Situational Assessment of Task Preferences among Adults with Multiple Severe Disabilities in Supported Work

Identifying work related preferences is an important aspect of supporting people with disabilities in community based jobs. However, how to accurately determine preferences among supported workers who have multiple severe disabilities and highly significant communication challenges has received little research attention. We evaluated the use of a situational assessment for identifying work task preferences among three individuals with multiple severe disabilities. Two participants worked on a yard maintenance crew and one was assigned to cleaning offices. The assessment involved systematically observing indices of happiness and unhappiness while the participants worked on different tasks. The observations revealed distinct differences regarding the tasks that the workers liked and disliked. The validity of the identified preferences was supported through observations, which indicated that work engagement of the workers was most frequent when they worked on their most preferred task and least frequent when they worked on their least preferred task. Overall, these results offer support for use of the situational assessment to identify preferred work tasks for adults with multiple severe disabilities. Results are discussed in terms of evaluating the assessment process with other aspects of work placements beyond specific job tasks to further enhance the likelihood that supported workers will work in job situations in accordance with their work preferences.