Disconnection from Postsecondary Education and Employment Among Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum

Background: Young adults who are not employed and not enrolled in school or vocational training after high school are defined as disconnected from pathways that lead to independence. Prior research found that slightly more than half of youth on the autism spectrum do not transition into paid employment, vocational education, or college of any kind in the first two years after high school -- despite the variety of services aimed at preventing disconnection.

Objectives: We aim to answer several questions about this disconnected group. What are the differences in characteristics and experiences between those who had no services after high school and those who had any services? What services have these disconnected young adults used since high school and what unmet services needs do they and their parents report? What are the correlates of not getting any services, ever getting vocational services, and ever having unmet service needs since high school? What experiences during high school reduce the risk of postsecondary disconnection?

Methods: We used secondary data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) -- a 9-year prospective study of youth who were enrolled in special education and ages 13-17 at the study’s outset in 2001. Outcome variables about disconnection came from Wave 5 conducted in 2009 when participants were ages 21-25. Measures of seven types of service use and four types of secondary extracurricular activities come from Waves 1-5. Estimates were weighted to population levels. We used logistic regression to examine correlates of disconnection and service use; propensity score modeling to test the effect of extracurricular participation during high school on the likelihood of postsecondary disconnection. We used multiple imputation to handle missing data.

Results: At Wave 5, 38.8% of youth had never had postsecondary education nor a paid job. Among disconnected youth, 31.3% did not receive any postsecondary services that might help achieve job or postsecondary education attainment. Coming from a household where parents were more educated was associated with lower odds of being completely without services and higher odds of ever getting vocational services. Youth living in a suburban community (versus urban) were significantly more likely to have no services since high school. Participation in extracurricular activities during high school was associated with a reduced risk for poor postsecondary work and school outcomes even after adjusting for the propensity of high school-era participation. About two-thirds of high school students had participated in at least one of the four types of extracurricular activities.

Conclusions: The high rate of total disconnection from postsecondary education, training, and job opportunities is a serious problem. Our work suggests exposure to certain types of experiences during high school, like extracurricular activity participation, can reduce the risk of disconnection. Efforts to promote access to helpful services after high school should be targeted at those with highest risk of not getting any services.