College to Career Transition: Employment Priorities for Young Adults with ASD

Background: Research suggests that young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience poor postsecondary employment outcomes, especially within the first two-years after high school (Shattuck et al. 2018). Unemployment rates in this population range from 50-75% (Hendricks 2010; Liptak et al. 2011; Volkmar et al. 2009) compared to 6.8% in typically developing young adults (US Department of Labor 2018). Existing employment support programs for college-aged youth with ASD primarily focus on vocational training, with little emphasis on the soft skills needed to manage interpersonal relationships in the workplace (Smith et al. 2015). While previous social skills interventions have been successful in helping young adults with ASD improve friendships skills (Gantman et al. 2012; Laugeson et al. 2015), there is a paucity of evidence-based treatments focusing on the soft skills needed in a professional environment. Furthermore, little is known about the treatment priorities of young adults and their caregivers in relation to the college to career transition.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to (1) determine employment priorities and (2) identify challenges faced in the process of gaining and maintaining employment, among young adults with ASD and their parents.

Methods: Fifty-three participants (22 young adults and 31 parents) attended separate but concurrent 90-minute focus groups in order to identify treatment priorities and soft skills most pertinent to young adults with ASD seeking employment. Young adult participants (5 females) ranged in age from 19 to 33 (M=23.59; SD=4.16). Young adult and parent participants were given a list of 16-items and asked to rank-order each item based on their perceived level of support needed (from 1–16). Using the nonparametic Kendall’s W test, the omnibus rank differences between items was examined. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests were used to compare mean rank values for each item.

Results: Parents and young adults both ranked “finding employment” and “applying for employment” significantly higher than all other items (c²(15)=172.04, p<.001). Given the high variability in ranking among the 16-items, in order to assess general trends in treatment priorities, skills were categorized into three subscales including: Job Attainment (finding employment, applying for employment, choosing a career, creating a resume); Employment Logistics (navigating the workplace, disclosing diagnosis, discussing accommodations, stress management, executive functioning, electronic communication); and Workplace Relations (starting and entering conversations, exiting conversations, interviewing skills, direct and indirect bullying, conflict resolution, humor in the workplace). Parents prioritized Workplace Relations higher than young adults, while young adults ranked the Job Attainment subscale higher than parents. Notably, young adults ranked “creating a resume” significantly higher than parents (F(1,51)=8.78; p<.01), demonstrating their greater interest in job attainment skills. Alternatively, parents ranked “starting and entering conversations” significantly higher than young adults (F(1,51)=7.98; p<.01), demonstrating a heightened concern for workplace relational skills.

Conclusions: Young adults with ASD and their parents appear to similarly value the process of finding employment. However, while young adults were more focused on the specific skills needed to apply for and obtain employment, parents were more interested in the relational skills needed for gaining and maintaining employment.