Do jobs identified as high and low preference in a video assessment correspond with high levels of performance on the jobs identified?

 Three individuals participating in a post- high school special education program on a university campus  Diego, Kyle, and Tasha  Selected by nomination from their post- high school teacher

 18-year old Hispanic male  Diagnosed with Downs Syndrome  Performance range of intellectual disability is in the moderate range

 18-year old male  Diagnosed with Williams Syndrome  Intellectual and adaptive behavior scale scores indicate performance in the moderate range of intellectual disability

 19-year old female  Diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy  Intelligence and adaptive behavior scale scores indicate performance in the mild-to-moderate range of intellectual disability

 Video Preference Assessment › Individual participant and researcher › 5 meter by 4 meter office on university campus  Job Locations and tasks  All in integrated community settings

 Stocking candy at a supermarket  Cutting 22-gauge phone wires at an AT lab on campus  Restocking DVD’s at a video rental center  Sorting bolts, screws, nuts, washers and other items at an agricultural systems technology center  Feeding chickens and other animals, brushing horses and cleaning facilities at a farm  Dusting/sweeping shelves and recreational vehicles at a repair facility.

 Research Design : Alternating Treatments Design › Effects of high and low preference video selections vs. job performance and choice of job  Independent Variable: › preference of jobs  Dependent Variable : › on-task performance at jobs

 Began with a video preference assessment session with each participant  Then participants performed high and low preference job tasks in community locations

 Program presented four screens › Each with an icon representing types of work and job tasks  Participants selected individual icons representing types of preferred work tasks  Participants watched 2-4 minute videos on jobs determined by computer  Selection screen gave participants opportunity to retain or discard a job  For low preference jobs participants did the same thing except they identified jobs they did not like

 One high preference job site and one low preference job site was established for each participant  2 Data Collectors › Unaware of participants’ preferences recorded performance at job sites  Primary data collector › Recorded participant performance, wrote narrative notes, and organized files  Secondary data collector › Drove the vehicle to community jobs, developed the job tasks, and served as inter-observer agreement recorder  First author › Checked procedural fidelity  Second author › Scheduled work sessions at each site

 Three 25 minute sessions at job sites › High preference › Low preference › Participants choice  Job sites randomly assigned to first, second, and third sessions › To avoid sequence effects

 High preference job was stocking candy in a supermarket  In all 10 choice sessions, Diego selected the high preference job Job Preference Low performance High Performance Performance Mean High Preference Job72%96%87.4% Low Preference Job29%90%63.9% Choice Session Job80%98%88.9% On-task performance at jobs

 High preference job was stocking videos in a video rental center.  Four choice sessions were at the high preference site and four were at the low preference site. Job Preference Low performance High Performance Performance Mean High Preference Job96%100%98.8% Low Preference Job45%100%73.4% Choice Session – High80%100%94.5% Choice Session - Low62%98%89% On-task performance at jobs

 High preference job was feeding animals at a farm.  In 5 choice sessions, Tasha selected the high preference job.  Tasha only completed one session at the low preference job. Job Preference Low performance High Performance Performance Mean High Preference Job92%98%95% Low Preference Job38%N/A Choice Session Job86%92%90% On-task performance at jobs

 Results of this study indicate that video preference assessment correlates with high and low job performance respectively.  Job performance relative to job preference varied across participants.  Results were variable and limited to three participants.  Findings suggest that further research on video preference assessment should be conducted

 Measure of actual productivity on jobs was not recorded. › Only on-task behavior  Pre-assessment in this study needed to be more extensive and provide a comprehensive measurement of all tasks without prompts  Did not consider a large sample of situations that may occur in the work place that may affect the participants experience and productivity

 Video preference assessment is worth looking into further, but still needs more evidence to be a standard practice in classrooms.  This could be beneficial to teachers who are working toward transition goals and vocational skills for students.  Although they had three students they took data on, only two of them actually completed all three job preferences to give them accurate data.

Doren, B., Lindstrom, L. & Miesch, J. (2011). Waging a Living: Career Development and Long-Term Employment Outcomes for Young Adults With Disabilities. Council for Exceptional Children, 77(4), Using case study methodology, researchers examined the career development process for a sample of individuals with disabilities. These students were also studied for their post school employment outcomes. The individuals that they used were working in living wage occupations seven to ten years after exiting high school. The article addresses factors that supported ongoing career advancement that was evident across all participants. Specific experiences and outcomes varied by gender.

Fisher, T.L., Harrison, E.M., Kleinhart, H.L. & Kleinhart, J.O. (2010). “I Can” and “I Did” – Self Advocacy for Young Students with Developmental Disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43 (2), This article discusses self-advocacy and self-determination for young students with significant intellectual disabilities. The different abilities discussed are selecting personal goals, planning steps toward goals, assessing one’s progress, making choices and self- monitoring and self evaluating one’s behavior. In the article the questions of how self-advocacy skills can be strengthened and what teachers can do to support this growth was addressed. This article describes the step-by-step procedures used by the Kentucky Youth Advocacy Project team to train students with disabilities and the personnel to increase self-advocacy and self- determination.