Autism-specific support and career planning in adulthood: a case study

Abstract

Autism-specific support at all ages is key to the quality of life and psychological well-being of autistic people, but internationally and in Hungary, there are drastically fewer autism-specific supports and services available in adulthood than in childhood. Both international and national research shows that this is strongly associated with low quality of life and psychological well-being of autistic adults and their parents.

In this paper, we focus on autism-specific career planning and employment through a case study. The aim of the case study is to illustrate the journey to employment of a 29-year-old autistic adult. We will also review the steps of a comprehensive autism-specific support, the individualized educational assessment, the individual goals developed together, the individualized autism-specific tools and methods, and the partnerships. Based on the assessments, the following key areas have been highlighted: strengthening self-awareness, developing a realistic self-image, recognising one's own and others' emotions, emotion regulation, understanding previous work difficulties and finding strategies to solve them, and supporting daily living and independence, which are closely related to all of this.

Our case study confirms that comprehensive autism-specific support is essential for successful employment and psychological well-being.

Keywords: autistic adults, autism-specific support, career planning, employment.