Abstract

Engaging in employment can result in a number of positive outcomes for autistic individuals (e.g., Hedley et al., 2017; Lounds Taylor, Smith, & Mailick, 2014). However autistic individuals often face significant challenges in seeking, gaining and maintaining employment (Baldwin, Costley, and Warren 2014; Lopez and Keenan 2014; Hedley et al. 2017, 2018; Harmuth et al. 2018; Wei et al. 2018). In Australia, this is reflected in the labor participation rate of 40.8% among autistic individuals, which is lower than individuals with and without a disability (53.4% and 83,2% respectively; Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2015). Among transition aged youth on the autism spectrum, successfully gaining employment has been cited as a common challenge (e.g., Roux et al., 2013; Shattuck et al., 2012), and vocational outcomes among this group have been cited as low (e.g., Pounds Taylor & Seltzer, 2011). This study explored the job seeking experiences of transition aged autistic and non-autistic youth aged 15-25 years who were recruited as a part of a larger longitudinal study.

Citation

Flower, R., Richdale, A., Arnold, S. (2019). Job seeking experiences of autistic and non-autistic youth [Poster]. International Society for Autism Research 2019 Annual Meeting, 1 May. International Society for Autism Research.

Project

Study of Australian School Leavers with Autism (SASLA) (15-25 years)

Program

Adulthood