Purpose Individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis often desire to be useful to society and may have the ability to work. Unfortunately, in Poland as in other countries, most remain unemployed. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that make gaining and retaining employment difficult for people with autism from their perspective. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a qualitative research synthesis, that explored experiences of 15 individuals with autism regarding the process of seeking and maintaining employment. In-depth interviews were conducted with each study participant, and four discussion panels were held with small groups. Findings The difficulties described by the study participants included lack of detailed information, anxiety, high stress levels and overcommitment. Some of them also reported that they were unable to find out the reasons for misunderstanding or dissatisfaction on the part of their employers. Social implications The paper emphasizes the need to increase public awareness and reliable knowledge about autism spectrum disorders. Originality/value The paper draws conclusions regarding common difficulties from the perspective of individuals with autism. It shows how features associated with autism can be related to specific problems at work or during the process of looking for it. It also indicates changes that should be made in the employers' approach to help people with autism gain and retain employment.
The elderly age group needs particular support in preventing development of depressive symptoms, among others, due to the prospect of passing. This group is heterogenous in terms of characteristics of ways of spending leisure time, which, as an important aspect of everyday life affecting the quality of interpersonal relationships and well-being, might be related to the level of their depressive symptoms. The aim of this study was to find out whether participation in University of Third Age (UTA; leisure time spending directed at personal development) activities versus being a Nursing Home resident (NH; leisure time spending, directed at compensation of difficulties associated to the aging process) may differentiate elderly people in terms of the level of depression taking into account their optimism and acceptance of passing. The study was paper-pencil questionnaire-based, conducted on a sample of people above the age of 59: participants of UTA (N=48) and NH (N=54). In the UTA group, consistently for all levels of acceptance of passing, the higher the level of optimism, the lower the depressive symptoms. However, for the NH group, the higher the acceptance of passing, the lower the role of optimism in predicting depressive symptoms.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.