Employment Instruction for Secondary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often struggle with features of adult life, including obtaining and maintaining gainful employment. Many factors seem to contribute to this issue, such as: (a) access to financial resources, (b) interaction between the unique characteristics of ASD and employment settings, and (c) curriculum and instructional practices in secondary special education that may not focus specifically on the procurement of employment. An additional area that may be a factor is the paucity of research on employment development for students with ASD while attending middle and high school programs. This article examined the research on teaching strategies used to develop employment skills among secondary students with ASD between the ages 14–22. Twelve studies were identified with a total of 55 participants with ASD. A summary of the articles meeting the inclusion criteria is provided along with recommendations for future research. Questions about how adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities can and should be taught functional skills have been a focus in the literature since the introduction of the criterion of ultimate functioning as a guiding principle in special education (Brown, Nietupski, & Hamre-Nietupski, 1976). What should be taught and how is a major consideration for any instructional program. The literature is replete with studies demonstrating the effectiveness of systematic instruction techniques used to teach a wide range of skills to adolescents with various disabilities (Test et al., 2009). Clearly, teaching employability and daily living skills, among others, has enjoyed some of this attention (Test et al., 2009). There does, however, seem to be a gap in the literature reporting on adolescents with ASD receiving direct instruction in employment skills, or job skills, while in middle and high school. Most of the intervention research on individuals with ASD has focused on young children with very little attention given to adolescents (Gerhardt & Weiss, 2011), including employment skills (Hendricks, 2010; Hendricks & Wehman, 2009). Recent prevalence data place the occurrence of ASD in the United States at an average rate of 1 in 110, representing a sizable increase over the last two decades (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). In their report to Congress, the United States Department of Education (US-DOE, 2007) reported that the prevalence of ASD in the American school system increased by 410% among children ages 6–11 from 1996 to 2005. During that period, there was a 514% increase among students with ASD ages 14 and older, and there was a 317% increase among students with ASD ages 18–21 (US-DOE, 2007). This represents a substantial increase in the number of students with ASD requiring programming at the secondary level and a formidable challenge for schools (Gerhardt &