{"id":412981,"date":"2026-08-21T15:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/412981\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T15:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:44:22","slug":"researchers-tackle-the-employment-gap-for-individuals-with-intellectual-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/412981\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers tackle the employment gap for individuals with intellectual disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for TPR Today<\/a>, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n

For individuals with developmental disabilities, access to employment remains limited. Many adults on the autism spectrum or with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disabilities may find employment only in sheltered workshops rather than in integrated, competitive jobs.<\/p>\n

The job training program Employ210<\/a> recently presented research at the San Antonio Research Forum to employers addressing the gap and best practices to create inclusive employment opportunities. The forum was held at Morgan\u2019s Multi-Assistance Center (MAC).\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Employ210\u2019s<\/p>\n

Employ210\u2019s project director is John Davis. Here he speaks with Ashley Labay, a clinical associate professor of educational psychology in the Behavior Analysis program at UT San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Employ210 is a grant-funded, collaborative effort created by researchers and faculty members at UT San Antonio, Morgan\u2019s Multi-Assistance Center (MAC), and Southern Methodist University (SMU) to provide employment opportunities to adults living with neurodevelopmental disorders.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

UT San Antonio researchers participating in the program recently presented their findings on workplace stress, economic barriers, and valued soft skills.<\/p>\n

Employ210\u2019s project director is John Davis, UT San Antonio associate dean for the College of Education and Human Development. He presented research on the economic barriers for young Texans with autism spectrum disorder. His work is a collaboration with Javier Oyakawa at UT San Antonio\u2019s Institute of Economic Development.<\/p>\n

\"Employ210\u2019s<\/p>\n

Employ210\u2019s project director and UT San Antonio associate dean for the College of Education and Human Development, John Davis, shares his research from “Economic Barriers to Employment for Young Texans with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a first-of-its-kind analysis that really dives into these kinds of primary indicators of economic pressure for individuals in this category,\u201d said Davis. <\/p>\n

He said the research is an initial step in a broader economic analysis that will examine how employment levels affect government benefits, the cost to Texas and how employment opportunities for people with disabilities could help offset those costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we’re trying to be part of the solution on both ends to make better opportunities for individuals in this community and create a positive economic impact for the state is the real goal,” said Davis.<\/p>\n

\"Teacher<\/p>\n

Teacher Johnnie Williams of Schert-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District attended the disability forum. <\/p>\n

Johnnie Williams, a teacher with the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District, attended the forum. Williams said she would like the research to take into account individuals with disabilities who choose to work shorter hours to maintain their Social Security benefits.<\/p>\n

“Because you can’t have a true number, a true percentage, unless you do take into account the people who choose to cut their hours, and then we know exactly how many people are getting less hours because of their disability or choosing to take less hours,” said Williams. <\/p>\n

UT San Antonio assistant professor of educational psychology, Hannah MacNaul, serves as the director of Multi-Assistance Center (MAC) Relations with Employ210.<\/p>\n

\"UT<\/p>\n

UT San Antonio assistant professor of educational psychology, Hannah MacNaul, presented her findings on supporting people with disabilities during moments of workplace stress.<\/p>\n

MacNaul said training for a job is not a \u201cone size fits all\u201d and that businesses need to pivot to longer periods or training to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder not only gain but keep their jobs, as some may lose their jobs within days after being hired.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it really takes into account what are all the job demands and all the steps that comprise those job demands for somebody who is neurodiverse or neurotypical to engage in that work,\u201d said McNaul. \u201cBut not just engage in that work, but to be an exemplary employee.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacNaul said Employ210 uses behavior analysis by breaking down large, general job descriptions into very clear, discreet, measurable steps so neurodiverse employees can engage and perform at the level of an exemplary employee.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if the job description says \u2018greet customers,\u2019 \u2018wipe down tables,\u2019 and \u2018answer questions,\u2019 there’s so much that goes into that beyond that surface level description,\u201d said MacNaul. \u201cWhere do you get the materials? What tables? Should you stop wiping tables if somebody comes up and asks you a question? And\u2026we develop that blueprint is what we call it.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacNaul said training can take two days or longer, but the goal is to get individuals to master the training practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what’s important when you think about employment for the neurodiverse population is that additional opportunities to practice those skills makes a world of difference for when they get into that job. It improves their confidence. If you’re asked to clean tables, we might set up a situation where you have a rag, but you don’t have the cleaning solution. So what do you do? Well, we wanted to make sure that that person knows who to go to and how to ask for help, and then (the person) is able to go back to that task so that they can continue that workflow. So it’s really paying attention to the finer details of everything that comprises of a job,\u201d said MacNaul.<\/p>\n

MacNaul also presented her findings on supporting people with disabilities during moments of workplace stress. She used data from a survey in which 13 employers responded on what are potential causes to workplace stress.<\/p>\n

\"UT<\/p>\n

UT San Antonio assistant professor of educational psychology, Hannah MacNaul presented data from a survey she sent out to selected employers on potential workplace stressers for individuals with disabilities. <\/p>\n

Work stressors among individuals with disabilities:\u00a0<\/p>\n

unclear expectationsstaffing changesreceiving corrective feedbackconflict between either an employee and a supervisor or two employeessensory factors <\/p>\n

MacNaul said schedule changes are cited frequently as causing stressful moments for employees with disabilities.<\/p>\n

UT San Antonio assistant professor of educational psychology, Humberto Pe\u00f1a, Jr., has conducted preliminary research on soft skills like empathy and leadership.<\/p>\n

\"UT<\/p>\n

UT San Antonio assistant professor of educational psychology, Humberto Pe\u00f1a, Jr. presented his preliminary findings on Valued Soft Skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the skills that employers are talking about that they value. These are the same skills that people with and without disabilities value, and the main themes from our findings are communication, interpersonal skills, social skills, and some teamwork,\u201d said
Pe\u00f1a. \u201cThat’s like the main themes that we’re seeing across all perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Davis and Pe\u00f1a expect their respective research to be published next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-412981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}