Parents of special needs children and high school age people with disabilities will benefit as much from reading this free primer on career advice as the guidance and career counselors that are its intended audience. The Guidance and Career Counselor’s Toolkit: Advising High School Students with Disabilities on Postsecondary Options offers a wide range of information and assessment options.

More than 30 concise, focused chapters grouped in four sections address specific topics in chronological order for the high school junior or senior, beginning with who qualifies as disabled and ending with the college admissions process. In between, readers will find relevant disability laws and more. Physical and cognitive disabilities are covered, so the guide is as useful for wheelchair users as for those with a psychiatric disability.

Information is delivered in layman’s terms using short paragraphs that won’t scare away teen readers or parents who have never been to college themselves. And because the topics are short and precise, it’s easy to find the relevant section you’re looking for.

Disability Services Outlined
The guide will get students with disabilities ready to take full advantage of services offered people with disabilities at four-year institutions, including what they are (such as special accommodations for testing) and where to find them (often the disability services office).

Disclosure options, what constitutes complete documentation, and postsecondary options are covered as well. Can people with disabilities serve in the military? Would your special needs child be better off in a technical education program or a two-year postsecondary institution?

Assessment Tools
Emphasis is placed on the involvement of the parents at every turn, but the ultimate responsibility for action and responsibility is placed on the teen. Support is offered in many forms, including a broad suite of assessment tools that cover a career planning quiz, high school checklist, career preparation activities and a 12th grade learning profile.

Resources at the back of the book include a sample resume and interview questions, questionnaires to determine areas of greatest need, helpful links, references and more.

Internet Accessibility
And of course the cost of this book can’t be overlooked because it’s free! That means you can swoop in to take a look at one chapter now, another later if you like and not feel guilty that you didn’t get your money’s worth. It’s also a great resource to recommend to your teen’s high school counselor that neither of you will have to pay for.

Guidance and Career Counselors’ Toolkit, Advising High School Students with Disabilities on Postsecondary Options investigated by Dr. Lynda West and directed by Dr. Pamela Ekpone and Zavolia Willis. 2006, published by George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Available on the web at http://www.heath.gwu.edu/images/stories/Toolkit.pdf