In the 1977-1979 period 84 thalidomide-affected young people who had followed secondary education up to level 1 (Sekundarstufe 1; school leaving age approx. 16 years) had been interviewed regarding their choice of occupation and vocational integration experience. The group consisted of young people with purely orthopaedical impairments, who were rank-ordered in four degrees of disability severity according to the extent of medical lesion. A parallel group of non-disabled young people, selected on the criteria of sex, age, educational level, vocational objectives, and occupational status of the father, had been matched to the group under examination. A general deficit in occupational information is apparent in the youths. Only 38 percent had received general vocational information at school. The young people themselves seem to have been aware of this deficit as 62 percent contacted the vocational counselling service. The efforts to find a job, if undertaken at all, frequently are initiated by the employment office, not by the disabled themselves. The occupational goals of the physically disabled are significantly more often coined by institutions. Also, their failure to secure an apprenticeship contract is significantly higher. In answering the occupational questionnaire the physically disabled express more distinct vocational confidence and concreteness, while stating at the same time that they consider their occupational opportunities restricted. On the whole there is a risk of the physically disabled - possibly already due to a specific socialisation process the disabled individual may undergo - letting their occupational decision be determined by external influences.
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