“Well-planned instruction in career education for students with visual impairments needs to include these components:

■ career awareness—differentiating between work and play, understanding the value of work

■ career exploration—developing awareness of careers, researching careers of interest

■ career preparation—reading and understanding want ads, recognizing typical job adaptations made by workers with visual impairments, developing prevocational skills (such as work habits, attitudes, and motivation), and having vocational interests

■ career placement—preparing résumés, completing applications, participating in interviews, participating in work

Competence in the area of career education is, in a sense, equivalent to preparation for a satisfying and independent life and as such involves the development of the ability to do the following:

■ listen and attend to others

■ follow directions

■ stay on task

■ complete tasks

■ play make believe and dress-up activities to imitate adult roles

■ have responsibilities at home and school

■ recognize different school and community workers

■ participate in problem solving (locating lost items independently, for example)

■ react appropriately to unexpected changes or events

■ learn to work individually and in a group

■ learn to be responsible for actions

■ recognize that workers get paid

■ develop good communication skills

■ understand the rewards of work

■ organize resources such as time[…]”

Excerpt From: Carol B. Allman and Sandra Lewis, Editors. “ECC Essentials: Teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum to Students with Visual Impairments.” Apple Books.