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A study compared levels of career maturity between college students with and without learning disabilities and investigated factors associated with the career maturity of college students with learning disabilities. Specifically, the relationship between career maturity of college students with learning disabilities and the following variables was investigated: age, gender, academic achievement (grade point average), educational level, prior work experiences (type and quantity), socioeconomic status, severity of learning disability, and congruence. The sample consisted of 76 students with learning disabilities (all of those students participating in a special program for students with learning disabilities) selected from a public university in northwestern Pennsylvania. A control group of 106 students without learning disabilities was selected to approximate the leaning disabled sample. Following identification of the sample, the Career Development Inventory (CDI) developed by Super et al. and a demographic information form were completed by each student. T-tests and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Few differences were found between students with and without learning disabilities on measures of career maturity. Different predictors of career maturity for the two groups emerged, however. For learning disabled students, severity of learning disability and quantity of work experience were found to be predictors, accounting for 22 percent of the variance in career maturity. For students without disabilities, academic achievement, type of work experience, quantity of work experience, and gender were found to be predictors, accounting for 23 percent of the variance in career maturity. The study suggested that, because severity of learning disability had the most negative impact on career maturity, students with severe learning disabilities who are headed for college should have more rigorous career intervention starting in high school. (Contains 61 references.) (KC)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert