Facilitating Employment for Youth With Autism

Project SEARCH is an intensive 9-month job training program where youth with developmental disabilities in their last year of high school are embedded in a large community business such as a hospital, government complex, or banking center (Daston et al., 2012). Students with developmental disabilities who participate in this model rotate through three 10-12 week internships within the business where they log approximately 720 hours of internship time learning marketable skills while receiving supported employment. They also get 180 hours of classroom time at the business for a total of approximately 900 hours embedded in the business setting. In addition to these important training components, Project SEARCH requires collaboration between multiple community partners to support students in attaining employment upon completion of the program. Collaborations include students with developmental disabilities and their family, a LEA, a local CRP, the state VR, and a host business.