Lawrence R. Gordon

Factors Associated with the Employment Status of Handicapped Youth Exiting High School from 1979 to 1983

Factors associated with the employment status of handicapped youth were investigated in a sample of 462 youths from nine Vermont school districts. All students from these districts who exited high school between 1979 and 1983, and who had been receiving special education services, were identified. Interviews were conducted with 301 youths to solicit current employment status, employment and training history, and use of social services. Additional information regarding educational history, age, and community demographics was obtained through individual student records. Employment outcomes were related to secondary vocational and training experiences, controlling for geographic location, gender, and level of functioning. Results indicated that over half the sample were employed; that most of the youths found jobs through the “self-family-friend network”; that part-time or summer work during high school were predictors of percentage of time employed since high school and current wages. These findings were discussed in terms of their implications for researchers, service providers, and policy makers.

Housing choice and community success for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness

Consumer choice is a central principle of psychosocial rehabilitation and supported housing approaches. This study assessed level of housing choice and the relationship of choice to community success in supported housing demonstration projects in five states. Assessment of level of choice about housing revealed very limited housing options and a high degree of influence from service providers over housing choice. Despite few options, most respondents liked their housing option(s), and felt they had enough information to make a good housing decision. The relationship of choice to community success over time demonstrated that choice was positively related to housing satisfaction, residential stability, and psychological well-being. Discussion focuses on implications of the findings for mental health services and public policy.

Employment of Youth with and without Handicaps Following High School: Outcomes and Correlates

Factors associated with the employment status of students with and without handicaps were investigated in a sample of 133 youths from nine Vermont school districts. Students with handicaps who exited high school in 1984-85, and who had been receiving special education services, were identified and compared to non-college-bound, vocationally oriented students without handicaps. Two sets of interviews were conducted, one in 1986 and one in 1987. During these interviews, information was obtained on current employment status, employment and training history, social service utilization, and residential status. Additional information regarding educational history, age, and community demographics was obtained through individual student records. Employment, educational, and residential experiences were compared across both groups of former students. Results indicated that students without handicaps had more favorable post-high-school employment outcomes than students with handicaps. Across groups, males were more likely to be employed than females and employment was positively associated with paid work experiences during high school. Vocational class experience was positively associated with later employment for handicapped but not for nonhandicapped students. Although some changes in employment status over the 2-year period did occur, the majority of former students remained in the same employment status (full time, part time, or unemployed) for both years. The results of the study help to put the employment status of youth with handicaps into context and suggest both similarities and differences between students with and without handicaps in employment correlates.

Cognitive Set and Environmental Awareness

forms (with concentration primarily on colors exclusively or on shapes, lines, textures; and colors) and three cognitive sets which involved, respectively, evaluating the pleasantness of human influences in the environment, figuring out the values represented by the human influences, and imagining how man might make the environment more pleasant. The first two sets were intended to enhance the aesthetic quality of perceptual experience, and the latter three sets were designed primarily to increase awareness of environmental problems and possibilities for improvement. The more complex form of &dquo;abstract sensory focusing&dquo; and the set to imagine pleasant changes in the environment were the cognitive orientations which yielded the most interesting and important results in our research. The remainder of this introduction will discuss each of these two sets and present an overview of the main considerations we feel should be taken into account in designing new cognitive sets for enriching perceptual experience and environmental awareness. _ . ’ &dquo;Abstract sensory focusing&dquo; may be defined as concentrating intensely on sensory input in a given modality (e.g., vision) without thinking verbally and without considering the functional or everyday meaning of what one perceives. ln the case of vision, for example, such a set may take the form of concentrating on seeing the environment as a collection of abstract or functionally meaningless forms, consisting of different colored three-dimensional shapes. Orientations similar to this have long been used in aesthetic education (e.g., Linderman and Herberholz, 1969) to sharpen students’ observation of fine detail and appreciation for visual elements. Aesthetic theorists have also noted a kind of abstract openness to perceptual experience as a probable critical component of aesthetic appreciation (e.g., Osborne, 1970; Smith and Smith, 1970). Similarly, many writers on consciousness expansion have also proposed intense and often abstract sensory focusing in each sense modality as a means of heightening sensory awareness and pleasure and even attaining quasi-psychedelic experiences without drugs (Payne, 1973; Gunther, 1968; Lewis and Streitfeld,

An examination of lifestyle and adjustment in three community residential alternatives

Lifestyle normalization, community integration, adjustment, social support, and personal satisfaction were examined for 133 adults with mild and moderate retardation living in small group homes, supervised apartments, and with their natural families. Results of questionnaires and structured interviews with care providers showed that the residence settings supported quite different lifestyles with respect to independence, lifestyle normalization, and integration. Persons in supervised apartments achieved the most normative lifestyles with greater personal independence and community integration while reporting levels of lifestyle satisfaction and personal well-being similar to that of persons living with their own families. Results also showed that social integration, that is, participation in activities with peers without disabilities, was extremely limited for all participants, even those living in natural families. The study exemplifies the use of a residential typology to investigate the relationship of environmental factors to community adjustment. It also exemplifies the use of multiple perspectives and multiple measures to evaluate quality of life in community living alternatives.

Development, implementation, and findings of a continuing client satisfaction survey

Development of a client-satisfaction survey is described and details are given for sampling clients and iterating survey mailings on a monthly basis. Consent rates, response rates, confidentiality concerns, and costs are discussed on the basis of one year of data collection experience. Analyses revealed a general satisfaction factor and problem severity factor for both active and terminated clients. A factor of improvement was found for active clients. The utility of continuous monitoring of client satisfaction is discussed.

Groupthink: Deciding with the leader and the devil.

This study identified the impact of leadership style and devil’s advocacy upon the decision process, decision outcome quality, and groupthink symptoms for decision making groups. We employed 92 male and 56 female undergraduate business majors who were divided randomly into groups of three or four subjects. Each group completed the Lost at Sea decision making task with an assigned directive or participative leader and the presence or absence of a devil’s advocate. The findings indicate that regardless of the gender composition of the groups significantly lower quality decisions arose from groups with a directive rather than a participative leader. The devil’s advocate did not influence decision quality nor any of the other dependent measures nor was there any significant interaction with type of leadership. Our findings suggest that in terms of decision outcome quality, good leaders encourage open inquiry to yield diverse alternatives for problem solutions.

The effects of decision outcome dispersion upon organizational decision making

The effects of varying decision outcome dispersion on organizational decision making were investigated under individual and group decision making conditions. Thirty-six female and pg]36 male subjects made decisions for organizational decision scenarios in which outcomes affected primarily the decision maker, people other than the decision maker, or a group of which the decision maker was a member. Subjects rated their levels of perceived risk and confidence in their decisions and made decisions within a simulated context of either a small or a large organization. Results indicated that subjects perceived significantly less risk and more confidence in their decisions when outcomes affected primarily themselves rather than others regardless of whether the decisions were made individually or by a group. Males perceived their decisions as significantly more risky than females. Induced organizational size did not significantly influence decision making.