The Efficacy of Disability Employment Service (DES) Providers Working with Autistic Clients.
Susan M Hayward, Rebecca L Flower, Kathleen E Denney and 4 others
PMID 36169796WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic jobseekers and families rated Australian disability employment staff poorly on autism understanding and ability to help, while staff rated themselves much higher.
Participants wanted better training, individual fit, and policy change.
Key findings
01Service users rated DES providers low on ability to work with autistic clients, understanding work needs, and autism knowledge, while DES staff rated themselves higher.
0252% of service users were not working at data collection.
03Service users said DES staff need to understand individual strengths and needs, and DES staff said they need more training, time, and resources to support autistic jobseekers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The paper states 84 participants, but the named groups are 24 autistic self-report participants, 7 parents, and 46 DES employees. The sample was small and recruited through social media, autism associations, TAFE providers, and DES industry channels, so it may not represent all autistic jobseekers or DES staff. Many service users were unemployed at data collection, and the authors note this may have made ratings of DES providers more negative. About 25% of data were collected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have affected employment rates and ratings. The placement data are inconsistent: the text says 32% had never been placed, while Table 2 says 32% had been helped into employment. Service users and DES employees were not matched, so ratings cannot be linked to the same provider or jobseeker relationship. Seven parents reported for their autistic adult children, and the authors did not explore whether diagnosis age changes support needs.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that disability employment services do not work for autistic people. It is a small mixed-methods survey and interview study, not a controlled test of DES effectiveness, and service users and staff were not matched to the same provider relationships.