In recent years, the conversation surrounding neurodiversity in the workplace has gained momentum, shedding light on the challenges faced by individuals with conditions such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and intellectual disabilities. Despite possessing valuable skills and motivation, many neurodiverse adults struggle to find meaningful employment.
Recognizing this critical issue, UTSA has teamed up with Morgan’s MAC (Multi-Assistance Center) and Southern Methodist University (SMU) to launch an innovative program aimed at bridging this employment gap.
The program, titled Employ 210, is an initiative funded by a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Over the next five years, this program seeks to address the statistics that show adults with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in the workforce. In 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that adults without disabilities were three times more likely to be employed than their disabled counterparts. The disparity is particularly stark for neurodiverse individuals, with one study indicating that only around half of adults with autism have ever been employed.
Researchers and associate professors John Davis and Leslie Neely from the UTSA Department of Educational Psychology are taking a new approach to bridging this employment gap. The Employ 210 program aims to dismantle these barriers through targeted training and support. Davis and Neely plan to center employer needs in their program design and build job seekers’ capacity to meet workforce demands. The framework underpinning the program is psychological contracting theory, a key concept in organizational psychology that examines unspoken agreements, or “contracts,” between employees and employers.
Associate professors Leslie Neely and John Davis work with ambassadors from Morgan’s MAC.
Davis, principal investigator of Employ 210, emphasizes that many neurodiverse adults have the potential to thrive in the workplace. “They have the skills and motivation to work, but they face unemployment, underemployment or never enter the workforce at all.”
“This research is extremely beneficial for Morgan’s MAC, especially to our Workforce Inclusion Network (WIN), as we are poised to facilitate and support initiatives that help individuals with disabilities improve their lives through gainful work,” says Gordon Hartman, Visionary and Founder of Morgan’s. “Like most individuals, they want to feel included and part of something. They can and want to work, and our collaboration with Employ 210’s team will aim at bridging that employment gap. We’re just happy to help facilitate that goal and in time provide more people the opportunity and connection for meaningful jobs.”
By fostering a mutual understanding of expectations, Employ 210 aims to ensure that job seekers are well-prepared for the realities of the workforce. Davis explains that the team will define and operationalize employer expectations, using these insights to create training goals tailored to prospective employees.
“This process allows employees to sample multiple jobs and molds the employees’ expectations to align with those of the employers, ensuring a better match,” Davis adds.
In addition to aligning expectations, the team will also focus on aligning employee skills to employer needs. The training program will include a number of phases, including exploring available jobs, shadowing and analyzing specific roles to create an “employee blueprint,” training for the role, job placement and follow-up support.
“We are partnering with Adel Alaeddini from SMU to develop generative AI training simulations and continue training until job seekers are prepared for the tasks and interactions the job requires,” explains Neely, co-principal investigator on the project. “We will also collaborate with employers to develop training materials, ensuring our trainees receive the most relevant and in-demand skills.”
Left to right: Leslie Neely, associate director of Brain Health Consortium; Gordon Hartman, Morgan’s Wonderland founder; and John Davis, associate professor of educational psychology.
Alongside Employ 210, UTSA and Morgan’s MAC co-hosted the 2024 San Antonio Disability Research Forum in June, which showcased a series of impactful studies focused on improving outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Led by Neely, these studies explored various aspects of disability-focused research, including rehabilitation techniques and community engagement.
One pilot study explored a method of rehabilitation that incorporates immersive virtual reality (VR) through a head-mounted display. The team consisted of UTSA professors John Quarles, Kevin Desai and Ayda Eghbalian from the UTSA Department of Computer Science; Alberto Cordova from the UTSA Department of Kinesiology; and Madison Rivenburg and Barbara Goldman from locally based TEAMability. After collecting motion data and VR accessibility feedback from patients who have a variety of disabilities, the research team developed personalized, deep learning models with the aim of predicting rehabilitation performance of an individual in real time.
Evaluating inclusion of individuals in the ambassador program at Morgan’s MAC was the focus of the second study presented at the forum. Felicia Castro-Villarreal and Katie Holloway from the UTSA Department of Educational Psychology and Sara Patton and ME Cormier from the Morgan’s MAC Ambassador Program lead the project. Ambassadors are adults with disabilities who volunteer at Morgan’s MAC to foster a welcoming and inclusive culture for the larger community. Using surveys and interviews, the researchers evaluated how the program impacted the Ambassadors themselves, including the efficacy of providing these individuals with job-readiness skills.
The third team, which includes Jaimie Jacobs from TEAMability and Sakiko Oyama and Se-Woong Park from the UTSA Department of Kinesiology looked to address how clinicians and therapists can use technology to capture improvements and comprehensive data of progress in rehabilitation of patients with disabilities. The team of researchers are processing data to understand how technology can quantify the progress in postural stability and walking patterns.
In the final study presented at the research forum, Dr. Robert Sanders from CommuniCare; and Adel Alaeddini, Julian Carvajal and Melissa Galeano from the UTSA Department of Mechanical Engineering discussed their work identifying the need for a patient’s interdisciplinary team to have access to medical reports written in simple, non-technical language. The goal of this study was to leverage language models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to automate the summarization and visualization of medical reports.
Employ 210, a partnership between UTSA and Morgan’s MAC, is looking to break barriers.
Morgan’s MAC serves as a vital partner in these initiatives, acting as a central hub that houses over 30 community-based organizations and service providers dedicated to addressing the multifaceted needs of individuals with disabilities. The center utilizes a unique model to provide access to both medical and non-medical resources, enhancing the quality of life for its members.
Building on these collaborative efforts, Sara Patton, director of community and partner engagement for Morgan’s MAC, describes the Employ 210 initiative as a “game-changer” for the community. “By providing targeted training and support, we can bridge the gap between the skills of individuals with disabilities and the needs of employers, creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace
Neely and Davis plan to support 320 job seekers over a five-year period. Post-training, they aim to place 40 or more neurodiverse employees in integrated employment opportunities, meeting the recent training and job closure statistics outlined by the Texas Vocational Rehabilitation Project.
The research and training initiatives emerging from this collaboration underscore the significance of creating inclusive environments for neurodiverse individuals. By focusing on employer expectations and aligning them with the skills of job seekers, the Employ 210 program aims to create a pathway to meaningful employment.
The work being done between UTSA, Morgan’s MAC, and SMU exemplifies a proactive approach to tackling the challenges faced by neurodiverse adults. Through innovative training programs, community engagement, and research-driven strategies, these institutions are not only working to close the employment gap but also fostering a culture of inclusion and accessibility that can benefit society as a whole. As they move forward, their efforts serve as a model for other communities seeking to empower individuals with disabilities and to create a more inclusive workplace.
