ME UCEDD Developing Curriculum for Supporting Employment for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

June 16, 2008

Maine UCEDD Research Associate, Alan Kurtz, has developed a six-module training curriculum to help employment specialists learn how to develop customized supports that will lead to individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) succeeding in employment.

The curriculum, Quality Employment Practices for Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, provides an overview of the unique characteristics, learning styles, and strengths of individuals with ASD and addresses their employment support needs in the areas of communication; social interaction; structure, routine and predictability; sensory processing difficulties; movement differences and motor planning; and assessment and job development.

Kurtz, a doctoral student and trainee at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, will be presenting information about the curriculum at the 19th Annual APSE conference in Louisville, KY in July.

The curriculum will be available in late fall 2008 and has been developed with support from the New England Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program with funding from the U.S. Department of Education; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities.

For more information, please contact Alan Kurtz at the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies or dial  800/203-6957 (V/TTY).