The Impact of Project Search Plus ASD Supports on Employment and Social Responsiveness in 18 to 21 Year Old Youth with ASD

Background: For most individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), graduation from high school represents a time of worry with few future options and a lack of hope for college or post high school employment (Wehman, Schall, Carr, Targett, et al., 2014). Adolescents with autism aging out of high school are unemployed and under employed at higher rates than other similar disability groups (Howlin et al., 2013; Newman et al., 2011; Roux et al., 2013; Schall et al., 2014; Shattuck et al., 2011). Unfortunately, for the most part, they remain unemployed, underemployed, or chronically change low wage jobs through adulthood (Cimera and Cohen, 2009; Cimera et al., 2012; Henninger and Taylor, 2013; Schall, et al., 2014; Shattuck et al., 2011, 2012). Further, families, individuals with ASD, health care professionals, and educators are unclear about their future with limited employment options on the horizon (Holwerda et al., 2012, Schall et al., 2013, 2014; Shogren and Plotner, 2012; Watson et al., 2013; Wehman, Schall, Carr, et al., 2014). While this situation is likely to grow in intensity due to the increasing prevalence of ASD, few intervention studies have addressed this tremendous treatment need (Buescher et al., 2014; Hansen et al., 2015). 

Objectives: The objective of this study was to measure the impact of Project SEARCH plus ASD Supports (PS-ASD) on the social communication, behavioral, and employment outcomes of youth with ASD across three vocational domains (employment status, wage, number of hours worked per week) and three personal domains (social responsiveness, physical and mental health, and self-determination). 

Methods: This is a randomized controlled study of the efficacy of the PS-ASD Model in 82 adolescents and young adults aged 18 to 21 with autism spectrum disorder across four different sites. Of the 82 enrolled subjects, 42 were randomly assigned to the control group, while 40 were assigned to the treatment group. Data collection is ongoing and will be updated as it is collected.

Results: There were no differences between the groups on demographic variables of age, gender, ethnicity, or medical diagnosis. The majority of both groups were individuals with a diagnosis of autism. Outcomes were significantly different as measured on employment where 84% of the treatment group were employed within a year of graduation from high school and earned a mean wage of $8.44 per hour for a mean of 20.2 hours per week. The control group, on the other hand, were employed at much lower rates with only 11% were employed within one year of graduation and earned a mean wage of $8.99 per hour while working a mean of 12 hours weekly. Significant differences were observed on supports intensity, social responsiveness, and psychological empowerment with employed participants demonstrating more independence, increased social responsiveness, and greater psychological empowerment than those who were unemployed.

Conclusions: Employment outcomes were excellent and follow up data highly promising as was the concomitant independence, self-determination, and social responsiveness of students in the treatment group. This data suggests there may be treatment benefits associated with employment for youth with ASD.