Effectiveness of a Workplace Training Programme in Improving Social, Communication and Emotional Skills for Adults with Autism and Intellectual Disability in Hong Kong – A Pilot Study

Abstract

This pilot study explored the effectiveness of workplace training programme that aimed to enhance the work-related behaviours in individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. Fourteen participants with autism and mild to moderate intellectual disability (mean age = 24.6 years) were recruited. The workplace training programme included practices in work context and group educational sessions. A pre-test-post-test design was used with the Work Personality Profile, the Scale of Independent Behaviour Revised and the Observational Emotional Inventory Revised to evaluate the targeted behaviours. Improvement in social and communication skills specific to the workplace was achieved. For emotional control, participants became less confused and had a better self-concept. However, improvement in other general emotional behaviours, such as impulse control, was limited. The results indicated that a structured workplace training programme aimed at improving social, communication and emotional behaviours can be helpful for people with autism and intellectual disability. Further study with a larger sample size and a control group is recommended. The development of specific programme to cater for the emotional control needs at workplace for people with autism is also suggested.

The Effectiveness of Social Skills Training Groups for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…To date, only one study (Liu et al 2013) exclusively investigated training of individuals with an intellectual disability. Interestingly, Liu et al's intervention was by far the most time-consuming, lasting 30 h a week for 6 months.…”

“…Four RCTs Laugeson et al 2009;Schohl et al 2014;Yoo et al 2014), three quasi-experimental pre-post designs with a control group Ozonoff and Miller 1995;Turner-Brown et al 2008), four quasiexperimental pre-post designs without a control group (Hillier et al 2007(Hillier et al , 2011Liu et al 2013;Tse et al 2007), one randomised complete block design study (Mandelberg et al 2014) and one single-case multiple baseline study (Mitchel et al 2010) were identified.…”

“…Liu et al 2013;Hillier et al 2007;Hillier et al 2011), the lack of control group reduced the authors ability to identify whether changes in social skills were greater than they would have been had participants not received an intervention or whether improvements were simply due to group participation. By not randomising, there was increased risk of selection bias.…”

“…A further benefit of this study was that it directly assessed the acceptability of the group for participants, something lacking from the majority of other studies. Liu et al (2013) used a quasi-experimental pre-postdesign without a control group to evaluate a workplace training programme which lasted for 6 h a day, 5 days a week, for 6 months. This made it the most rigorous SST programme and most demanding of participant time.…”

“…Information about participant satisfaction was only collected in three studies (Hillier et al 2007;Tse et al 2007;Turner-Brown et al 2008) and only five studies clearly indicated that they had obtained consent from the participant and/or a parent (Hillier et al 2007(Hillier et al , 2011Liu et al 2013;Mandelberg et al 2014;Yoo et al 2014). It is important this information is indicated, given the vulnerability of many people with ASD.…”