Vocational Rehabilitation Service Patterns and Outcomes for Individuals with Autism of Different Ages.

Ohan et al. (2015) looked at 21,000 U.S. vocational-rehab clients with autism. They split them into three age groups: teens, transition-age (18-25), and adults over 25.

The team counted how many services each group got and who landed a paid job within two years.

Transition-age clients got the MOST help—job coaching, college aid, and placement services—yet only a large share found work.

Teens and older adults used fewer services and worked more often. Within every age band, quick job placement plus on-the-job support raised the odds of staying employed.

Fedoroff et al. (2016) seems to disagree: their 64 autistic adults got customized employment and a large share kept real jobs. The gap is method—L et al. watched everyday VR cases while Paul hand-picked people for a special program.

Wehman et al. (2014) backs the fix: when transition youth with autism got supported employment, work rates jumped. L et al. shows the same group is now being over-served yet under-helped by standard VR.

Wilson et al. (2023) adds that customized plans also grow home and self-advocacy skills, not just paychecks.

If you write VR plans for transition-age clients, ask for job placement and on-the-job support first. Skip the long pre-training list. The data say those two services beat a bigger service pile every time.