THURS-073 - Career Development Barriers for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities
Thursday, April 17, 2025
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area V: Advocacy Subcompetencies: 5.1.1 Examine the determinants of health and their underlying causes (e.g., poverty, trauma, and population-based discrimination) related to identifie, 5.1.2 Examine evidence-informed findings related to identified health issues and desired changes. Research or Practice: Research
Student Truman State University St. Charles, Missouri, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Describe job coaching for youth with intellectual disabilities to enhance later career development
Evaluate job coach perspectives on barriers and facilitators towards employment of youth with intellectual disabilities
Compare job coach perspecitves on employment barriers to perspectives of other stakeholders.
Brief Abstract Summary: Listen to the voices and opinions on barriers to employment of job coaches working directly with youth with intellectual disabilities as they offer supported early work experience and job coaching to enhance later career development. Pre-post-summer vocational rehabilitation program participation, job coaches were significantly more likely to perceive negative attitudes of co-workers towards people with intellectual disabilities and to perceive employer concerns regarding legal liability when employing people with intellectual disabilities. Post-program, job coaches perceived their mentee’s task completion as a barrier and installation of a strong work ethic as a strategy to overcome that barrier. Job coaches perceive some similar barriers as other experts and stakeholders, but their recommendations for overcoming those barriers are unique.
Detailed abstract description: Listen to the voices and opinions on barriers to employment of job coaches working directly with youth with intellectual disabilities as they offer supported early work experience and job coaching to enhance later career development. In the literature, poor employer attitudes and accommodation costs were noted as barriers to employment and career development for youth with disabilities. This exploratory study aimed to determine any pre-post program employment barriers of youth with intellectual disabilities from the perspective of job coaches in a summer vocational rehabilitation program. Job coaches were surveyed pre-post program about their perceptions of employment barriers for their youth mentees. Post-program, job coaches were interviewed about specific employment barriers for their mentees and job coaching strategies to overcome those barriers. Pre-post-program, job coaches were significantly more likely to perceive negative attitudes of co-workers towards people with intellectual disabilities and to perceive employer concerns regarding legal liability when employing people with intellectual disabilities. Post-program, job coaches perceived their mentee’s task completion as a barrier and installation of a strong work ethic as a strategy to overcome those barriers. Giving voice to job coaches who work directly with youth with disabilities fills a gap in the literature describing employment and career development barriers. Job coaches perceive some similar barriers as other experts and stakeholders, but their recommendations for overcoming those barriers are unique.
