Generation A

In the next decade, it is estimated that a large percentage of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will become of working age. With this projection, there is an urgent need to expand employment opportunities and to find ways to support individuals with ASD on the job. However, very minimal research investigates organizational practices needed to integrate individuals with autism in the workplace successfully. Training is one company practice that can significantly impact the behavior and work outcomes of individuals with ASD. Despite the importance of training interventions, research focused on relevant training techniques for individuals with ASD is lacking and fragmented. This chapter summarizes the types of training that are appropriate and most often utilized to foster skill development and aid employment outcomes for Generation A.

A manager's role is to increase organizational knowledge creation. The concern is not that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not have the performance skills; the concern is they do not socialize well with others (McIntosh, 2016), and it is the social environment that impacts knowledge creation (Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, & Herron, 1996). According to Baron-Cohen (1988), cognitive theory is a better predictor for how we socially interact with each other than how we feel toward each other. Cognitive Style, according to Zhang and Sternberg (2005), “is one's preferred way of processing information and dealing with tasks.” The abilities and behaviors of individuals with autism are highly linked to their cognitive style (Grandin, 1995). According to Zhang and Sternberg (2005), cognitive styles are at least partially socialized, suggesting that styles can be cultivated and modified to fit the social and organizational environment. According to Downs and Smith (2004), individuals with ASD are capable of cooperative behavior, and the best news of all is that all individuals with ASD's cognitive styles are trainable to fit the social, organizational environment.

Over one million individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will be entering adulthood and attempting to cultivate fulfilling, meaningful life experiences. These young adults with ASD represent Generation A. The workplace will be a major element in cultivating fulfilling lives for Generation A. Social interaction is an integral component for functioning within most postsecondary and occupational settings. It is necessary to understand the interaction between autistic adults and organizations to understand potential social and behavioral deficits. The workplace is inherently a social place. Understanding both formal and informal social information in the workplace may be critical to successful job performance. Fit, particularly person–organization fit, is used to address this social nature of the workplace. Understanding this interaction helps provide a means for crafting both individual and organizational interventions which support autistic adults in the workplace. This chapter provides an analysis of interventions that support those with ASD in the workplace. It is proposed that these interventions will help create a more supportive work environment for those with ASD. As important, it is proposed that the accommodations for those with ASD are reasonable for any organization seeking to improve both satisfaction and performance for all its employees. By addressing these issues, organizations have the potential to create a more satisfying workplace for all workers, not just those in Generation A.

Generation A individuals with Asperger's (high-functioning autism) might increase their chance that their skills fit with job requirements (person-job fit) by considering various nonacademic and popular lists of Asperger's-friendly jobs. Asperger's “celebrity” and professor Temple Grandin's list of 51 jobs was investigated using Asperger's-related job characteristics from the US Department of Labor's O*NET job description database. Using a factor analysis resulting in six Asperger's-related job characteristics, social orientation was the only factor that significantly predicted Grandin's judgment of what is an Asperger's-related job based on a binomial logistic regression analysis. Another analysis using O*NET data showed a wide variety of jobs that were most and least associated with each of the six factors. Study limitations and future research follow the analyses.

In the next decade, over 500,000 students with autism spectrum disorder will graduate high school, over 60% with average to above-average IQs (Institutional Center for Special Education Research, 2011). Attention is rightfully drawn to the potent challenge of optimizing lifespan outcomes for Generation A. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) passed in 2014 calls for a unified and social model supports structure to help the education to pre-employment transition through “Required Activities.” This includes job exploration counseling, integrated work-based learning experiences, postsecondary educational programs at institutions of higher education, social skills, and self-advocacy training. WIOA aims to streamline Pre-Employment Transition Services and end the medical model, deficits-based approach from education to integrated, paid employment.

The authors of the bill realized the necessity to achieve its goals through “Authorized Activities” encompassing the implementation of effective strategies for integrated work and independent living, the dissemination of information and knowledge across multistate partnerships, and learning new skills to support students in vocational rehabilitation (VR) and educational settings. The 2019 interpretation of WIOA states the educational and VR systems cannot draw funding from “Authorized Activities” and must instead focus on “Required Activities” leaving a gaping hole in the provision of services through lack of training and partnerships.

Despite billions in government funding, systems remain siloed. Over 50% of autistic adults remain in segregated, subminimum wage jobs, and the 85% underemployment or unemployment rate for autistic graduates, with and without college degrees, remains. Generation A calls for the effective delivery of WIOA to enjoy integrated, meaningful employment and financial independence.

A sizable cohort of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will transition into adulthood over the next 10 years. Employment participation is an important part of individual economic independence but also of one's ability to contribute to broader civil society in meaningful ways. Yet, to date, the majority of young adults with autism are not successfully entering the workforce. Of particular importance for this “Generation A” will be to establish a sound foundation as they exit their teenage years that includes postsecondary educational pursuits and labor force involvement. Exploring corresponding outcomes of individuals with ASD who recently progressed through these life stages will help inform Generation A and families and educators who support them how to better prepare for the workplace of the future. For this purpose, robust representative data containing refined disability detail, employment and training information, and well-being and support content are necessary. Currently available public survey and administrative microdata that can be used by researchers and practitioners as they delve into these issues are discussed. Additionally, appropriate restricted-access datasets and the process involved in obtaining them are highlighted. After summarizing key resources and noting their advantages, their drawbacks, limitations, and areas for improvement are addressed. Implications of the data available to date to assist educators, family members, and young adults with autism themselves to better navigate the transition from school to work, to successfully secure work, and ultimately economic independence, which is critical to adulthood, are presented.

A growing number of individuals with autism are graduating from high school and university to find a lack of reliable resources dedicated to assisting the transition from education to the world of work. This Generation A, with a population of 1.5 million people, will age into the workforce over the next decade. Despite federal-state programs, dedicated nonprofits, and highly publicized corporate hiring initiatives, the unemployment rate for individuals with autism remains above the national average. Corporations have started to recognize the untapped potential of the neurodivergent worker but struggled with sourcing talent and failed to develop practicable pipeline models across various industries that are open-sourced, easily replicated, scalable, and financially sustainable. A review of methods, programs, and paradigms that exist amid current statistics reveals the imperative for innovative ideas that can be executed by multiple stakeholders to affect both the work seekers and the job creators. A systems approach to developing talent pipelines is investigated as one possible solution as well as other new expeditions and collaborative, open-sourced concepts that hold promising statistics and anecdotal data about what could be the next iteration of workforce development in an increasingly neurodivergent world.