Development of the Supported Employment, Comprehensive Cognitive Enhancement, and Social Skills program for adults on the autism spectrum: Results of initial study

Abstract

The population of adults on the autism spectrum continues to increase, and vocational outcomes are particularly poor. Longitudinal studies of adults with autism spectrum and without intellectual disability have shown consistent and persistent deficits across cognitive, social, and vocational domains, indicating a need for effective treatments of functional disabilities as each impact employment. This initial pilot study is an open trial investigation of the feasibility, acceptability, and initial estimates of outcomes for the newly developed Supported Employment, Comprehensive Cognitive Enhancement, and Social Skills intervention, a manualized “soft skills” curriculum, to enhance both cognitive and social development in adults with autism spectrum. A total of eight adults with autism spectrum, without intellectual disability (78% males), participated in the study. Results support the original hypothesis that adults with autism spectrum can improve both cognitive (i.e. executive functioning) and social cognitive (i.e. social thinking and social communication) abilities. Further Supported Employment, Comprehensive Cognitive Enhancement, and Social Skills was found to be feasible, acceptable, and highly satisfactory for participants and parents. Employment rates more than doubled post-intervention, with an increase from 22% to 56% of participants employed. Conclusion is that Supported Employment, Comprehensive Cognitive Enhancement, and Social Skills has promise as an intervention that can be easily embedded into exiting supported employment vocational training programs to improve cognitive, social, and vocational outcomes.

Factors impacting employment for people with autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review

“…Qualitative studies (k = 33) were limited by failures to adequately report methodological design and procedures including the absence of discussion in relation to if findings achieved a saturation, participants self-selecting as having ASD rather than confirmation of diagnosis, collectively impacting on the transferability and credibility of findings. (Allen et al, 2010a(Allen et al, , 2010bAnderson et al, 2017;Arikawa et al, 2013;Baker-Ericzen et al, 2018;Briel and Getzel, 2014;Burgess and Cimera, 2014;Burke et al, 2010Burke et al, , 2013Dotson et al, 2013;Gal et al, 2015b;Gilson and Carter, 2016;Hayes et al, 2015;Rosen et al, 2017;Seaman and Cannella-Malone, 2016;Walsh et al, 2018). One study explored whether participating in sheltered workshops prior to engaging in supported open-employment improved vocational outcomes for individuals with ASD (Table 2) (Cimera et al, 2012).…”

“…Employment status. Changes in employment status were examined in 12 of the 36 included studies (Baker-Ericzen et al, 2018;Burt et al, 1991;Ham et al, 2014;Hill et al, 2013;Hillier et al, 2007;Lynas, 2014;McLaren et al, 2017;Mawhood and Howlin, 1999;Wehman et al, 2012Wehman et al, , 2013Wehman et al, , 2014Wehman et al, , 2016b; measures utilised were descriptive in nature, such as employment level, wages earned, hours worked and job retention, only two standardised measures were used, including the Work Personality Profile and the Support Intensity Scale (SIS). The two RCTs by Wehman et al (2014Wehman et al ( , 2016b) evaluated the effectiveness of the 'Project SEARCH plus Autism' intervention, a transition-to-work support programme in comparison to high-school special-education services as usual.…”

Acting on observed social exclusion and pro-social behaviour in autism spectrum disorder

“…These have proved to have beneficial outcomes assisting autistic individuals in their daily socio-emotional difficulties, as well as their families (e.g. Baker-Ericzén et al, 2018; Böckler, Tusche, Schmidt, & Singer, 2018; Stichter, O’Connor, Herzog, Lierheimer, & McGhee, 2012), but also in developing people’s altruistic motivation and behaviour, increasing thereby global cooperation (Böckler et al, 2018).…”

Program evaluation of a community organization offering supported employment services for adults with autism

“…It showed positive effects of supported employment in finding paid work in the community, in longer job duration and in higher wages (Mawhood & Howlin, 1999). Other studies used pre-post designs (Baker-Ericzén et al, 2018;Hillier et al, 2007;Lynas, 2014;McClannahan et al, 2002;McLaren et al, 2017;Wehman et al, 2012) or uncontrolled retrospective designs (Brooke et al, 2018;Howlin et al, 2005). Most studies had small or very small samples of 15 or fewer participants (Baker-Ericzén et al, 2018;Hillier et al, 2007;McClannahan et al, 2002;McLaren et al, 2017).…”

“…Other studies used pre-post designs (Baker-Ericzén et al, 2018;Hillier et al, 2007;Lynas, 2014;McClannahan et al, 2002;McLaren et al, 2017;Wehman et al, 2012) or uncontrolled retrospective designs (Brooke et al, 2018;Howlin et al, 2005). Most studies had small or very small samples of 15 or fewer participants (Baker-Ericzén et al, 2018;Hillier et al, 2007;McClannahan et al, 2002;McLaren et al, 2017). Some studies researched supported employment, but measured other outcomes than community employment, such as reductions in autism severity scores (García-Villamisar et al, 2000), improvements in executive functions (Garcia-Villamisar & Hughes, 2007) or changes in quality of life (García-Villamisar et al, 2002;Katz et al, 2015).…”