Follain-Grisell, Vera

Trout, Wayne

English

Western Connecticut State University: WestCollections - digitalcommons@wcsu

JADARA 
Volume 16 Number 1 Article 8 
October 2019 
Life Career Development Services for Deaf College Students 
Vera Follain-Grisell 
Counseling and Placement Center, Gallaudet College, Washington D.C. 
Wayne Trout 
Counseling and Placement Center, Gallaudet College, Washington D.C. 
Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara 
Recommended Citation 
Follain-Grisell, V., & Trout, W. (2019). Life Career Development Services for Deaf College Students. 
JADARA, 16(1). Retrieved from https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol16/iss1/8 
LIFE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
FOR DEAF COLLEGE STUDENTS
Vera Follain-Grisell and
Wayne Trout
Counseling and Placement Center
Gallaudet College, Washington, D. C. 20402
"I fell in love with my career I hope you do
too'' —George Bums, 1981
In 1909 Frank Parsons (1909) introduced
the 3 step method of career planning. Essen
tially, this process consisted of matching "tal
ents and tasks". The trait-factor approach was
based on the stability of an individual's inter
ests and attitudes. This problem solving
orientation to career planning has in part led
to its popularity among career counselors.
The expediency of short-term rational plan
ning often fails to address the client's needs
of lifetime career adjustments. Most Ameri
cans have been indoctrinated with the belief
that says a career decision should be made
quickly, during young adulthood, along with
plans to achieve it. Though this dictum has
the implication of right-wrong morality, the
reality of recessive-inflationary economics,
job obsolescence, and chronic unemployment
remains. Hoppock (1967) points out "one-life
one-career imperative" is inaccurate and to
day's adults can look forward to changing
jobs every three years including at least five
major career changes during their lifetime.
This incongruity of beliefs and reality have
led many young men and women to a pro
longed stage of educational exploration and
non-commitment. As it is the job of the mason
to point the stone correctly in order for the
building to stand, the career counselor's
responsibility is to aid an individual in ac
quiring tools necessary for a lifetime of ca
reer adjustment. Counselors can help clients
identify and explore the questions that are
the source of individual-environment predi
caments and the basis of career growth.
The Career Counseling Unit of the Coun
seling and Placement Center at Callaudet
College is designed to provide the most re
cent and accurate career information to the
largest number of students possible.
This unit ascribes to the concept of Life
Career Development, encompassing a variety
of possible patterns of personal choice related
to each individual's total life style. This im
plies the acquisitional skills in learning how
to learn, social responsibility, education, per
sonal, occupation, and leisure time activities.
Life career development basically is the in
tegration of roles, settings, and events of a
person's life. It provides a personal frame
work of self-development. This process is an
on-going educational/experiental component
of human development. The stages of parti
cular importance to students at Callaudet are
delineated below. A small representation of
innovative programs developed for use by
Callaudet students will further describe the
stages of career growth here outlined.
I. Vocational Expectation
Special consideration is given to the dev
elopment or expectations concerning stu
dents' career aspirations particularly for
women and multiply-handicapped students.
A unique film, "Callaudet and Beyond", por
trays alumni answering frequently asked
questions about their college experiences.
Primarily used as a method of communicat
ing work related data, this original film pro
vides a secondary benefit of exposing stu
dents to positive successful role models. Fre
quently this is only provided by teach
ers whom students have known in previous
educational settings (perhaps an excellent
rationale for numerous students expressing
a future goal of entering educational profes
sions ). Individual career counseling often
14 Vol. 16 No. 1 July 1982
1
Follain-Grisell and Trout: Life Career Development Services for Deaf College Students
Published by WestCollections: digitalcommons@wcsu, 1982
LIFE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR DEAF COLLEGE STUDENTS
helps answer questions such as: "What do
deaf people do?'' Summer orientation pro
grams further emphasize an integrated ap
proach to education. The Peer Advisor Pro
gram employing upperclass students pro
vides exposure to new experience careers and
activities which are often new to Gallaudet
students. Cultural exposure and numerous
accessible programs in the Washington area
also heighten students' awareness and fur
ther broaden their vocational expectations.
II. Introspection and Assessment
Career Development is closely related to
the development of self-concept. Students
participating in the preparatory program be
gin this process of self-awareness, personal
values, and a general heightened awareness
of one's environment and choices. The "Orien
tation for Preparatory Students" is a formal
way in which young men and women begin
to think of themselves in relation to their
world. As freshmen, students utilize the ca
reer development course, "Freshmen Orien
tation", to better examine their career-related
values, beliefs, interests, aptitudes, and
characteristics. Traditionally, liberal arts col
leges have not offered formal courses dealing
v^th the school-job relationship (Noretsky,
Beach, 1980). For specific information con
cerning the course itself, please refer to "A
Mediated Course in Career Development"
in the September 1980 issue of the American
Annals of the Deaf.
Reviewing their own Hfe career patterns,
students gain an understanding of self-deter
mination and choices in their everyday lives.
Often, discussing their interests and aspira
tions with a career counselor enables them
to leam a process of linking similar charac
teristics and skills. Numerous interests inven
tories and exercises are used to initiate this
process for some students stating few or no
interests.
III. Exploration
Assessment and exploration are closely
linked developmental stages. As a student
uncovers information about himself, he
is eager to examine this knowledge others
in light of the world at large. The considera
tion of several alternate paths exposes stu
dents to a wider world of vocational goals.
In a liberal arts curriculum students are
required to have a varied background in sci
ences, humanities, and social studies, to men
tion only a few. These are nicely integrated
into the exploration process, often opening
new fields and possibilites otherwise undis
covered.
An essential link in this stage is utilizing
the myriad of one's own experiences, acquain
tances, and reference materials as resources
for learning. Alumni files have been recently
developed to aid students in gaining first
hand answers about specific careers. The Ca
reer Resource Center is the foundation of
this stage, compiling current and in-depth in
formation, reference data, and referral re
sources on thousands of career options. The
primary goal of this developmental stage
is learning the tools and research skills en
abling students to transfer these techniques
into any vocational field.
IV. Formation of Vocational Goals
Students equipped with accurate data
concerning themselves and the world of work
often are stymied by an inability to select
from various alternatives. Again, the focus
in this stage is to develop the skill of know
ing how to make decisions rather than resolv
ing an immediate conflicting situation. The
"Orientation for Preparatory Students", pre
viously discussed, provides some background
in decision making skills. This is agumented
with individual career counseling and an
interactive computer guidance system (War-
nath, 1969). This System of Interactive Guid
ance and Information, designed by the Edu
cational Testing Service in 1977 provides a
staged program of information and decisions
to be made. The 5 stages, values, locate,
compare, planning, and strategy, continually
ask a student about their preferences and
proceeds to "test out" the accuracy of those
decisions. The fifth stage teaches a method
ology for decision making which has been
practiced throughout the student's involve
ment with the computer system: the ability
to demonstrate how a student currently
makes decisions and if he finds that pro-
Vol. 16 No. 1 July 1982 15
2
JADARA, Vol. 16, No. 1 [1982], Art. 8
https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol16/iss1/8
LIFE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR DEAF COLLEGE STUDENTS
cess to be satisfactory. Occasionally this
leads a student to transfer to a different
college or type of training.
V. Reality Testing
In preparation for the career goals which
students have declared, they begin course-
work in their major area of study. This pro
vides more contact with professionals in the
specific disciplines. Courses are one method
of "testing out" career goals. Equally impor
tant is discussing future plans and projects
with academic advisors, continuing in-depth
career counseling about alternatives for
specific majors, and utilizing resources co
ordinated in career counseling. Two other
programs available to Gallaudet students are
a cooperative education program and "Experi
ential Learning Programs Off-Campus" pro
viding students direct job experience related
to their academic goals. "Career Videotapes"
of deaf professionals and alumni discussing
their careers and backgrounds give students
an insightful range of personal perceptions
about several professional fields. Some stu
dents directly observe a career they are in
terested in pursuing. This "job shadowing"
enables students to question and learn many
things which are not always apparent in the
classroom. "Part-time and Summer Jobs" fur
ther enrich a student's knowledge of his
chosen field. "Caieer Exploration Lunches"
was also offered to students bringing to
gether deaf professionals and students in
terested in similar career paths. This informal
format encourages good interaction and sti
mulates further exploration, preparing stu
dents for the transition from school to em
ployment.
VI. Accessing the World of Work
The entire process of how to enter the
working force is the joint responsibility of
career and placement counseling. Frequently
the transition from student to worker also
indicates other concurrent transitions in an
individuals life. Preparation for some of
these changes is fundamental to a smooth ad
justment. Often, skills in decision making are
again utilized to review alternatives and po
tential paths. The placement changes at this
time. Special senior-phobia workshops ad
dress these issues directly.
VII. Life/Career Survival
This final phase in the career process can
also include job-keeping skills and co-worker
relationships. However, individual career
counseling and workshops also address the
issues of burn-out, professional development
on the job, and numerous other "surviving
skills". Again, career and placement services
team their talents in this area. A frequent
request is how to juggle a profession, a fam
ily, and personal needs in 24 hour days. Lei
sure, learning, and productivity are integral
components of human development and
these are on-going processes at work through
out an individual's life. Career counseling rec
ognizes the integration of numerous factors
in this development and employs method
ology to address this on-going lifelong devel
opment as well as immediate concerns of
specific situations confronting an individual.
Career development is an active, ever
changing process that encounters many ob
stacles and disappointments along the way.
Attitude is the germinating seed of adjust
ment in career education. Teachers, admin
istrators, parents, and others can facilitate
career attitudes. Student awareness of them
selves as "workers" performing tasks at home,
school, and in the community is a priority
of career development. The congruity of self-
concept is an occupational role leading to the
establishment of one's vocational road and
well-being. An individual's ability to adjust
to career obstructions is the basis for success.
Career involvement does not exist in a
vacuum. Gallaudet's career counselors aid
the students in discovering for themselves the
fundamental questions, issues, and motiva
tions of selecting a career field. The obsolete
concepts of one lifetime career and the
tendency to isolate job factors from a holistic
concept of the person are slowly changing.
It is important that a dynamic, integrated
model of life career counseling emphasizes
the individual's obligation to self-determina
tion.
16 Vol. 16 No. 1 July 1982
3
Follain-Grisell and Trout: Life Career Development Services for Deaf College Students
Published by WestCollections: digitalcommons@wcsu, 1982
LIFE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR DEAF COLLEGE STUDENTS
REFERENCES
Bums, G. "A Tribute to George Burns". N.B.C. Television, November, 1981.
Parsons, F. Choosing A Vocation. Boston, 1909.
Hoppock, R. Occupational Information. New York, 1967.
Noretsky, M. & Beach, R. "A Mediated Course in Career Development." American Annals
of the Deaf. September, 1980.
Warnath, C. F. "Career Decision-Making: A Computer-Based System of Interactive Guid
ance and Information". Career Counseling: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives. New
York, 1969.
Vol. 16 No. 1 July 1982
4
JADARA, Vol. 16, No. 1 [1982], Art. 8
https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol16/iss1/8


Life Career Development Services for Deaf College Students

https://repository.wcsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2165&context=jadara

Life Career Development Services for Deaf College Students

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Western Connecticut State University: WestCollections - digitalcommons@wcsu