Work Participation of Autistic Adolescents

This study sought to compare frequency of paid work by autistic adolescents to paid work by adolescents with other neurodevelopmental disorders and typically developing adolescents, and to examine whether demographic and clinical characteristics were associated with autistic adolescent employment with data from 2016–2019 National Survey of Children’s Health. Rate of paid work was significantly lower in the autistic group (22.01%) than typically developing (49.38%) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (44.27%) groups. Younger age, lower household income, co-occurring intellectual disability, and more severe autism were associated with lower odds of an autistic adolescent having worked. This study indicates that work disparities impacting autistic individuals begin in youth and highlights the need for improved vocational support to address employment barriers for autistic youth.