Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38568404›Full record

ArticleJournal of occupational rehabilitation2025

Barriers to and Facilitators for Finding and Keeping Competitive Employment: A Focus Group Study on Autistic Adults With and Without Paid Employment.

Evelien P M Brouwers, Michel Bergijk, Jaap van Weeghel, Sarah Detaille, Hanneke Kerkhof, Jeroen Dewinter

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Evelien P M BrouwersTranzo Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg School for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. e.p.m.brouwers@tilburguniversity.edu.
Michel BergijkTranzo Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg School for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Jaap van WeeghelTranzo Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg School for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Sarah DetailleResearch Department Human Capital Innovations, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Hanneke KerkhofHumanCapitalCare b.v., Son, The Netherlands.
Jeroen DewinterTranzo Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, Tilburg School for Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Tilburg University · NLHAN University of Applied Sciences · NLHumanTotalCare (Netherlands) · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe aim of the study was to gain more insight into barriers to and facilitators for finding and keeping competitive employment for autistic adults. Research questions were: (1) What barriers and facilitators do autistic adults report in finding and keeping competitive employment?; and (2) What are differences and similarities between autistic adults with and without paid employment regarding barriers and facilitators for sustainable employment?

methodsEight focus groups were conducted (N = 64 autistic adults). Four groups included only participants without paid employment (N = 24), and four groups consisted exclusively of participants with current paid employment (including part-time, N = 40). All discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim to enable inductive thematic content analysis. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti 9.

resultsTen themes and thirty-four subthemes were found. Many were interconnected. Themes facilitating sustainable employment included a positive workplace atmosphere, a supportive supervisor, being able to do work that aligns with interests and talents, favorable physical working conditions, coaching, higher self-insight, higher self-esteem, and proactivity. Most themes and subthemes emerged from both groups. Differences between the groups were that those with paid employment seemed to have experienced more friendly workplaces and supervisors, had received better coaching in finding and keeping employment, had higher self-insight and higher self-esteem, were more assertive and proactive.

conclusionsAs many (sub-)themes were interrelated, the results suggest that to improve work participation, particularly two key areas are promising: (1) to realize more friendly, well-being oriented and inclusive workplaces, and (2) to increase autistic adults' self-insight into personal needs for positive wellbeing and self-knowledge regarding talents, wishes and well-being boundaries.

Indexed as

Autistic DisorderEmploymentAdultFemaleFocus GroupsHumansMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchSelf ConceptWorkplaceYoung AdultAutismBarriers and facilitatorsEmploymentFocus groupSelf-insightWorkplace inclusion

Identifiers

PMID38568404
PMCPMC11839882
OpenAlexW4393898786

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.