A longitudinal study of employment and skill acquisition among individuals with developmental disabilities.
Competitive jobs drive later skill gains in adults with developmental disabilities, and we know which transition programs create those jobs.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Baker et al. (2005) followed adults with developmental disabilities over time. They tracked who got or lost competitive jobs and who stayed unemployed.
The team measured each person's adaptive skills and challenging behavior at multiple points.
What they found
Landing a real job predicted skill growth. Losing that job predicted skill loss.
Challenging behavior did not show a clear up or down pattern with work changes.
How this fits with other research
Iwanaga et al. (2025), Wehman et al. (2014), and Wehman et al. (2017) all show that Supported Employment or Project SEARCH plus ASD Supports can create the very competitive jobs that L et al. link to later skill gains. These studies extend the 2005 finding by proving we can intentionally produce those jobs.
Wilson et al. (2023) go one step further. They show Customized Employment directly teaches adaptive skills to high-school youth with IDD. This suggests the skill boost may start before the first paycheck, not only after placement.
Miller (1994) foreshadowed the target paper. That survey already saw adults in competitive jobs feel more in control of their lives. The 2005 study adds hard skill data to that earlier gut-feeling result.
Why it matters
You now have a chain of evidence: specific transition programs → competitive jobs → measurable skill growth. When you write an employment goal in an ISP, you can cite this chain to justify funding for Supported or Customized Employment. Track adaptive-skill data before and after job placement to show families and funders the real-life payoff of work.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Recent legislation, especially the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, generated the closure of institutions for people with disabilities and inclusion into community residences and employment. It has been well documented that individuals with developmental disabilities often experience difficulties with employment including both obtaining and maintaining jobs, and many researchers have looked for ways to make employment more successful [McConkey, R. & Mezza F. (2001). Employment aspirations of people with learning disabilities attending day centers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 5(4), 309-318; Stevens, G. (2002). Employers' perceptions and practice in the employability of disabled people: a survey of companies in south east UK. Disability and Society, 17(7), 779-796; Capella, M., Roessler, R., & Hemmeria, K. (2002). Work-related skills awareness in high-school students with disabilities. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 33(2), 17-23; Ingraham, K., Rahimi, M., Tsang, H., Chan, F., & Oulvey, E. (2001). Work support groups in state vocational rehabilitation agency settings: a case study. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills, 5(1), 6-21; Gosling, V. & Cotterill, L. (2000). An employment project as a route to social inclusion for people with learning difficulties? Disability and Society, 15(7), 1001-1018; Neitupski, J. & Hamre-Nietupski, S. (2000). A systematic process for carving supported employment positions for people with severe disabilities. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 12(2), 103-119]. While research has accumulated that has examined predictors of successful employment, this research assessed longitudinal outcomes of employment. Data were obtained from an existing data set of all known persons receiving services from the Developmental Disabilities Division of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (N=2760). Results indicated that as people moved to employment, scores on adaptive skills increased, that as people moved from employment, adaptive skills decreased, and that as employment status remained constant, adaptive skills also remained unchanged. No consistent impact was found on challenging behaviors. Type of employment (sheltered, supported, and competitive) was then examined, and the same pattern of changes in adaptive skills was found; i.e., changes in employment to more/less competitive was accompanied by more/less adaptive skills. This suggests that employment itself, especially work in the competitive workforce, may be a significant source of enhancing adaptive skills for people with developmental disabilities and, thus, greatly adding to the success of community living.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2005 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2003.12.003