The number of direct support professionals (DSPs) needed to support the increasing numbers of adults diagnosed with autism within the United States continues to grow exponentially. DSPs receive minimal training and often fail to generalize the training they have received, which can directly lead to poor learning outcomes for the adults they serve.…

Community-based instruction (CBI) is often used to teach a myriad of skills across school, home, and community settings for students with disabilities (Fernandez et al., 2018). Despite the effectiveness of CBI interventions for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), research in this area remains limited since the last…

The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that a transition plan be in place for students with disabilities by the time they turn 16. This plan aims to facilitate the child's movement from high school "to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including…

Students with disabilities experience less postschool success than students without disabilities. Until recently, college and career readiness efforts did not appear to include an explicit focus on students with disabilities. Because most U.S. students with disabilities spend time in general education settings, general education teachers need…

Located about 80 miles north of New York City, Anderson Center for Autism has long provided comprehensive educational, vocational, and residential services for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Rooted in the use of applied behavior analysis and other evidence-based practices, the nonprofit helps children and adults communicate,…

Functional living skills are skills needed for being an independent individual in society. As individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) get older, the discrepancy between functional living skills of themselves and their peers increases. However, it is not known which type of intervention is more or less effective specifically for adolescent-…

One common and effective approach used to teach vocational and independent living skills to students with ASD is technology-based intervention (Walsh, Holloway, McCoy, & Lydon, 2017). Such interventions include audio prompting (AP) and coaching, augmented and virtual reality, and video-based interventions, such as video modeling and video…

The UNESCO-UNEVOC Global Forum "Skills for Work and Life Post-2015" took up the vital topics of youth, skills and greening TVET in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. 2015 marks the end of the Education for All (EFA) initiative, and global and regional debates are sharpening the focus of discussions geared towards setting…

A large majority of adults with intellectual disabilities are unemployed. Unemployment of adults with intellectual disabilities is a complex multidimensional issue. Some barriers to employment of individuals with intellectual disabilities are the lack of job experience and skills training. In recent years, video-based interventions, such as video…

Nearly four decades have passed since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensured access to public education for students with disabilities in the United States. During the years following its introduction, there was a growing recognition that helping students, especially students with disabilities, in their transitions from…

This paper reviews and summarizes six research projects exploring possible methods for teaching vocation-oriented social skills to adolescent students with mild learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, or mental retardation. Projects discussed vary in terms of target social skills, intervention methods, settings, and generalizability. The six…