Effects of ecological and standardized vocational assessments on Office of Vocational Rehabilitation counselors' perceptions regarding individuals with developmental disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an ecological and a standardized vocational assessment on Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) counselors' perceptions of individuals with developmental disabilities. One hundred and forty-one OVR counselors with experience in making funding decisions were randomly assigned to read either an ecological or a standardized vocational assessment report on an individual with developmental disabilities. Each group (ecological or standardized) then responded to 3 items on a questionnaire regarding job coach funding approval, time required for training, and employment outcome for the individual with disabilities. No statistically significant differences were found between groups with respect to job coach funding decisions. In contrast, significant differences between the 2 groups indicated that OVR counselors in the ecological assessment group perceived the individual with disabilities to need less training time, and to be more likely to remain on the job after job coaching was terminated than those in the standardized assessment group. Implications in terms of OVR funding decisions and directions for research are presented.