Rehabilitation Services Administration

Rehabilitation Engagement of Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

In 2002, about six children aged eight years per every 1000 people in the general population received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The corresponding figure in 2008 was about 11 children, a 78% increase in just six years.

Data Source: 2010 Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) 911

VR Outcome Trends and the Recent Decline in Employment for VR Customers with Intellectual Disabilities

Since Fiscal Year 1988, the Institute for Community Inclusion has administered the National Survey of State Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Agencies' Day and Employment Services. The FY 2009 survey included a module to assess the ways in which state intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) agencies collaborate with their state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to support integrated employment outcomes for adults with IDD. A total of 40 agencies responded to the module. Their responses provide a broader understanding of the relationship between the two types of state agencies, and the ways in which they work together to provide integrated employment services.

Most people with intellectual or developmental disabilities aspire to gainful employment. To assist them with this goal, state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies offer employment-development services that are based upon Individualized Plans for Employment (IPEs)

Youth with autism, like youth from other disability subgroups, often participate in state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs to obtain employment. While youth with autism represent a small percentage of all VR closures, the number with autism who closed out of VR more than tripled between 2003 and 2008 (see figure). In this Data Note, we compare employment outcomes for two subgroups of youth who exited VR in FY 2008, those with autism and those with all other disabilities.

Congress has enacted a number of work incentive programs for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients with disabilities after concluding additional incentives were necessary to help individuals become self-supporting.

Completion of postsecondary education is commonly associated with better employment outcomes for the general population. There is increasing interest in postsecondary education as an opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). One role that vocational rehabilitation (VR) serves is to support postsecondary education in accordance with their Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE).

Employment rates in the general population and VR Rehabilitation rates DataNote 18 2008