Careers for Students with Special Educational Needs Perspectives on Development and Transitions from the Asia-Pacific Region

Dr. Mantak Yuen is an Associate Professor and Director of the Laboratory/Program for Creativity and Talent Development of the Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education, in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. He has worked as a secondary school teacher and an educational psychologist in the Special Education Section of the Hong Kong Government Education Bureau. He is a Fellow of Hong Kong Psychological Society and Fellow of the Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association. He received the Faculty Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award.  He coordinates the HKU Faculty of Education M.Ed. course in Guidance and Counselling as well as in Gifted Education and Talent Development. He served as the Director of the Doctor of Education Program (2014-2019). His academic and professional interests focus on guidance and counselling, life skills and talent development, gifted education, positive psychology, and special needs education. He is a prolific writer who has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters and has edited more than 10 journal special issues and books. His work has been published in Journal of Vocational Behavior, International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, The Counseling Psychologist, and School Psychology.

Dr. Wendi Beamish is a special educator with 45 years of experience in the field of special education and early childhood intervention. She is a Senior Lecturer in Special Needs at the School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, and Program Director of the online Graduate Certificate in Special Needs Education. Her research interests focus on recommended teacher practice in the areas of autism, educational transitions, early intervention, positive behavioural support, social-emotional competence, and inclusive education. V. Scott H. Solberg is a Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Applied Human Development at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.  Dr. Solberg is working internationally and nationally on the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective career development programs and services, especially for high-need youth populations, including youth with disabilities. His research regarding the nature and promise of Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), in collaboration with the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, is shaping the career development implementation policies and practices in the United States and around the world. This research is summarized in his recent book Making School Relevant with Individualized Learning Plans: Helping Students Create Their Own Career and Life Goals (Harvard Education Press).