FIDDLE - Fit (for) Intellectual Developmental Determinations (for) Longterm Employment

The US is experiencing workforce shortages in sectors such as manufacturing, hospitality, food service and health care. These are areas that could be filled by under employed job seekers with intellectual developmental disability (ID), such as those with autism spectrum disorder, Down Syndrome, and those with an acquired brain injury. New evidence supports the concept of new tools can help the job seeker with an ID, their employment-related staff, and potential employers of employees with an ID. This study explores the benefits of web-based tools to enhance key steps in the pre-employment and employment process. Without FIDDLE, employment specialists must rely on traditional approaches. Combined with the critical shortage of employment specialists and job developers, this will exacerbate the strain on scarce resources. Phase I demonstrated the technical merit, feasibility, and cost effectiveness of combining available web-based tools and an innovative approach to create the FIDDLE system and tested with 10 job seekers with ID and their support staff. Phase II Objectives include: 1) completing the website software and cloud-based dashboard, 2) integrating new services including AI, and 3) administering an extended field evaluation of FIDDLE with job seekers, job developers, and employers (n=40) compared with a control group (n=40).