Part I Introduction
1 Introduction
Transition to Employment for Student with Disabilities
At some point, everyone must transition to the workforce. Whether it is in their teenage years as a student, or as a post-secondary graduate, employment is something every student thinks about. It can be challenging and scary to search for work and get a job, often even more so for students with disabilities.
For a student with a , the process of finding and retaining employment is typically the same as for any student. However, there may be additional factors that they will need to consider as they search for work:
- Does the nature of their disability limit the kind of tasks they can do?
- Should the student their disability to an employer?
- Will they need to perform their job?
- How can the student highlight their abilities?
- How can they ensure that they will be successful in the workplace?
These extra considerations may cause some students to approach the transition to work with some degree of apprehension. However, making use of career planning tools and putting effective job search strategies in place can ease the student’s mind and help them find and keep the job they want (Alberta Learning Information Service [ALIS], 2016a).
The term disability is defined as a functional limitation caused by a long-term or recurring physical, sensory, mental, physical or learning impairment that restricts the ability of a person to perform the daily activities necessary to participate in learning or daily living. Disabilities can be visible or invisible.
Disclosure refers to the act of making information about a disability known. In the employment setting, disclosure would be the act of an employee informing their employer about their disability.
In this guide, accommodation refers to equipment, practices or policies that enable an employee with a disability to succeed in the workplace. Examples of accommodation include additional equipment or modifications to existing equipment, flexible hours of work or modified work schedule, additional training, modified work environment, and customized work duties .
