The following research articles and sources are peer-reviewed and of the highest credibility in the fields of behavior, employment, and vocational rehabilitation and cite barriers to positive outcomes and strategies and interventions for overcoming challenges in the domains of communication, independence, and employment for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities and other skill challenges. It is paramount to implement, with fidelity, evidence-based practice (EBP) strategies, interventions, and approaches with data collection and analysis guiding decision making, group and individualized programming, and effectively teaching, maintaining, and generalizing skills and behaviors to realize the most viable outcomes.

​​

Research and evidence-based practice (EBP) and procedures are core to Balance MI-Skills services. Clinicians are trained, certified, and licensed in the fields of behavior, education, social skills interventions, and employment. Areas targeted for teaching include: social, soft, and relationship skills; dating and relationships; independence by teaching self-advocacy, self-monitoring, and self-management skills; application of social, relational, and soft skills in a work setting; and supported and customized integrated employment best practices. Many of the group training opportunities are based on the UCLA PEERS curriculum, one of the few evidence based social skills training program. Facilitators are certified and/or trained in the PEERS model. Training topics have been expanded while delivery aligns closely with the PEERS model.

​

Communication, Social, Soft Skills

• Agran, M., Hughes, C., Thoma, C., Scott, L. (2016). Employment social skills: What are really valued? Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 32(2), 111-120.

  • Jobs are lost because of individuals with disabilities not being able to fit in work settings socially, not because they cannot do the job.

  • Employers have expectations of all employees (with or without disabilities) such as getting along with co-works, not complaining or interrupting, requesting and providing assistance, and responding appropriately to constructive feedback.

  • Instructional time spent on employability and technical skills at the exclusion of social skills.

  • Not teaching these skills impedes future success at work and in the community.

• Lippman, L. H., Ryberg, R., Carney, R., & Moore, K. A. (2015). Workforce connections: Key “soft skills” that foster youth workforce success: Toward a consensus across fields. Child Trends. Key Soft Skills

  • As we move to a more global world dependent on technology using non-routine tasks and dependent on team work and communication, the demand for a workforce solid in soft skills is growing.

  • Results show across the disciplines of education, vocational rehabilitation, key youth workforce success predictors are higher order thinking skills, communication, positive self-concept, self-control, and social skills (seen as critically important and predict workforce outcomes). All were interrelated.

• PEERS Research on Social Relationship Skills for Teens and Adult--all can be found at the UCLA PEERS website.

• Smith, M., Manduchi, B., Burke, É., Carroll, R., McCallion, P., & McCarron, M. (2020). Communication difficulties in adults with intellectual disability: Results from a national cross-sectional study. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 97, 103557.

  • ​While 75.1% of participants used verbal communication, more than half reported significant difficulty communicating with professionals and non-familiar partners, highlighting a major barrier to community integration and healthcare access.

 

Employment

• Akdemir, B., & Melekoğlu, M. A. (2023). Determination of employment-related social skills in the service sector for individuals with intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 71(2), 287–295.

  • Identified communication as the most vital theme for workplace success; both verbal and non-verbal skills were found to be essential for maintaining employment.​

  • Soft skills and self-care were found to be primary drivers of social acceptance by coworkers and customers; employers noted that person does not need to perform tasks perfectly as long as they can interact socially and communicate their needs.

  • "Unwritten" social and professional rules often lead to job loss more quickly than lack of technical or job ability. This includes adherence to workplace rules and work ethic (e.g., punctuality, following instructions, teamwork), which were considered core requirements.

  • Findings suggest a significant gap between educational outcomes and industry needs; specialized training programs that target these social and soft skill acquisitions can facilitate a more successful transition to employment.

• Avellone, L., Taylor, J., Ham, W., Schall, C., Wehman, P., Brooke, V., & Strauser, D. (2023). A scoping review on internship programs and employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Journal, 12(1).

  • Specific, highly structured internship models, such as Project SEARCH with autism-specific supportss had exceptionally high rates of competitive integrated employment (CIE) after finishing the program.​

  • Most effective internship outcomes were related to mulit-partner collaborations involving local education agencies (LEAs), vocational rehabilitation (VR), community rehabilitation partners, and host businesses providing job-site training and follow-on services after the end of the internship.

  • Most successful outcomes occur when internship models are tailored to specific disability profiles, for example, incorporating applied behavior analysis (ABA) principles and social skills instruction within the employment setting significantly improved employment retention for participants iwth autism compared to generic internship models.

• Magrin, E., Marina, E., Nicolotti, M. (2019). Employability of disabled graduates: Resources for a sustainable employment. Sustainability, 11, 5-17.

  • Individual's perception of employability and self empowerment correlated with perceived impact of disability.

  • Previous work experiences increased perceived employability and may foster development of soft skills

• Noel, V.A., Oulvey, E., Drake, R., Bond, G. (2017). Barriers to employment for transition-age youth with developmental and psychiatric disabilities. Adm Policy Ment Health 44, 354–358. Retrieval source.

  • More awareness needed by employers and those training individuals with disabilities of common issues and barriers, including those related to specific disability groups, which may help anticipate employment barriers.

  • Lack of social skills was a common barrier to employment and targeted social skills training should be considered.

• Phillips, B., Reyes, A., Chan, F. (2018). Evaluating effectiveness of a multi-component demand side intervention toolkit for VR professionals to improve employment outcomes of people with physical disabilities: A randomized controlled trial study. Research Brief: Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment with People with Physical Disabilities. Retrieval source.

  • Little attention has been given to understanding achievement of social effectiveness in workforce.

  • Connecting with others at an emotional level can influence perceptions of workplace social effectiveness and maintaining employment.

• Randall, K. N., Bernard, G., & Durah, L. (2023). Association between employment status and quality of life for individuals with intellectual or developmental disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities : JARID, 36(2), 270–280.​

  • Individuals in competitive-employment settings reported significantly higher objective Quality of Life (QoL) scores compared to those in sheltered work centers or those who were unemployed, particularly in the domains of Material Well-Being, Productivity, and Safety.​

• 
   

  • ​​

Independence, Self-Advocacy, and Employment

• Clark, K., Test, D., Konrad, M. (2019). Teaching soft skills to students with disabilities with UPGRADE your performance. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 54(1), 41-56.

  • Post-school employment outcomes continue to be inadequate for individuals with disabilities with soft skills being a primary deficit. Retrieval source.

  • Maintenance training improved generalization of targeted soft skills between settings.

  • Greater generalization when fading presence of trained interventionist and student continued to self-monitor performance.

​

Safety, Sexuality, and Gender

• Joyal, C. C., Carpentier, J., McKinnon, S., Normand, C. L., & Poulin, M. H. (2021). Sexual Knowledge, Desires, and Experience of Adolescents and Young Adults With an Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploratory Study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. Retrieval source.

  • Majority of subjects studied expressed desire to have romantic and sexual relationships.

  • Significant number reported no or low interest in sexual relationships.

  • Weekly rates of watching pornography and masturbation were lower in boys with ASD than those without ASD.

  • Socio-sexual education should include more than physical aspects of sexuality and cover self-respect, intimacy, consent, understanding intentions of others, verbal and non-verbal romantic communication.

• Wisniewski, Pamela, 2013-2023, Vanderbilt University, Research Articles in Adolescent Online Safety. Dr. Wisniewski has authored over 80 articles in this time period related to adolescent online safety, with a number of articles related to autism and online safety.

• Xinru Page, Andrew Capener, Spring Cullen, Tao Wang, Monica Garfield, Pamela J. Wisniewski (2022). “Perceiving Affordances Differently: The Unintended Consequences When Young Autistic Adults Engage with Social Media.” Proceedings of the 2022 ACM conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.