178 lines
6 KiB
YAML
178 lines
6 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'Community brief Why is this an important issue?Employment is important
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for income, quality of life, and the ability to get the supports or
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services a person needs. Autistic adults are more likely to be
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unemployed or underemployed when compared with neurotypical adults and
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people with other disabilities. There are many environmental barriers to
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participating in adult activities in the community, but issues with
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transportation are a primary barrier. In previous research, a high
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number of autistic adults (72\%) reported that they had missed some of
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their desired activities due to lack of transportation. It is important
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to understand the relationship between transportation and employment to
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know how to overcome barriers and improve employment options for
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autistic adults who want to work. What was the purpose of this
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research?The purpose of this research was to look at transportation and
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employment status (i.e., employed or unemployed). Specifically, this
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study compared types of transportation used and perceived barriers to
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transportation between autistic adults who were employed and those who
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were unemployed. What did the researchers do?Information was collected
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from 1120 autistic adults through a large statewide survey, which
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included questions about employment and transportation. Information from
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autistic adults who were employed and those who were not employed was
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compared. What were the results of the study?Results of this comparison
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showed that participants who were employed were more likely to drive
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themselves and less likely to take rides from other people or to use
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service transportation. Those who were employed also reported fewer
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barriers to public transportation. Barriers such as crime, planning a
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trip, treatment by fellow passengers, cost, knowledge on how to use
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public transportation, and sensory overload were identified by more
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people who were unemployed than by people who were employed. How will
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these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?The study
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identified specific barriers to transportation for autistic adults who
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are unemployed. This information can help to guide supports and policies
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to reduce barriers for travel needed for employment. In addition,
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results of this study can help guide future research to develop or
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identify the transportation skills needed for travel to work for
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autistic adults.
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Background: Autistic adults are significantly unemployed or
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underemployed even compared with other disability groups. Employment is
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a social determinant that, when satisfied, closely influences
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health-related quality of life. For autistic adults, environmental
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barriers to transportation can impact the ability to get to employment
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resulting in limited employment opportunities. This study provides a
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closer examination of the association between transportation use and
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employment status.Objective: To examine the use of different types of
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transportation and barriers to public transit by employed and unemployed
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autistic adults.Method: The data were from a large statewide study
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conducted between May 2017 and June 2018 using the Pennsylvania Autism
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Needs Assessment (PANA), in which information about employment and
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transportation use was obtained from autistic adults who were residents
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of Pennsylvania. The study sample included 1120 autistic adults (M-age =
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28.03 years, standard deviation = 9.84; 70\% men; 82\% non-Hispanic
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White).Results: Participants who were employed were more likely to drive
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themselves than those who were unemployed (45\% vs. 21\%, p < 0.001),
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while they were less likely to take rides from others (62\% vs. 75\%, p
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< 0.001) or use service transportation (11\% vs. 18\%, p = 0.001). For
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barriers to public transit, the results identified that employed
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participants reported fewer barriers to public transportation than
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unemployed participants with a small effect size (1.98 vs. 2.54, d =
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0.22).Conclusion: Employed autistic adults exercise more transportation
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independence. Unemployed autistic adults report more barriers to
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participation and lower ability to independently use public
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transportation. Future transportation and employment studies are
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necessary.'
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affiliation: 'Pfeiffer, B (Corresponding Author), Temple Univ, Coll Publ Hlth, Hlth
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\& Rehabil Sci, 1913 North Broad St,Mitten Hall,Suite 201, Philadelphia, PA 19122
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USA.
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Pfeiffer, Beth; Davidson, Amber, Temple Univ, Coll Publ Hlth, Hlth \& Rehabil Sci,
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Philadelphia, PA USA.
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Song, Wei; Shea, Lindsey, Drexel Univ, AJ Drexel Autism Inst, Philadelphia, PA USA.
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Salzer, Mark, Temple Univ, Coll Publ Hlth, Social \& Behav Sci, Philadelphia, PA
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USA.
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Feeley, Cecilia, Rutgers State Univ, Ctr Adv Infrastruct \& Res, New Brunswick,
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NJ USA.
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Pfeiffer, Beth, Temple Univ, Coll Publ Hlth, Hlth \& Rehabil Sci, 1913 North Broad
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St,Mitten Hall,Suite 201, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA.'
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author: Pfeiffer, Beth and Song, Wei and Davidson, Amber and Salzer, Mark and Feeley,
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Cecilia and Shea, Lindsey
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author-email: bpfeiffe@temple.edu
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author_list:
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- family: Pfeiffer
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given: Beth
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- family: Song
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given: Wei
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- family: Davidson
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given: Amber
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- family: Salzer
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given: Mark
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- family: Feeley
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given: Cecilia
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- family: Shea
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given: Lindsey
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1089/aut.2022.0069
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earlyaccessdate: AUG 2023
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eissn: 2573-959X
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files: []
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issn: 2573-9581
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journal: AUTISM IN ADULTHOOD
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keywords: autistic adults; autism; employment; transportation
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keywords-plus: TRANSIT SERVICES; SPECTRUM; HEALTH; IMPACT; TRAVEL
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language: English
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month: 2023 AUG 4
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number-of-cited-references: '28'
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papis_id: cfcf405eb673ee420dc45ecd95bd8a4b
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ref: Pfeiffer2023transportationuse
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times-cited: '0'
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title: Transportation Use and Barriers for Employed and Unemployed Autistic Adults
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type: article
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unique-id: WOS:001040414700001
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usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
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usage-count-since-2013: '1'
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web-of-science-categories: Psychology, Developmental; Rehabilitation
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year: '2023'
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