Assessing Prevocational Competencies of Profoundly,Severely,and Moderately Retarded Persons

Abstract

This report describes the use of an assessment instrument derived from survey data on job entry requirements to assess the prevocational competencies of moderately, severely, and profoundly retarded persons. The first study validates the assessment instrument by investigating the correspondence between what supervisors say is important for entry (the basis of the instrument) and the actual competencies of workshop clients. The results indicate that workshop clients have those skills specified in the assessment as being important for entry into sheltered employment. The second study uses this empirically derived instrument, the Prevocational Assessment and Curriculum Guide, to assess the competencies of 179 profoundly, severely, and moderately retarded persons who were unemployed. The results indicate that while the moderately retarded group generally scored higher than the severely retarded, who in turn scored higher than the profoundly retarded group, all were well below the workshop expectation for entry. Finally, the assessment categories showing the greatest deficits across all three diagnostic groups are communication skills, independence, behavior, and grooming/eating skills. These findings suggest that much training will be necessary to prepare severely handicapped persons for sheltered employment.