Background: To improve employment outcome, systematic research that is based on demand-side needs is needed to clarify how employer practice factors can affect customized training efforts.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to report the results of a scoping review to identify the best employer practices that are used to improve customized training efforts and results for people with disabilities in the workplace.

Method: A scoping review of demand-side employment literature was conducted. Five databases were searched for articles published between 1985 and 2017. After filtering articles based on the search criteria, the final number of articles included in the analysis was 27.

Findings: We identified three key themes related to customized training efforts. These include: (a) employment support, (b) work values, and (c) employment temperature.

Conclusion: The findings of this scoping review provide valuable information for disability employment professionals and rehabilitation counselors to engage and assist employers in relation to customized training efforts.

Background: People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are three to four times less largely to be with employment compared to neurotypical others. Theory based studies may provide helpful indicators for the design and implementation of employment supports for people with ASD.

Objective: This critical review examined the extent of the evidence for theory in studies on employment outcomes for people with ASD and taking into account social inequality. For the evidence, 35 studies were selected for review if they were published in the period 2000–2016 and assessed for the association between work participation with ASD applying descriptive survey or quasi-experimental design.

Methods: Studies were examined for use of any theory, including four predetermined theory types: social liminality, psychosocial, behavioral, and structural-infrastructural. They were also content-analyzed to determine if they cited any evidence of social inequality influences on employment outcomes with ASD.

Findings: Results indicated that none of the studies explicitly applied and tested a theory on work participation with ASD. Rather, the majority of the studies were implicitly framed on predominantly behavioral type theory with minor elements of workplace psychosocial support theory-oriented interventions. Regard of structural-infrastructural type theory addressing social inequality is incidentally addressed by a few of the studies (n = 3) that examined family income status influences.

Conclusion: In conclusion, extant studies on the association between employment outcomes and ASD are seriously limited in their explanatory value by a lack of theoretical grounding. They also neglect influences of antecedent social inequality in employment outcomes with ASD. Future studies should apply specific theory to questions on employment outcomes with ASD to provide usable evidence to inform employment support policy instruments and interventions for people with ASD.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the current literature regarding the vocational rehabilitation services found effective in promoting employment among transition-age youth with disabilities as well as identifying factors affecting the effectiveness of those services.

Methods: This study utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines to theoretically and methodologically ground the systematic review. Through a three-stage filtering process, 35 studies were identified that helped identify common and effective vocational rehabilitation services for transition-aged youth.

Findings: Three major themes were observed in the review of literature: validated vocational rehabilitation services, vocational rehabilitation counselor factors, and demographic variables.

Conclusions: Additional research is needed in the role of disability severity as a variable of successful service provision. Further identifying successful vocational services for varying levels of disability severity will provide vocational rehabilitation consumers with more individualized options and has the potential to increase positive case closure rates. Lastly, research indicated a need for continued training of VR counselors to ensure they are meeting the needs of their consumers.

Background: Although there is an increasing demand for workers in STEM fields, people with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM educational programs and related occupations. Among those who achieved competitive integrated employment after serving under an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) by the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) system, only 5.3% of individuals with disabilities were engaged in STEM jobs/careers during the years 2017–2019. Of those with an employment outcome in STEM fields, 8,348 (40.9%) were transition-age youth aged 14–24.

Objective: Using Rehabilitation Service Administration (RSA-911) data for the fiscal years from 2017 to 2019, the current study investigated the characteristics of transition-age youth with disabilities aged 14–24 in the state-federal VR system that predicted employment outcomes in STEM fields.

Methods: A logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations between individual characteristics and STEM career attainment.

Findings: Results illustrated that gender, race, living arrangement, and the receipt of general assistance/SSI/SSDI/TANF predicted employment outcomes in STEM fields.

Conclusions: The research findings provide support for the understanding of demographic characteristics of transition-age youth with disabilities successfully closed in STEM jobs/careers after serving under an IPE. A discussion of the strategies and interventions associated with promoting career development and decisions toward the STEM field for transition-age youth with disabilities is provided.

Background: Workplace inclusion contributes to job satisfaction and innovation. Integrating people with disabilities (PWDs) improves productivity, morale, creativity, problem-solving, and commitment. Previous evidence revealed that employers are ambivalent about integrating PWDs. There remains a paucity of literature that examines demand-side employment practices of integrating PWDs in the workplace.

Objective: The present study comprehensively reviewed the demand-side employment literature to identify existing practices used to improve the integrating PWDs in the workplace.

Methods: A scoping review was employed. Articles were retrieved from PsycInfo, Academic Search, Web-science, American Business Index, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global and published in English from January 1985 to August 2017.

Findings: The scoping review yielded 19 articles. Three themes were identified as common and effective employer practices, including (a) policy and allegation, (b) internal and external partnerships, and (c) organizational top-down management diversity support.

Conclusion: The findings of this scoping review provide collective information for integrating PWDs in the workplace. Findings shed some light on employer and rehabilitation counselors to engage and assist employers in promoting an inclusive workplace climate.

Purpose: People living with chronic illness face significant challenges with employment. This study explores the impact of participating in the Career Construction Interview (CCI) on the career exploration of individuals facing a forced career transition due to the onset or exacerbation of a chronic illness.

Method: An instrumental multiple case study design was used in this qualitative study. A purposeful, homogeneous sample of three female adults was used to gain multiple perspective of forced career transitions. The participants were within 2 years of their diagnosis or exacerbation of one or more chronic health conditions and had to change their career because of the impact of their condition(s).

Results: Eight open codes and five axial codes were discovered through the process of constant comparative analysis. For this study one open code (CCI experience) and five axial codes will be discussed.

Conclusions: This study found patterns related to chronic illness and career and that the Career Construction Interview was helpful to the participants in assisting them with making decisions about potential careers and options for employment. Implications for rehabilitation counseling practice and suggestions for future research.

This study aimed to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the stress levels and life satisfaction of individuals with disabilities and what role social support plays in mitigating these impacts. Data from individuals with disabilities (n = 600) were extracted from a larger international cross-sectional survey study. Regression analyses were conducted to examine how personal and environmental factors contributed to stress levels and life satisfaction changes during the pandemic. Mediation analyses were used to test whether social support mediated the association between stress level and life satisfaction. The negative impact of the pandemic, having a psychiatric disability, being a female, and being younger significantly predicted stress levels. Moreover, the negative impact of the pandemic and stress levels significantly predicted life satisfaction. The relationship between stress levels and life satisfaction was mediated by social support from significant others and friends. There is an urgent need to provide training and education for healthcare professionals, families, and caregivers on the basic aspects of mental health care, developing time-limited and culturally-sensitive mental health interventions, and strategies for expanding the social support system for the population. Broad dissemination of effective therapeutic strategies is crucial in mitigating the negative psychosocial impact of the pandemic.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to address an emerging issue in rehabilitation counseling: The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with aphasia (PWA).

Method: Based upon a review of the literature this article provides an overview of (a) COVID-19 and emergent aphasia-related disability, (b) COVID-19 effects on stroke and aphasia services, (c) COVID-19 effects on mental health and employment of PWA.

Results: This review of the impact of COVID-19 on PWA highlights the increased and emerging needs for rehabilitation counseling services related to an anticipated increase in incidence of aphasia related to COVID-19 illness and secondary impact of medical care for this population.

Conclusion: The impact of COVID-19 on aphasia care in rehabilitation settings underscores the need for increased interprofessional education and collaboration to address the many gaps in aphasia care. Likewise, interdisciplinary research focused on rehabilitation outcomes in aphasia is needed to provide a foundation for evidence-based practice that conforms to the WHO-ICF framework.

Purpose: This mixed-methods study assesses an innovative course design model that integrates community site visits and service-learning at the introductory level for Undergraduate Rehabilitation Education (URE) students (n = 44).

Method: The authors used a survey design to analyze service-learning outcomes and civic attitudes to evaluate the course design. A panel of three independent raters analyzed student weekly papers based on research rubrics of the course objectives created by the authors.

Results: The results demonstrate that the model is effective in altering student cognitive schemes about human service populations and encouraging students to synthesize academic knowledge and immersive experiences.

Conclusions: The study provides evidence for the design of integrating service-learning and site visits throughout the entire semester of an introductory course. This design is what we theorize specifically allowed for the two outcomes of primary importance, altered cognitive schemes about human services populations and synthesis of academic and experiential knowledge.