Exploring Retirement for Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Analysis of National Core Indicators Data.
Adults with IDD mostly keep working past 65 and then stop abruptly—plan for sudden retirement, not gradual step-down.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sasson et al. (2018) looked at what happens when adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities get old. They used National Core Indicators data to see who keeps working and who stops.
The team tracked service use across age groups. They wanted to know if retirement is slow or sudden for this population.
What they found
Most adults with IDD work past age 65. Then they stop all at once. There is no gradual step-down.
Only one service grows with age: facility-based day programs. Other supports stay flat or drop off.
How this fits with other research
Fesko et al. (2012) said to plan early for gentle retirement paths. J et al. show the real pattern is abrupt, not gentle. The papers agree planning is key; they just reveal different timelines.
Matson et al. (2013) tested Active Mentoring for three older women with ID. Mentoring boosted their activity in mainstream retiree clubs. This extends J et al. by giving you a tool to soften the sudden stop they described.
Lin et al. (2011) heard from managers that adults with ID age earlier. J et al. add client-level data that show the same group keeps working late, then quits cold. Both studies point to a service cliff.
Why it matters
If you write transition plans for adults with IDD, expect a hard stop, not a fade-out. Build the day-program slot before the birthday, not after. Use Active Mentoring to plug the sudden gap in community activity. Start talking about "retirement" at 60, not 70.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
To begin to understand retirement, we examined age-related differences in (a) employment rates, employment hours, and rates of individual-plan employment goals; and (b) participation rates in unpaid formal day programs. We report weighted analyses of 2014-15 National Core Indicators data from 32 states. Unlike younger age groups, a similar proportion of workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities continued working beyond age 65 as for the general community. We found that most workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities retire in older age and that their retirement appears to be sudden, rather than a gradual reduction in work hours. Facility-based day programs were the only program with an increased participation rate in older age groups, revealing an even greater reliance on facility-based services for older participants.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-56.5.217