Young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience poor postsecondary employment outcomes; significantly worse than would be expected based upon their cognitive abilities. Social skills deficits are a major contributor to the challenges young adults with ASD experience obtaining and maintaining employment. Across studies, research indicates rates of unemployment from 40 to 75% for the ASD population, compared to 18.5% for the general population of young adults in the same year. Data from a nationally representative survey of young adults indicated that only 53.4% of individuals with ASD had ever worked for pay since high school, and only 33.6% were currently employed. This reflects a rate of unemployment that is four times higher than individuals with intellectual disability, and six to 12 times higher than individuals with prior special education services under categories other than "Autism," even after adjusting for covariates such as adaptive skills and conversational ability.
Despite this substantial gap in employment attainment for individuals with ASD, there are limited services available to support the transition from post-secondary education to the workforce. Existing services often focus on vocational training and supports, rather than underlying social skill deficits, and are typically designed for individuals with comorbid intellectual disabilities. Recently, a randomized control trial was conducted using the Project SEARCH intervention, which was modified for high school seniors with ASD. Results were promising, including higher rates of job attainment and higher wages after the intervention.
It is clear that additional intervention development and rigorous research is needed to address the ASD employment gap, particularly for individuals who have completed high school and have age-typical intellectual abilities. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS©) is one of the only evidence-based social skills interventions for adolescents and adults with ASD. PEERS© has been disseminated world-wide with consistent positive outcomes that are maintained over time, including improvements in social responsiveness, cooperation, and self-control, as well as increased frequency of peer get-togethers and a reduction in ASD-related mannerisms and preoccupations.
While social skills interventions have helped young adults with ASD improve friendship skills, there is a paucity of comprehensive evidence-based treatments focused on the social skills young adults need to obtain and maintain employment. The success of the PEERS© program in improving friendship-related social skills, coupled with the significant employment challenges experienced by this population, was the impetus for the development of the comprehensive employment transition program PEERS© for Careers.
The current study proposes to investigate the effectiveness of PEERS© adapted to target postsecondary students with ASD as they prepare for careers (PEERS© for Careers). Building upon the PEERS© evidence base, PEERS© for Careers will target the development of social competence and related skills as they pertain to the work setting in a 20-week didactic course and subsequent 10-week internship. In the first phase of the study, participants will be randomized to be paired with a career coach to support practicing and generalizing the skills learned within the didactics portion of the program or to receive the didactic training without a career coach. In the second phase of the study, participants who were randomized to receive the didactic training with a coach will continue to receive coaching during the following 10-week internship phase. Those who completed the didactic training without a coach will be re-randomized to either a career coach or no coach condition and will complete a 10-week internship as well.
