• Holly N Whittenburg, Carol M Schall, Paul Wehman, Jennifer McDonough, and Thomas DuBois.
• Virginia Commonwealth University, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, 1314 West Main Street, Richmond, VA 23284-2011 Presented as a poster presentation at the 2018 Military Health System Research. Symposium, August 2018, Kissimmee, FL: abstract #MHSRS-18-0605. The authors of this paper declare no conflicts of interest in the completion of the study or the preparation of this manuscript.
• Mil Med. 2020 Jan 7; 185 (Suppl 1): 663-668.

IntroductionYouth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face high rates of unemployment, with unique challenges for military-dependent and -connected youth with ASD. This paper reports preliminary findings from Year One of a randomized waitlist controlled trial investigating the efficacy of the Project SEARCH + ASD Supports (PS + ASD) intervention model for military-dependent and -connected youth with ASD.MethodsTreatment group participants (n = 6) participated in internships at a military installation in the southeastern United States; waitlist group participants (n = 8) received special education transition services at their local high schools. Employment outcome data were collected at 12 months for both groups.ResultsFourteen unique internship experiences were developed across seven business partner organizations on the military installation during Year One. Five of six PS + ASD treatment group participants obtained competitive integrated employment for an overall employment rate of 83.3%. Four of the positions were federal jobs. None of the waitlist group participants obtained competitive integrated employment during the same period.ConclusionsInitial results are promising and suggest that the PS + ASD model may help to meet the transition needs of military-dependent and -connected youth with ASD and the employment needs of local military communities.© Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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