“What ELSE about this job?” Teaching Job Decision-Making to College Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Torres et al. (2021) taught college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities how to decide if a job is right for them. They used remote audio coaching and a short memory trick called ELSE. The coach spoke to the student through an earpiece while the student watched job videos on a tablet.

Students learned to ask four questions: Environment, Learning, Schedule, and Enjoyment. They practiced with five different jobs. The study checked if the skill lasted and if it worked with new coaches and new apps.

Every student got much better at picking jobs that fit them. They kept the skill weeks later and used it with new people and new tablets. No one needed extra teaching after the first round.

Barthelemy et al. (1989) did something similar thirty years earlier. They taught adults with severe ID to solve work problems using self-talk and many examples. Torres adds remote coaching and a simple mnemonic, making the method faster and easier to use today.

Boudreau et al. (2015) reviewed three decades of self-instruction studies. Their paper shows that teaching adults with ID to guide themselves is not new. Torres extends this line by showing remote audio cues work just as well as face-to-face prompts.

Lancioni et al. (2009) taught adults with ID to make safe choices about sex using behavioral skills training. Both studies show BST works for big life decisions, not just small tasks.

You can use the ELSE script tomorrow. Record the four questions on any phone. Let the student listen while they watch short job clips or walk through real work sites. No extra staff, no fancy gear. The skill sticks, transfers, and frees you from endless prompting.