VR Employment Outcomes of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Decade in the Making.

Shire et al. (2018) looked at ten full years of U.S. vocational rehabilitation (VR) records for adults with autism. They wanted to know which VR services, if any, predicted a paid job in the community.

The team counted every distinct service each client got, like career counseling, job coaching, or assistive tech. They also checked whether the person had an IEP in school. Then they ran stats to see what best predicted competitive employment.

Only one thing mattered across the whole decade: the total number of different VR services. More services meant better odds of landing a real paycheck, no matter the client's age or gender.

Surprise—having an IEP record did not help. Schools can document needs, but extra VR services are what actually move the needle into paid work.

Ohan et al. (2015) used the same VR database and also saw that service count helps, but they added a twist: transition-age youth get the MOST services yet have the WORST employment rates. Shire et al. (2018) confirm the service-count rule across all ages, showing the pattern holds even when you zoom out to ten years.

Cimera et al. (2009) first showed that adults with autism cost VR the most money while working fewer hours. Shire et al. (2018) build on that by pointing to a practical lever—just add more service types—to push those employment odds up.

Fedoroff et al. (2016) proved that 98% of adults can get and keep jobs when agencies use a custom supported-employment model. Shire et al. (2018) now suggest ANY VR office can raise success by simply stacking more standard services, no special program required.

If you write VR plans, don't stop at the usual two or three services. Add job coaching, travel training, and tech supports in the same plan. Each extra service lifts the chance of competitive employment, and you don't need to wait for a special pilot grant to do it.