Leveraging Self-Management Technology to Augment Social Skills for Employment for Individuals with Autism - SBC: Assistech Systems LLC, 72 West Broadway, Suite 280, Eugene OR 97401-3065 Principal Investigator: Tom Keating, PhD Agency: ACL/NIDILRR- CFDA 93.433-SBIR Phase I Project Title: Leveraging Self-Management Technology to Augment Social Skills for Employment for Individuals with Autism Technical Abstract In one recent study, only thirty-eight percent of American working-age adults with autism spectrum disorders had participated in paid work in the two weeks prior to being surveyed (Martin, 2021). Further, once employed, people with autism are also more likely to lose their jobs for behavioral and social interaction reasons rather than their inability to perform work tasks (Bury et. al. 2020). Combined with severe staffing shortages for the direct support professionals (DSPs) who work as job coaches and provide on-the-job support and problem-solving, there is an urgent need for innovation in equipping individuals with autism with the social skills training and self-management resources that will promote better long-term employment outcomes and providing better training tools for DSPs. The objective of this six-month Phase I project is to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative system designed to augment self-management and training in social skills for individuals with autism and the employment professionals who support them with the goal of better long-term sustained employment. There are three project components: (1) Leverage an existing partnership with the CVS Health Workforce Initiatives program to conduct a survey with a sample of their training partners, employees with autism, and store managers to identify specific key employment-related social skills that lead to job loss; (2) Produce video content and task analyses based on that survey that can be used to build instructional and self-management routines and digital training portfolios using the Cognitopia Platform; (3) Evaluate the feasibility and usability of the materials in collaboration with Smart Living, Learning, and Earning with Autism (SLLEA), which provides transitional support for employment and independent living to individuals with ASD. Summary of Anticipated Results and Implications The outcome of this effort will be the System to Augment Social Skills for Employment (SASSE). Phase I will prototype the system and evaluate its feasibility in a small-scale usability study with 12 participants, including six individuals with ASD and the DSP’s who work with them. Should this project be funded and advance to Phase II, we would build out the system by producing materials for training and instruction on a total of twenty social skills for employment, followed by rigorous large-scale experimental evaluation in collaboration with CVS Health Workforce Initiatives Program and their national network of training partners and retail stores.
