular labour market. They were successful in their pursuit of vocational
participation on the regular labour market. However, they perceive the
transition from school to the regular labour market as a cumbersome vocational
orientation process.