Structured Community Work Opportunities Opens Employment Possibilities for Individuals with Classic Autism. The DSM-5 defines Autism as a Dyad of Impairment[3]; a social-communication disorder. In order to support people with Autism effectively and respectfully these defining attributes need to be addressed. Often times job coaches and people with autism are put into precarious situations when they are both sent into the community without the right tools that can result in prejudiced “behavior” labeling of the worker with autism. The structured community work opportunity respects the social, communication needs of the workers and addresses them throughout a community structured work environment, while providing the job coach with much needed technical assistance in a proactive, sustainable way.
Case Studies
Rocky W.
Rocky also lived in an RHC in the Puget Sound area of Washington. What was different for Rocky was that he had lived their nearly his whole life from the age of four, to 42 years of age. Rocky is non-verbal though he does have a few random expletives that he shares when he is not happy. When I met Rocky he was living in what was called the “Lodge”. Read More »
Jacobi E.
Jacobi a young man with autism, deceptively verbal and from the Puget Sound area. As with many young men with autism, his adolescent-teen years were difficult for him and his family. After much deliberation, the family and case manager sought placement in one of Washington State’s Residential Habilitation Centers (RHC) at the age of 15. Read More »
Choice: the act of selection
Structured community work opportunities, lead to experience (positive or negative) that ultimately leads to choice;
- Provides an opportunity for a job candidate to experience tasks within a visually structured and sequenced community work environment that he/she may not have had exposure to; enhances choice
- Provides the worker new employment possibilities and selection necessary for those with executive function problems
- Respects and values the workers need for structure and predictability
- Respects and builds on functional communication preferences of the worker with autism through ASD best practice strategies and supports
- Provides an insight into the worker’s skills, abilities and barriers
- Provides an opportunity for job coaches to see the skills and talents of a worker, rather than remediating behaviors
- Provides job coaches an opportunity to learn the necessary supports to successfully work for a person with autism in the community
- Provides an opportunity for a job coach/employment specialist to “Discover” the skills strengths and talents of a worker with autism through ASD best practice supports
- Provides independence and autonomy for the worker with autism
- Provides a choice drive path to paid employment
- Person Centered
- Provides ASD best practice training, capacity and sustainability for an ever increasing population of workers with Autism as well as workers with:
- Traumatic brain Injuries
- Fetal Alcohol Affect
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Dementia
- Short term memory loss
Achieving Optimum Potential
A high percentage of people with autism have an Executive Function Disorder.[4] Executive functioning (EF) is an overarching term that refers to neuropsychological “processes” that enable physical, cognitive, and emotional self-control. Cognitive abilities and intellect has no correlation with executive function and yet that is the process of which individuals with autism are often assessed. In reality, individuals with autism are much smarter and more capable than they appear given visually structured, process and sequence of task. When EF supports are in place, the worker with autism can begin to show their abilities to a greater level; the community structured work opportunity provides insight and venue to demonstrate talents and strengths. The community structured work opportunity will provide the visual process and sequence to underscore the strengths and capabilities of a person with autism and EF.
According to Washington’s DSHS, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the role of the job coach is a person who works with individuals with severe disabilities (including autism), providing on-site job training assistance and long term support to the employer and employee.[5] The community structured work opportunity will be an educational experience for the job coach to learn what model supports look like, how to adapt the work environment to help adults living with autism be productive and successful employees.[6] Autism Spectrum Disorders best practice teaching strategies are imperative to the success for of workers with autism.[7] Employment specialist need the opportunity to learn ASD best practice strategies and supports in a practical, pragmatic way. The community structured work opportunity provides this learning experience to Employment Specialists who usually rely on verbal prompting to teach a worker with autism. The strategy of verbal prompting to individuals with ASD, creates an overreliance or dependence on adult support, thus inhibiting independence.[8] The structured community work opportunity provides alternative to verbal prompting, increases independence and develops generalization supports that are not “people-specific” but individual specific. Independence and autonomy are hallmark indicators of the new CMS policy that emphasizes personal autonomy, community integration, and choice in HCBS.[9]
Beyond Traditional
The Structured Community Work Opportunity is an innovative yet common sense opportunity that differs from those approaches traditionally used in the disability field in a number of important ways:
- Puts proactive supports in place rather than a reaction to worker performance
- Uses a community milieu for providing a selection of tasks for workers with autism that will not be used as a permanent volunteer position and will not be used to exclude a person from paid work or participate in other community activities.
- In a shorter period of time, identify what works and what doesn’t work for the individual with autism
Provides information on the person’s preferences, contributions and conditions for employment - Identify tasks that may lead to job customization
- Blends effectively with Marc Gold’s “Discovery” Process
- Identifies clear support and equipment needs valuable to WA DSHS, DVR application
- Provides a community venue for training Employment Specialist that is on-going, sustainable and easily reproduce
- Valuable training venue for residential and recreational support staff
- Provides the employer and co-workers with support strategies that enhances natural support
- Provides generalization supports to help families and providers of adults with autism
Citations
[1] Marc Gold & Associates
4010 Gautier-Vancleave Rd. Ste. 102 , Gautier, MS 39552
[2] Carol Gray, Social Stories™
[3] Autism Speaks
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/diagnosis/dsm-5-diagnostic-criteria
[4] Autism and Executive Function Disorder
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2683039/
[5] Washington DSHS, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/ra/division-vocational-rehabilitation/supported-employment
[6] http://www.afaa-us.org/core-issues/employment
[7] http://www.autisminternetmodules.org/up_doc/Adult_Autism_Employment.pdf
[8] http://bahnandassociates.com/Article_Loftin_ASDIndependence.pdf
[9] http://www.thearc.org/document.doc?id=4596