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A presidential issue for people with ASD: employment

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In honor of President’s Day in the United States, today’s podcast is a summary of a few more recent studies on employment of people with autism spectrum disorder.  In addition to identifying challenges between the perspectives between employees and employers on the purpose of job supports, new methods to increase and maintain employment of people with ASD are reviewed.  They include supportive employment environments and self-instruction.  Both could be cost-effective in the long run.  These studies add to an ever emerging literature on employment strategies in people with autism, and hopefully there will be more on this topic in the future.

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New exciting findings in parent-mediated early interventions for autism

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Over the holidays, new studies around early (before age 5 years) intervention were published that generated excitement in the autism community.  First, a new parent-mediated intervention called the “Social ABC’s” showed promising results.  Another intervention showed promise in south Asia, indicating that the success of parent-mediated interventions are not specific to North American countries.  Finally, data shows that most children are not having to wait for an ASD diagnosis before they receive these early intervention services.  They may not be perfect, but they are something, and this is progress.