TY - JOUR
T1 - Pursuing Paid Employment for Youth with Severe Disabilities
T2 - Multiple Perspectives on Pressing Challenges
AU - Awsumb, Jessica
AU - Schutz, Michele
AU - Carter, Erik
AU - Schwartzman, Ben
AU - Burgess, Leah
AU - Lounds Taylor, Julie
N1 - The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The work reported in this article was supported by grant funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research-Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment of Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities (HHS-2019-ACL-NIDILRR-RTEM-0339).
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - The road to employment begins in high school. However, few youth with severe disabilities currently participate in paid employment before graduation. The purpose of this study was to map the breadth of barriers that can hinder youth from accessing this influential transition experience. We held individual (n = 8) and focus group (n = 16) interviews with 74 transition stakeholders, including parents, educators, adult agency staff, school district leaders, and local employers. Collectively, they identified 47 barriers falling within eight broad categories of challenges: school, student, family, workplace, service system, partnership, transportation, and community. Although there were areas of clear consensus, noticeable differences were evident in the concerns raised by each of these five stakeholder groups. We present recommendations for research and practice aimed at connecting more youth with severe disabilities to early work experiences that can change their post-school employment trajectories.
AB - The road to employment begins in high school. However, few youth with severe disabilities currently participate in paid employment before graduation. The purpose of this study was to map the breadth of barriers that can hinder youth from accessing this influential transition experience. We held individual (n = 8) and focus group (n = 16) interviews with 74 transition stakeholders, including parents, educators, adult agency staff, school district leaders, and local employers. Collectively, they identified 47 barriers falling within eight broad categories of challenges: school, student, family, workplace, service system, partnership, transportation, and community. Although there were areas of clear consensus, noticeable differences were evident in the concerns raised by each of these five stakeholder groups. We present recommendations for research and practice aimed at connecting more youth with severe disabilities to early work experiences that can change their post-school employment trajectories.
KW - autism
KW - barriers
KW - integrated employment
KW - intellectual disability
KW - transition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124338957&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85124338957&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/15407969221075629
DO - 10.1177/15407969221075629
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124338957
SN - 1540-7969
VL - 47
SP - 22
EP - 39
JO - Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities
JF - Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities
IS - 1
ER -