by requirements for the degree of (Education) - NCRTM

primary focus of school problems should be concerned with functioning in
the community, and the curriculum should include both academic and voca-
tional training. Other aids in job preparation would include role playing
tours of business facilities, and visits to employment .agencies. Work
colonies and sheltered workshops can provide learning under approximately
normal-type work conditions. The physical environment, however, is consi-
dered secondary to the psychological requirements. Rehabilitation coun-
seling may aid considerably in obtaining successful placement, and follow-
up of job placements helps ensure continued and effective personal-social-
adjustment of the retardate. Finally, misconceptions concerning
economic
mentally retarded worker need to be explain:., through a Program of public
the
education with emphasis on discussion, publicity, and adult education
courses.
A number of problems relative to the employment of the retarded are:
i) the cost of training and education Pr0gram.s which make it possible for
the retarded to prepare themselves for employment, 2) the employer's fear
of the risk involved, especially fear of accidents, 3) the public attitude
that the mentally retarded person is a child, not an .adult, 4) physical
appearance rather than ability, 5) the problem of labeling people by clas-
sifications and intelligence quotients, 6) the need for sheltered housing
for some retarded who are successfully employed but who still need some
assistance in counseling and guidance during leisure hours in order to
maintain employment (Dybwad, 1962).
Focusing upon the retarded individual himself with regard to his par-.
ticular employment problems, a study by the Minneapolis School System
concluded that "behavior shaping needs to be a calculated and integral
part of the habilitation Program.
'' Their follow-up study demonstrated that:
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