INTERACTIVE VIDEO PREVOCATIONAL PREFERENCE SELECTOR FOR USE BY INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL RETARDATION

THE FOLLOWING PROPOSAL COVERS A PROJECT TO CONDUCT RESEARCH WRITE NARRATIVE, INSTRUCTIONAL AND SHOOTING SCRIPTS, AND IDENTIFY FILM SITES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERACTIVE VIDEO PREVOCATIONAL SELECTION INSTRUMENT. SELECTION PATHS AND TOUCH SCREEN INPUT WILL ENABLE BOTH INDEPENDENT USE BY INDIVIDUALS WIHT MENTAL RETARDATION (CLASSIFIED "TRAINABLE")AND USE OF THE INSTRUMENT IN CONJUNCTION WITH A COUNSELOR. THE FIRST TWO MENU LEVELS WILL CATEGORIZE JOBS USING SYMBOLSAND DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TASKS (HAND SKILLS, STRENGTH, ETC.), AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF VARIOUS WORK ENVIRONMENTS (CROWDED AND NOISY, OUTDOORS, ETC.). THE THIRD LEVEL VIDEO SEGMENTS WILL BE ON-LOCATION DOCUMENTARIESOF DIFFERENT JOBS THAT PEOPLE WITH MENTAL RETARDATION ("TRAINABLE" LEVEL) ARE PERFORMING IN 1990 IN NEW JERSEY IN COMPETITIVE OR SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT. SPECIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON JOBS WHICH ARE NOT USUALLY VISIBLE TO CONSUMERS. THE PHASE I WORK HERE PROPOSED TAKES THE PROJECTTO THE POINT (PHASE II) WHERE IT CAN BE FILMED, NARRATED ANDTHE INTERACTIVE COMPUTER PROGRAM WRITTEN AND TESTED. THE PURPOSE OF THE INSTRUMENT IS TO EMPOWER PEOPLE WITH MODERATE AND SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THEPLANNING OF THEIR OWN VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES GOALS. THEY WILL VIEW A RANGE OF REALISTIC ALTERNATIVES AND BE ABLE TO MAKE KNOWN TO FAMILY AND PROFESSIONALS THE VOCATIONAL PATHS THEY WISH TO PURSUE.