Employment status and perceptions of control of adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities.
Competitive jobs make adults with IDD feel more in control of their lives than sheltered work or unemployment.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Miller (1994) asked adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities about their jobs and their sense of control.
Some adults worked in competitive jobs. Others sat in sheltered workshops or had no job at all.
The study used a survey to see who felt most in charge of their own lives.
What they found
Adults in competitive jobs said, "I run my life." Adults in sheltered workshops did not.
The competitive workers scored higher on "internal locus of control" — a fancy way of saying they felt their choices mattered.
How this fits with other research
Baker et al. (2005) followed the same group over time. When adults moved into competitive jobs, their daily living skills also improved. This backs up the 1994 finding that real jobs boost personal agency.
Cimera et al. (2012) seems to clash. They showed that adults with autism who start in sheltered workshops earn less later. But the two studies measure different things — 1994 looked at feelings of control, 2012 looked at wages. Both agree sheltered workshops come out last.
Wehman et al. (2014) and Iwanaga et al. (2025) enlarge the story. They show supported employment keeps working for transition-age youth with IDD, not just for the adults L first studied.
Why it matters
If you want adults with IDD to feel and act more independent, push for competitive jobs, not workshop slots. Use supported or customized employment from day one. Track both job status and self-reports of control — the first predicts the second.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study was designed to examine the relationship between individual perceptions of control and employment status among adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. The literature implies that one factor influencing perceptions of quality of life is the amount of control the person experiences across various domains. It was hypothesized that individuals employed in competitive work situations would evidence more positive perceptions of control than would their peers currently unemployed or employed in sheltered settings. Surveys containing the Adult version of the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale and requesting information about age, gender, and employment status were mailed to self-advocacy groups. For the more than 200 respondents, there were significant differences in locus of control scores among individuals employed competitively, individuals employed full-time, respondents in sheltered environments, individuals currently unemployed, and all other groups. Individuals unemployed and employed in sheltered settings perceived themselves as having less control than individuals employed competitively. These results are examined in light of quality of life findings, focusing on the need to include choice and control in programming for people with cognitive and developmental disabilities.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1994 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(94)90017-5