Towards an inclusive enterprise: Development of neuropsychological tools for competence mapping in persons with autism in business contexts.

Supervisor SISSA
Prof Raffaella Rumiati (rumiati@sissa.it)

Co-supervisors Roma Tor Vergata
Dr. Maria Rosaria Nappa (maria.rosaria.nappa@uniroma2.it)

Dr. Elisa Cavicchiolo (elisa.cavicchiolo@uniroma2.it)

Introduction: Most people with an autism spectrum disorder are unemployed or have a low level of employment, often of short duration and underpaid. The literature dedicated to this topic (e.g. Wehman et al., 2017) points out that these people have difficulties in finding a job suited to their skills and keeping it, mainly due to problems associated with their relational functioning and the type of support offered by employment settings. On the other hand, it has been shown that the effectiveness of employment pathways for people with autism is fostered by the presence of individualized plans that take into account the characteristics of these people, including their motivations, preferences and expectations, those of their caregivers and the configuration of the work group. Therefore, as also suggested by the Recommendations published by Autism Europe (2016) and by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (2023), in order to foster the insertion and inclusion of persons with autism in the world of work, it is necessary, first of all, to develop standardized assessment and monitoring tools that can be referred to all levels of support needs.

Objectives: The main objective of the project is to develop and validate tools for the assessment and monitoring of skills useful for the insertion and inclusion of people with autism in the corporate environment. These tools will concern the assessment of task-specific skills (e.g. IT and digital skills) and of executive, transversal and motivational dimensions in persons with autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, it is planned to record event-related potential (ERP) components that account for differences between persons with autism along the above-mentioned dimensions.

Method: The project is based on a multi-informant and multi-method approach. In addition to persons with autism spectrum disorder, caregivers and company contact persons will be involved. A qualitative and quantitative research methodology will be adopted. In particular, interviews and/or focus groups will be conducted with caregivers and company contact persons and psychometric approaches will be used to validate instruments useful for the initial assessment and monitoring of competences. ERPs will be recorded individually and will help to define the cognitive endophenotypes of the persons with autism in the study.

Expected results: The results of this project will form the basis for the development of evidence-based best practices oriented towards the creation of inclusive work environments in which the 'autistic brain' can represent an opportunity for the growth and integration of persons with autism with caregivers and company contact persons.