Employment Interventions for Individuals with ASD: The Relative Efficacy of Supported Employment With or Without Prior Project SEARCH Training.
A short training course before supported employment lowers support hours and raises pay and job retention for adults with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked: does extra job training before supported employment help adults with autism?
They compared two groups. One group got Project SEARCH-ASD first, then supported employment. The other group got only supported employment.
They tracked hours of help needed, wages, and how long people kept their jobs.
What they found
Adults who had Project SEARCH first needed fewer support hours later.
They also earned higher wages and stayed in their jobs longer than the group without the extra training.
How this fits with other research
Maggio et al. (2023) extends these ideas to adults with both autism and intellectual disability. Their Italian program used sheltered art workshops instead of competitive jobs, yet still saw more work time and independence.
Saré et al. (2020) and Lee et al. (2022) conceptually replicate the "train first, work second" model. Both swapped Project SEARCH for short social-skills classes (JOBSS and PEERS for Careers) and still raised employment rates or readiness.
Doughty et al. (2010) shows the same spirit of tailoring supports, but focuses on quick job tweaks to cut stereotypy once someone is already working.
Why it matters
If you help adults with autism, add a structured pre-training step before job placement. Project SEARCH-ASD is one ready-made option, but shorter social-skills packages work too. The key is front-loading skills so your client needs less help later, earns more, and stays employed. Pick the pre-training that fits your setting and budget, then pair it with solid supported-employment follow-along.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This paper presents findings from a retrospective observational records review study that compares the outcomes associated with implementation of supported employment (SE) with and without prior Project SEARCH with ASD Supports (PS-ASD) on wages earned, time spent in intervention, and job retention. Results suggest that SE resulted in competitive employment for 45 adults with ASD. Twenty-five individuals received prior intervention through PS-ASD while the other 20 individuals received SE only. Individuals in this sample who received PS-ASD required fewer hours of intervention. Additionally, individuals in the PS-ASD group achieved a mean higher wage and had higher retention rates than their peers who received SE only. Further research with a larger sample is needed to confirm these findings.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2015 · doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2426-5