BARRIERS TO ACCESSING SUPPORT SERVICES IN EMPLOYMENT AND HEALTH CARE FOR ADULTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Background:
There is little available empirical study on adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) as a research group. Although some research exists on interventions for employment and employment supports, much less empirical study has been conducted on health care related issues in the adult autism community.

Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to identify perceived barriers to employment supports and health care access for adults with autism and to determine if the activation of social capital networks has any influence on successfully accessing these resources.

Method:
Seven qualitative interviews were conducted for the study. Five interviews were conducted with adults with ASDs. Two interviews were with family members who were conservators of an adult with ASD.

Results:
With respect to employment, adults with ASD lack:
1) frameworks for transitioning out of high school and into the employment world of adulthood,
2) exposure to job experiences in high school, beyond low-wage paying skills and
3) training in “soft skills” like interviewing and portfolio building.

With regard to health care, a lack of national policy with equity of access standards exists for the adults with ASD community and limited options for service providers also persist. Conclusion: Research should be conducted to determine specific health care costs associated with autism in order to develop relevant national policy frameworks. Additionally, more employment support services should be created and made available to the adult population of people with ASDs. With regard to social capital networks, higher socio-economic status creates more access points to health care and employment support services at the local community level but has more limited success at the state and federal levels.