Supported employment for young adults with autism spectrum disorder: Preliminary data | Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center

Authors:	Wehman, P., Schall, C., McDonough, J., Molinelli, A. Riehle, E., Ham, W., & Thiss, W.
Year Published	2012
Publication	Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities
Volume	37
Number	3
Pages	160-169
Publisher	Tash Publishing
Background	There is extremely limited information about using a supported employment approach to assist individuals with autism with gaining and maintaining employment in the community. Among the few studies that do exist, most are descriptive in nature. More research is needed.
Purpose	This study took a close look at the work histories of individuals with ASD over a 23 month period of time. The purpose was to examine the effects of supported employment in assisting them with employment.
Setting	The setting included a variety of different workplaces. This included: health care field, retail, recreational and educational field, food service and janitorial industry.
Sample	Thirty three individuals with ASD were included in the study. Each was referred for supported employment services by a vocational rehabilitation counselor. The majority were white (76%) and males (76%). The average age of participants was 22 years old. Seventy percent of the individuals reported a secondary disability. All participants had received a high school diploma or equivalency diploma. Around 40% had some college. Over 90% had either no or short intermittent work histories. More than three fourths had high social interaction support needs. Notably close to a third or 13 individuals had participated in a extended work internship at a hospital that was modeled after the Project SEARCH approach.
Data Collection	Employment specialist traced actual time spent either directly or indirectly working for the person with ASD across various types of supported employment interventions. This included developing a vocational profile about the person served, developing a job, job site training, and long term supports to enhance job retention. All data were stored in password protected database. The employment specialist's intervention time and participant outcomes were aggregated across the group of participants and over time.
Control	There was no control. Due to the exploratory nature of the study no comparison group was used.
Findings	Twenty seven or 82% of those served went to work in an entry level occupation. They earned between $7.25 and $10.50 per hour.Mean hours worked was 23 per week.The average intervention time for various interventions was as follows:completing a job seeker profile was about 9 hours; job development around 30 hours (notably some of the individuals went to work where they interned which reduced the hours needed to develop a job); job site training and support 107 hours; and long term support 27 hours.
Conclusions	An individualized supported employment approach can assist individuals with ASD with gaining and maintaining employment. More research is needed.
URL	http://rps.sagepub.com/content/37/3/160.full.pdf
Disabilities	Autism Spectrum Disorder
Populations	Black / African American \| White / Caucasian \| Male & Female
Outcomes	Employment acquisition \| Full-time employment \| Part-time employment \| Wages
NIDILRR Funded	No
Research Design	Single group, Observational, Quasi-experimental
Peer Reviewed	Yes

Year Published

2012

Publication

Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities

Volume

37

Number

3

Pages

160-169

Publisher

Tash Publishing

Background

There is extremely limited information about using a supported employment approach to assist individuals with autism with gaining and maintaining employment in the community. Among the few studies that do exist, most are descriptive in nature. More research is needed.

Purpose

This study took a close look at the work histories of individuals with ASD over a 23 month period of time. The purpose was to examine the effects of supported employment in assisting them with employment.

Setting

The setting included a variety of different workplaces. This included: health care field, retail, recreational and educational field, food service and janitorial industry.

Sample

Thirty three individuals with ASD were included in the study. Each was referred for supported employment services by a vocational rehabilitation counselor. The majority were white (76%) and males (76%). The average age of participants was 22 years old. Seventy percent of the individuals reported a secondary disability. All participants had received a high school diploma or equivalency diploma. Around 40% had some college. Over 90% had either no or short intermittent work histories. More than three fourths had high social interaction support needs. Notably close to a third or 13 individuals had participated in a extended work internship at a hospital that was modeled after the Project SEARCH approach.

Data Collection

Employment specialist traced actual time spent either directly or indirectly working for the person with ASD across various types of supported employment interventions. This included developing a vocational profile about the person served, developing a job, job site training, and long term supports to enhance job retention. All data were stored in password protected database. The employment specialist's intervention time and participant outcomes were aggregated across the group of participants and over time.

Control

There was no control. Due to the exploratory nature of the study no comparison group was used.

Findings

Twenty seven or 82% of those served went to work in an entry level occupation. They earned between $7.25 and $10.50 per hour.Mean hours worked was 23 per week.The average intervention time for various interventions was as follows:completing a job seeker profile was about 9 hours; job development around 30 hours (notably some of the individuals went to work where they interned which reduced the hours needed to develop a job); job site training and support 107 hours; and long term support 27 hours.

Conclusions

An individualized supported employment approach can assist individuals with ASD with gaining and maintaining employment. More research is needed.

URL

http://rps.sagepub.com/content/37/3/160.full.pdf

Disabilities

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Populations

Black / African American | White / Caucasian | Male & Female

Outcomes

Employment acquisition | Full-time employment | Part-time employment | Wages

NIDILRR Funded

No

Research Design

Single group, Observational, Quasi-experimental

Peer Reviewed

Yes