Lincoln, Yvonna, and Egon Guba, "Postpositivism and the Naturalist Paradigm," pp. 14-46 in Yvonna Lincoln and Egon Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985.*

Although entry into the world of work is a prominent marker of postschool success in the United States, students with severe disabilities often leave high school without the skills, experiences, and supports that lead to meaningful employment. The authors examined the extent to which an array of student, family, and school factors was associated with employment during the 2 years following high school. Having held a paid, community-based job while still in high school was strongly correlated with postschool employment success. In addition, being male and having more independence in self-care, higher social skills, more household responsibilities during adolescence, and higher parent expectations related to future work were all associated with increased odds of employment after school for young adults with severe disabilities. Implications for transition policy and practice are presented along with recommendations for future research addressing the career development of youth with intellectual disabilities...

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1044207311414680

Predictors of Postschool Employment Outcomes for Young Adults With Severe Disabilities

We conducted a review of the literature to investigate interventions designed to increase students' involvement in their individualized education program (IEP) process. Sixteen studies were identified and analyzed in terms of six variables: purpose, participants/setting, design, dependent variables, independent variable, and results. Our findings suggest that students with widely varying disabilities can be actively involved in the IEP process. Our results also indicate that both published curricula designed to teach students skills to enhance their participation prior to IEP meetings and person-centered planning strategies are effective in increasing students' involvement in their IEP meetings, as substantiated through direct observation; scores on measures of self-determination; and/or feedback from participants, parents, and teachers. We discuss the results in terms of implications for practice and research, the need for future studies to assess the impact of student participation on students' daily li...

Student Involvement in Individualized Education Program Meetings

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an internet accessed training program that included Theory of Mind-based guidance, video models, visual supports, and virtual reality practice sessions in teaching appropriate job interview skills to individuals with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders. In a randomized study, twenty-two youth, ages 16-19, were evaluated during two employment interviews. Half received a training intervention following the initial interview and the half who served as a contrast group did not. Their performance pre and post intervention was assessed by four independent raters using a scale that included evaluation of both Content and Delivery. Results suggest that youth who completed the JobTIPS employment program demonstrated significantly more effective verbal content skills than those who did not.

JobTIPS: A Transition to Employment Program for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Employment is fundamental to the well-being of individuals including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purposes of this review are to provide an over- view ofemployment-relatedresearchin individuals withASD and increase our understanding of the factors that affect the employment situation of this population. Topics explored are employment outcomes revealed from adult outcome studies and national datasets as well as internal and external challenges that people with ASD may face in finding and maintaining employment. Social difficulties, comorbidity, ed- ucation level, family support, employers' attitudes, access to services, and disability incentives have been implicated as factors that play an important role in predicting employment. Existing research evidence for specific employment training programs and strategies to successful employment are also introduced in regards to supported employment, transition services, assistive technology, and multidisciplinary collabo- ration. Finally, implications from both clinical practice and research perspective are provided.

/pdf/trends-in-employment-for-individuals-with-autism-spectrum-3yofkxgtr7.pdf

Trends in Employment for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Review of the Research Literature

Using logistic and multiple regressions, the authors investigated predictors of employment and postsecondary education outcomes of youth with autism in the Vocational Rehabilitation Program. Data w...

Predictors of Employment and Postsecondary Education of Youth With Autism

Little is known about the factors that shape the employment-related decisions of individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Findings from qualitative interviews with individuals, their family members, and employment-support professionals from four community rehabilitation providers throughout Massachusetts were reported. Recognizing the value of participatory action research, we also included a co-researcher with intellectual disability who participated in all facets of the research process. Findings revealed a collection of people and factors considered influential in employment-related decision-making. The family in the formative years, school-based staff and early employment experiences, the culture of the community rehabilitation providers, the job developer, and personal preferences all influenced participants' decisions. Through understanding these persuasive elements, we offer recommendations to those in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field to optimize employment choices and outcomes.

Choosing Employment: Factors That Impact Employment Decisions for Individuals With Intellectual Disability

Adolescence is a time of rapid change for young people and their families. It is a time of physical maturation, psychological growth, and the development of life plans. Teenagers must cope with a variety of adaptive tasks during this transition including the emergence of increasing self-direction and independence from family, the creation of an expanded self-concept, the development of social and romantic relationships, the definition of an occupational identity and the pursuit of vocational interests (Germain, 1991). This role change from adolescent to adult often includes graduation from school, employment, greater responsibility, and becoming more economically and socially independent. Adolescents with disabilities face the same multitude of changes, yet encounter additional challenges making this transitional period more troublesome. Recent studies have shown that outcomes for young adults with disabilities fall significantly short of their non-disabled peers. These outcomes include higher drop out rates (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1995), low attendance rates in post secondary schools (Horn & Berktold, 1999) and high unemployment (Louis Harris & Associates, 1998). In addition, youth with disabilities may rely more on family members rather than peers for social interaction (Dane, 1993). Limitations in social activities may ultimately affect self-esteem and self-concept in a negative way and thus create social isolation (McGraw-Schuchman, 1994). Finally, research indicates that individuals with disabilities also demonstrate low levels of self-determination (Wehmeyer, Agran, & Hughes, 1998). This enormous period of change has an impact not only on the young adult with a disability, but also on their families. This particular research chose to focus on the role of family members, specifically parents, during their young adults' transitions. Since the 1980s, research has helped rehabilitation professionals to understand the nature of the transition process for youth with disabilities and their families. The often-cited research by Ferguson, Ferguson, and Jones (1988) identified three simultaneous transition processes that families experience as their children with disabilities planned to leave high school. These included (a) the bureaucratic transition defined as the change from the special education system to the adult community service system; (b) the family life transition defined as the disruption of established routines needed to accommodate the changing life of the individual; and (c) the status transition, which involves all of the cultural implications that accompany the move from child to adult (Ferguson et al., 1988). The convergence of changes in personal status, family life, and systems relationships (Ferguson et al., 1988) makes the transition from school to adult life a time when family members explore and adopt a variety of unique roles. Through an extensive review of the literature, Hanley-Maxwell, Pogoloff, and Whitney-Thomas (1998) found that family members often take on the roles of organizational member and political advocate, service developer, the recipient of professional decisions, teacher and learner, family member and decision maker, and their child's problem source. Parents have also been found to continue in a nurturing role as they facilitate the transition from school-to-work by proactively engaging in work readiness activities, supporting education through interaction with school, and promoting good work values (Way & Rossman, 1996). Lehmann (1998) found that mothers of students with disabilities played a much more active role in the lives and transitions of their children and that they did not see their support roles as diminishing over time, compared to mothers of children without disabilities. Finally, Thorin, Yovanoff, and Irvin (1996) found that parents of young adults with disabilities wanted to create opportunities for independence while assuring safety and wanted to provide stability and predictability while remaining flexible to meet the child's ever changing needs. …

Managing Service Delivery Systems and the Role of Parents during Their Children's Transitions

Significant policy changes focused on improving employment outcomes for persons with disabilities have included the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990, amendments to the Rehabilitation Act in 1992 and 1998, the formation of the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, and the passage of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA) in 1999. In addition, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) went into effect in July, 2000. The 1992 Rehabilitation Act Amendments strengthened vocational rehabilitation's commitment to employment of people with severe disabilities, by streamlining the rehabilitation process and strengthening policy on consumer involvement in the rehabilitation process (Whitney-Thomas, Timmons, Thomas, Gilmore, & Fesko, 1997). The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 provides an array of services to people with disabilities including health care, employment preparation, and placement services. In addition TWWIIA has as its goal to increase the range of service providers available to beneficiaries with disabilities by providing them with greater choice. Administered by the Social Security Administration this program allows individuals who receive SSI or SSDI to receive a ticket that entitles them to job placement assistance from any approved service provider. The combination of these legislative mandates provides individuals with disabilities with more options for seeking and retaining employment. In addition to creating greater employment opportunities legislation over the past decade has emphasized interagency collaboration. The central goal of WIA is to bring together various employment and training agencies into an integrated workforce system to meet the needs of all individuals, including people with disabilities. When WIA was enacted in 1998 it became clear that the nation's goals for providing employment services includes all job-seekers. With these principles in place no single service agency is entirely equipped to serve every type of individual searching for employment. The current climate created by this legislative shift makes interagency collaboration a necessity. WIA calls for partnership between many agencies that address employment and education needs, but Vocational Rehabilitation is the only mandated partner who is exclusively focused on serving individuals with disabilities. When considering the collaboration of the workforce system as it relates to customers with disabilities it is typically the workforce programs under WIA, dislocated worker, Wagner-Peyser Act and the state Vocational Rehabilitation agency which are the primary focus though other program interact with customers with disabilities as well. Although a goal for each agency is to provide job-seeker assistance, each system has its own service delivery model, traditions, and experiences (Cohen, Fesko, & Timmons, 2002). For instance, the rehabilitation model (which focuses on enhancing the functional abilities of individuals to increase independence) is vastly different than the medical model (operating under the supposition that there is something inherently "wrong" with a person with a disability), which guides many systems. These differing philosophies have important implications when interagency collaboration is undertaken. The values and philosophies that drive an agency will define organizational culture and the manner in which services are provided. Rehabilitation focuses on career development, individualized planning and support where workforce systems orientation is on labor exchange and matching employer and customer in a primarily self-service environment. Although multi-agency coordination is a desirable objective, a combination of structural, philosophical, cultural, and financial barriers arise in practice, and coordination has proven difficult to achieve (Perry-Varner, 1998). Agencies with different roles, histories, cultures, powers, and priorities are expected to collaborate for one common mission. …

Merging Cultural Differences and Professional Identities: Strategies for Maximizing Collaborative Efforts during the Implementation of the Workforce Investment Act

This paper provides a current snapshot of employment outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities who had recently entered integrated employment (individual and group supported jobs) with the support of a community rehabilitation provider. Individual outcomes are based on an analysis of the National Survey of Community Rehabilitation Providers conducted between 2004 and 2005 by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Survey results show that the majority of respondents with developmental disabilities worked part-time in individual jobs, predominantly in the entry-level service industry; earned above federal minimum wage; and received paid time off. Differences in employment outcomes by type of integrated employment model are discussed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings.

Jaimie Ciulla Timmons

Papers

Predictors of Employment and Postsecondary Education of Youth With Autism

Choosing Employment: Factors That Impact Employment Decisions for Individuals With Intellectual Disability

Managing Service Delivery Systems and the Role of Parents during Their Children's Transitions

Merging Cultural Differences and Professional Identities: Strategies for Maximizing Collaborative Efforts during the Implementation of the Workforce Investment Act

Entering work: employment outcomes of people with developmental disabilities.