Building Employment Skills for Adults with ASDs Using Theatre Techniques Presenter: Christina Whalen, PhD, BCBA-D

1. Building Employment Skills for Adults with ASDs Using Theatre Techniques Presenter: Christina Whalen, PhD, BCBA-D Vice President, Director, Vocational & Life Skills Academy (SARRC) Consulting Assistant Professor (Stanford School of Medicine)

2. Increasing Number of Adults Needing Services (ref. Laura Grofer Klinger, UNC TEACCH) • Autism prevalence rate in 2002 was 1 in 150 • The prevalence rate now is 1 in 88 (since 2008) • Prevalance reports are typically on children (8 years old avg), so 8 year old children from 2002 are now 20 year old, and in 6 years, the children from 2008 will be 20 year olds • We can expect to see a 78% increase in demand for services for adults • About 50,000 individuals with ASDs will turn 18 this year • ASD adults needing VR services rose 121% from 2002-2006 (Cimera & Cowan, 2009)

3. Employment for ASDs • Studies show 15-25% employment for people with ASDs (compared to 40-80% for other types of disabilities) (NLTS2 Study; Roux et al., 2013) • Individuals are often placed in jobs below their education level • Maintaining employment is often difficult for individuals with ASDs

4. Employment & Education Post High School National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2)Shattuck, Narendorf, Cooper, Sterzing, Wagner, & Taylor, 2012 • 9-year study of adolescents who were enrolled in special education with over 500 surveys completed by parents • 35% of those with ASDs had no employment or education for the first 6 years following high school • 50% of those with ASDs had no engagement for the first 2 years following high school

5. NLTS2 Research (cont’d) • 28% attended a community college, 12% attended a 4-year college, and 9% attended a technical or vocational program • Individuals with ASDs were consistently less engaged than those with other disabilities & even less engagement for African-American, Hispanic, and low-income families

6. Barriers to Employment • Executive Function Skills • Social Skills – “The Hidden Curriculum” • Communication Skills • Functional Independence • Emotion Regulation • Anxiety/Depression • Transportation!!

7. Middle School Years • Focus on generalized employment skills: • SOCIAL SKILLS • INDEPENDENCE • Typing • Customer Service • Phone Skills • Computer Skills • Organization • Problem Solving • Conversations • Planning/Scheduling • Following Directions • Community Safety and Awareness

8. Middle School Years • Participate in social groups or community activities (e.g. theatre, sports, SARRC summer programs) • Engage in career exploration – what kinds of jobs are out there • Identify strengths and limitations and focus on improving weaker areas • Register with DDD (diagnosis before 18)

9. High School Years • Focus on areas from middle school that still need work • Learn to use transportation • Explore post-secondary education opportunities • Develop post-high school goals and a plan for how to get there • Get work experience (e.g. volunteer, SARRC Community Works, intern, etc.) • Register with VR/DDD

10. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) • Provides employment services to those whose disabilities are barriers to employment • Direct Contact with Local RSA Offices: Please call the office nearest you to set up an appointment to attend a regularly scheduled orientation session. • When to call?? • When transition services are included in high school IEP, find out if school has TSW (Transition School to Work) contract with VR • If YES, register ASAP • If NO, contact local VR office to register

11. Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) • Services VR can provide may include: • -Post-Secondary education • -Work Exploration • -Job Training • -Job Development & Placement • -Driving Training • -Vocational Evaluation

12. Post-Secondary Education/College • Contact disabilities office for support at college to set up an action plan BEFORE starting school • Disabilities counselors can be critical to the success of a student with ASD • Meet with admissions and department chair to ensure that it’s a good fit • Know expectations and accommodations ahead of time

13. Types of Employment • Transition Programs (Project SEARCH; Riehle, 2006) (TEACCH T-STEP) • Supported (TEACCH) • Enclave • Internships (paid or unpaid) (SARRC) • Independent (Train with a Job Coach and fade to independent) (SARRC) • Self-Employment (SARRC)

14. Getting Started • Get training whenever possible (e.g. SARRC Employment Classes; certificates in area of interest) • Get experience whenever possible (e.g. SARRC Academy of Classes, GardenWorks, CulinaryWorks programs, volunteer) • Take care of funding (e.g. DDD or VR) • Secure a job coach

15. Self Employment • Start your own business! • SARRC’s Home Baking Entrepreneur Program • 10 week program • Class time, home visits, and “lab” time • Must have a support person/caregiver to assist at home and attend the classes • Other ways to get started… • Have a business plan before you begin • Have a support/caregiver person to assist through process

16. Road to Employment Competitive Employment

17. SARRC Employment Services • Vocational Assessment • Basic, Moderate, Comprehensive • Job Coaching/Employment Placement • Employment Classes 101 and 201 • Technology Workshops • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsrPqDy8lfE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j-EXPEcgPE&feature=youtu.be

18. Employment Classes

19. Employment Classes

20. What Does Theatre Have to do with anything??? • Acting classes and role-playing can result in improved Theory of Mind skills (Goldstein & Winner, 2010) • Participation in a musical theatre production can result in improved facial recognition and Theory of Mind (Corbett, et al., 2011) • Graduated guidance and script fading are effective strategies for teaching pre-vocational skills (Dotto-Fojut, Reeve, Townsend, & Progar, 2011) • Role-playing can improve play skills • Murdock & Hobbs, 2011 • UCLA PEERS program (Laugeson, et al., 2012) • Role-playing can improve social skills • UCLA PEERS program (Laugeson, et al., 2012)

21. The process of teaching social skills ABA vs Theatre Behavior Mastered - SHOWTIME!!

22. Using Theatre in Employment Classes • Target Skills • Theatre Strategies • Conflict Resolution • Working with others • Interviews • E-mail communication • Social media • Resumes • Job searches • Job training & Career tracks • Customer Service • Modeling • Imitation • Role-Playing • Script Memorization • “Acting” Skills

23. VIDEOS: Theatre Games

24. Interview Skills: Spring, 2013 N=8 students

25. Interview Skills: Fall, 2013

26. VIDEOS: Interview Skills

27. Typing Skills (WPM): Fall, 2013

28. Employment Coaches • Help to facilitate relationships with employers and coworkers & set up client for independent success: • On-the-job-training and coaching • Identify barriers • Provide visual supports • Monitor placements • Facilitate independence • Support & train employers and staff • Provide follow-up and re-training as needed.

29. Coaching Phases • 1: Client has recently started employment services. Still within the first two sessions. Working on identifying employment goal and potential barriers/ challenges. OR client is working on RIS goals ( before employment phase) • 2: Client has started practicing interviewing skills. They have started their flash cards and resume. • 3: Clients interviewing skills have improved, resume is completed, and is learning how to search and apply for jobs. Client starting to look toward employment readiness. • 4: Client is ready for employment. Has been actively searching for a job. • 5: Has been in phase 4 for over two months. Needs to be placed immediately. • 6: Client has been placed successfully, and has an assigned JC for first two weeks of employment/ or as needed. • 7: Client has been placed successfully, weekly/biweekly maintenance check-ins only. Beginning to fade out JC as needed, client may return to Phase 6 if necessary. • 8: Client Placed successfully, check in periodically with client and employer to address any concerns/ continue relationship.

30. Employment Coaching Data

31. Building Blocks

32. Job Searches • Identify career interests • Mind-mapping • Identify schedule conflicts and # of hours you can work • Identify what you are most comfortable doing and most uncomfortable doing • Search online with help of job coach and on your own

33. What NOT to wear! Find it!

34. Setting up for Success • Items labeled or color coded • Visual markings on specific work areas • Picture directions • Written schedule of daily work activities • Timers used for breaks / lunches

35. Self-Management/ABA

36. SARRC Employment Placements • 97 Successful Placements since 2008

37. Conclusions • More services for adults are needed • Employment programs need to be a priority • Employment readiness programs need to teach skills that are barriers to employment that are related to core deficits (not just work skills) • Theatre games are 1 strategy for practicing social, communication, and work skills • More research is needed on effective programming for employment and generalization of training into work environments

38. Employment is Exciting! (Jeff Video)

39. Christina Whalen, PhD, BCBA-D 602-218-8223 cwhalen@autismcenter.org Contact Information www.autismcenter.org