A Strength-Based Employment Maintenance Program for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum

NCT ID: NCT06255925

Last Updated: 2025-03-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-01-01
• Study Completion Date: 2026-06-30

Brief Summary

The investigators are looking to evaluate how effective a training program that focuses on character strengths may be in improving job maintenance skills in young adults. The investigators are examining the effects of this intervention in young adults who feel they would like to help in improving their satisfaction with work, and in keeping their jobs.

Detailed Description

Individuals with autism possess employable and valuable strengths and abilities. Unfortunately, despite these strengths, individuals with autism experience challenges in obtaining and maintaining employment. Traditionally, the majority of interventions designed for autism (including those focused on employment) focus on remediating deficits, without harnessing the strengths of those with autism. This deficit-based approach (i.e. to fix what is deficient in a person with autism) has triggered increasing criticism and dissatisfaction from the autism community. A growing shift toward strength-based training tools represent a holistic approach to treatment of autistic individuals by acknowledging and using their strengths to improve outcomes. To date, no strength-based employment programs have been examined in individuals with autism. Thus, in the current project, the investigators aim to develop and test a strength-based employment program. At Kessler Foundation, the investigators have developed a strength-based training tool: Kessler Foundation Strength Identification and Expression (KF-STRIDE®) which targets job interview skills by teaching individuals with autism to identify and express their personal strengths to a future employer. In the current proposal, the investigators aim to adapt this program to specifically target job maintenance skills.

Conditions

Autism

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Treatment Group

In this arm, participants would participate in in an intervention program that uses character strengths to improve job maintenance skills in young adults.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

KF-STRIDE® Into Work!

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Treatment group will receive 10 web based sessions of a strength-based training tool(once or twice a week). Sessions are approximately 60 minutes long.

Control Group

In this arm, participants are services as usual and will participate in their regular activities.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

KF-STRIDE® Into Work!

Treatment group will receive 10 web based sessions of a strength-based training tool(once or twice a week). Sessions are approximately 60 minutes long.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Kessler Foundation Strength Identification and Expression

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Lives in the United States of America
• Between the ages of 14-26
• Speaks English well and at a 4th grade reading level

Exclusion Criteria

• Had a stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, or neurological injury or disease in the past(like brain tumor or epilepsy)
• Has a history of significant psychiatric illness(like schizophrenia or psychosis)
• Has uncontrolled seizures or other unstable medical complications

• Minimum Eligible Age: 14 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 26 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Kessler Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Helen Genova, Ph. D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Kessler Foundation

Locations

Kessler Foundation

East Hanover, New Jersey, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Helen Genova, Ph. D.

Role: CONTACT

hgenova@kesslerfoundation.org

973-324-8390

Facility Contacts

Helen Genova, Ph. D.

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

E-1199-22

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id