The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Developing a successful vocational training for older children with autism is a process that begins in elementary school and continues throughout school. Teaching functional skills that will carry children through their future is essential for successful career planning and development. This training will review current methods to determine children’s’ preferences and strengths, and progression of work and social skills toward development of a career plan and goals. Case examples of children with ASD engaged in vocational activities will be presented. Young children love to play dress up and imagine what they will be when they grow up.  As early as pre-school age, children talk about growing up to be a firefighter, teacher and a variety of other career choices.  In our current society, developing a career path and work skills is essential to be successful as an adult.  This goal should not be any different for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Career development for children with ASD should mirror the career development path for non-disabled children as closely as possible.   
Vocational training begins at an early age and is focused on a child’s specific interests.  Vocational training should begin prior to a child reaching 18 when parents are beginning to discuss adult services and placements.  School-based vocational training can be incorporated into the child’s day to teach appropriate work habits, develop positive attitudes toward employment and to learn basic vocational tasks.  For a child to succeed with work, “vocational academic” activities aimed at increasing a child’s career awareness and employment preparation should be included into a student’s education. These activities include counting, social greetings, money skills and personal hygiene skills.
 It may be difficult for children with disabilities to be successful at work and be accepted as a valued member of the work place.  For a student to succeed in the workplace both during their school years and into adulthood, the individual needs a strong base of core skills to allow them the independence to be a valued and accepted employee.  These core skills may include establishing a proper work ethic, ability to communicate wants, needs and preferences and being able to greet co-workers to name a  few.  
An essential component to effective vocational training is identifying strengths and preferences for children with ASD.  Vocational assessments can identify specific areas of strength and weakness and to develop future individualized objectives. Identifying preferences for a child can increase their interest in a job task and assist vocational specialists in identifying work that the student will enjoy   In addition, use of a vocational profile and ongoing documentation of a child’s work history provides information used to acquire future employment that best matches their individual strengths and preferences. Systems for assessing preferences can illustrate the importance of assessing strengths and preferences to foster successful job matching.  Finally, career planning culminates when a child with ASD is of working age.  
Transitioning from school to work is an adjustment an individual has to make and one that the planning begins when a child is 16 years old. The foundations for a successful transition are developed during the schools years to enable the child to move into stable adulthood.   
This presentation will include examples of vocational training that will include curriculum development, successful job matches, means for developing opportunities for children to sample potential work options and long-term development of career goals.  The presentations will describe the components of career education and school-based vocational training for children with autism.  We will also review steps to determining strengths and preferences for job skills and development.  The presentation will also review steps of the career planning model for children transitioning to adult work and education.

Learning Objectives: