Adaptive Web-based Software for Enhancing Social Communication Skills in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Facilitate Employment Success - Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a life-long neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social
communication deficits and repetitive behaviors and interests. With over 500,000 youth with ASD entering
adulthood in the next decade, there is an urgent need for the development of cost-effective, accessible, and
evidence-based interventions to support the transition to competitive employment. Like their typically
developing peers, adolescents with ASD view employment as a critical step toward independence and self-
sufficiency, as a way to contribute to society, and as a means to gain access to social relationships. While the
increasing number of young adults with ASD want to obtain jobs, more than half of the of the 50,000 U.S. youth
with ASD who turn 18 years of age each year are unemployed two years after leaving high school, with only
approximately half finding employment eight years after high school. In order to become a successful member
of the workforce, it is critical for an individual to not only be able to understand the social communication cues
of others, but to be able to engage in context-appropriate social communication. For the majority of individuals
with ASD, including ASD without intellectual disability (ASDwoID), social communication (pragmatic) skills are
one of the most noticeable, stigmatizing, and chronic impairments. Examples of common social communication
difficulties within the workplace include understanding and using nonverbal cues, asking and answering
questions, starting and ending conversations, and using appropriate conversation pragmatics such as
intonation, fluency, and topic maintenance. Even though Individuals with ASD have the desire and capability of
exceling in competitive employment positions, they often fail to do so because of social communication
limitations. Speech language pathologists (SLPs) routinely work as part of the team of professionals supporting
individuals with ASD in elementary schools, but provide services less frequently to high school aged youth. In
order to support secondary students with ASD in developing the social communication skills needed to obtain
and maintain employment, SLPs need flexible and engaging tools. This 6-month SBIR Phase I project includes
three specific aims: (1) develop the WC Decoder prototype; (2) conduct prototype usability and feasibility
testing with adolescents/young adults with ASDwoID, speech language pathologists (including those from
schools and private practices), and parents of adolescents/young adults with ASDwoID; and (3) prepare for
Phase II full development. The proposed SBIR project will directly address the need for innovative
solutions to engage adolescents and young adults with ASDwoID in building foundational workplace
social communication skills. Improved social communication skills will translate into significant benefits in
the well-being of these youth, including obtaining and maintaining employment, achieving independence,
financial security, self-sufficiency, and higher quality of life, and becoming active community members.
