Coworker perceptions of facilitation strategies provided by job coaches, and needed by coworkers, and discrepancies between facilitation strategies provided by job coaches and those perceived as being needed by co-workers were analyzed in relation to the types and frequency of problems reported to be exhibited by supported employees (N = 83). The results of this preliminary investigation indicated that when the frequency of work problems was low, the majority of the problems resulted in the need for and provision of less intensive facilitation strategies. Coworkers perceived they needed either low or a mixed level of support, not a high level of support, even when the frequency of work problems was high, except when the problems were related to challenging behaviors such as self-injury and property destruction. The most intriguing finding was that job coaches generally used the level of facilitation strategies that matched coworker needs.
BelcherR. G.SmithM. D. (1994). Co-worker attitudes toward employees with autism. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 4, 29–36.
2.
ButterworthJ.HagnerD.HelmD. T.WhelleyT. A. (2000). Workplace culture, social interactions, and supports for transitioning-age young adults. Mental Retardation, 38, 342–353.
3.
ButterworthJ.HagnerD.KiernanW. E.ShalockR. L. (1996). Natural supports in the workplace: Defining an agenda for research and practice. The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 21, 103–113.
4.
ButterworthJ.StrauchJ. P. (1994). The relationship between social competence and success in the competitive workplace for persons with mental retardation. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 29, 118–133.
5.
Chadsey-RuschJ.GonzalezP.TinesJ.JohnsonJ. (1989). Social ecology of the workplace: Contextual variables affecting social interactions of employees with and without mental retardation. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 94, 141–151.
6.
ChadseyJ. G.SheldenD. (1998). Promoting social relationships and integration for supported employees in work settings. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois, Transition Research Institute.
7.
GreenspanS.SchoultzB. (1981). Why mentally retarded adults lose their jobs: Social competence as a factor in work adjustment. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 2(1), 23–38.
8.
HagnerD. (1992). The social interactions and job supports of supported employees. In NisbetJ. (Ed.), Natural supports in school, at work, and in the community for people with severe disabilities (pp. 217–239). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
9.
Hanley-MaxwellC.RuschF. R.Chadsey-RuschJ.Ren-ZagliaA. (1986). Reported factors contributing to job terminations of individuals with severe disabilities. The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 11, 45–52.
10.
HughesC.RuschF. R. (1996). People with challenging behavior in integrated work environments. In LehrD. H.BrownF. (Eds.), People with disabilities who challenge the system (pp. 307–331). Baltimore: Paul. H. Brookes.
11.
KempD. C.CarrE. G. (1995). Reduction of severe problem behavior in community employment using a hypothesis-driven multicomponent intervention approach. The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 20, 229–247.
12.
KregelJ. (1995). Personal and functional characteristics of supported employment participants with severe mental retardation. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 5, 221–231.
13.
LeeM.StoreyM.AndersonJ. L.GoetzL.ZivolichS. (1997). The effect of mentoring versus job coach instruction on integration in employment settings. The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 22, 151–169.
14.
MankD.CioffiA.YovanoffP. (2000). Direct support in supported employment and its relation to job typicalness, co-worker involvement, and employment outcomes. Mental Retardation, 38, 506–516.
15.
NisbetJ.HagnerD. (1988). Natural supports in the workplace: A reexamination of supported employment. The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 13, 260–267.
16.
OhtakeY.ChadseyJ. (1999). Social disclosure among co-workers without disabilities in supported employment settings. Mental Retardation, 37, 25–35.
17.
OhtakeY.ChadseyJ. G. (2001). Continuing to describe the natural support process. The Journal of The Association for Persons With Severe Handicaps, 26, 87–95.
18.
ParentW. S.KregelJ.MetzlerH. M. D.TwardzikG. (1992). Social integration in the workplace: An analysis of the interaction activities of workers with mental retardation and their co-workers. Education and Training in Mental Retardation, 27, 28–38.
19.
RuschF. R.MenchettiB. M. (1981). Increasing compliant work behaviors in a non-sheltered setting. Mental Retardation, 19, 107–112.
20.
ShaferM. S.RiceM. L.MetzlerH. M. D.HaringM. (1989). A survey of nondisabled employees' attitudes toward supported employees with mental retardation. The Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 14, 137–146.
21.
TestD. W.WoodW. M. (1996a). Natural supports in the workplace: The jury is still out. The Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 21, 155–173.
22.
TestD. W.WoodW. M. (1996b). Some additional thoughts about supported employment using natural supports. The Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 21, 189–193.
23.
UngerD. D.ParentW.GibsonK.Kane-JohnstonK.KregelJ. (1998). An analysis of the activities of employment specialists in a natural support approach to supported employment. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 13, 27–38.
24.
WehmanP.WestM.KregelJ. (1999). Supported employment program development and research needs: Looking ahead to the Year 2000. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 34, 3–19.
25.
WestM. D.KregelJ.HernandezA.HockT. (1997). Everybody's doing it: A national study of the use of natural supports in supported employment. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 12, 175–181.
26.
Yoshi Ohtake is now at the Department of Special Education, University of Okayama, Okayama, Japan.
