Abstract
The intended audience for this curriculum is transitioning youth with autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This curriculum will be utilized by field staff with the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), including Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (SVRC), Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors-Qualified Rehabilitation Professionals (SVRC-QRP), Employment Coordinators (EC), and Service Coordinators (SC). This curriculum was created with the intention of providing a tool to assist field staff in building and practicing key pre-vocational soft skills in consumers with autism. Currently, there are no training curriculums specifically targeting soft skills in consumers with autism. Research shows that adults with autism are quickly becoming one of the largest disability groups in the United States. A change in the diagnostic criteria in the early 1990s led to an increase in diagnosing autism in children, and today those children are now young adults exiting the school system and in need of employment services. The need for a pre-vocational skills curriculum was developed in response to the anticipated increase in consumers with autism seeking employment services with DOR. Data were obtained using various resources and methods, including online research databases, peer-reviewed journal articles, and books. Further data were obtained through conversations and interviews with DOR employees, master’s projects completed by previous Vocational Rehabilitation graduate students, and relevant websites providing information on the employment needs of consumers with autism. Limited studies exist detailing the current use of vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with autism; however, studies show the VR system appears to be as successful for people with ASD as for people with other disabilities. The limited information available on autism as it presents in adults substantiates the need for further research in the future. As more data regarding to employment become available with future research, this author recommends this curriculum be updated as needed.