A note from MO-FEAT's Director on Employment

and Autism in Missouri

 

(www.stlbeacon.org/health/starkloff_initiative_for_jobs)

The St. Louis Beacon published an article on September 20, 2009 regarding a new employment initiative from the Starkloff Disabilities Institute in St. Louis begun by the founder of Paraquad, Max Starkloff. In the article, Starkloff quotes an unemployment rate of 16.9 percent for people with disabilities in the U.S., compared to 9.7% of the general population.

 

It is important to know that official reports of unemployment are based on the percentage of people who are in the labor force who do not have a job and are actively looking for one. So, the 20 year old with an autism spectrum disorder who never found a job after graduation, and never qualified for supported employment, who now stays home and plays videogames instead of looking for a job, is not counted. This is a story that we often hear.

 

Another way to look at these statistics is by employment rate. In 2005 and again in 2007, 37-39% of Missourians with disabilities were employed, compared to 81% of people without disabilities (Cornell University, Disability Statistics). This statistic includes people with a wide range of disabilities. Several years ago the Advocate (from the Autism Society of America) published an issue on employment of people with autism and quoted a 6% employment rate for people with autism spectrum disorders.  

 

You can find more in-depth information on the employment issues that Missourians with disabilities face by going to the Missouri Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities website ( www.mpcdd.com ) and clicking on “Resources/ Project Reports” – then “State of the State”- then “Employment”. You can also view MPCDD's State Plan for employment and read about initiatives going on across the state.

We would love to hear of initiatives that you have found to be successful for persons with autism, or employment initiatives from other states that seem hopeful.

 

Check out these links:

 

Successful employment story from the ASA chapter of Oakland County, CA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erFrIz9HNMg

 

Office of Disability Employment Policy

http://www.dol.gov/odep/categories/workforce/current/index.htm

 

 

Anne Roux, M.A.,CCC-SLP, Executive Director