Case Scenario: Alex

Alex is a 17-year-old student with autism. He receives special education services in a self-

contained classroom in an urban high school. Alex receives instruction both in the classroom and

in the community to improve his vocational, academic, and social skills. He is currently

participating in community-based training in an office setting completing tasks such as data entry

and spreadsheet development. He is diligent and methodical in completing the varied tasks

assigned to him. Alex reads grade level texts independently; however, he demonstrates deficits in

reading comprehension and oral expression. In elementary and middle school, he participated in

a general education math course and maintained a B average. In high school, he received two

years of Teach Math, opting out of standard courses of Algebra I, II, and Geometry.

After school, Alex works part-time at a local office supply store entering numerical data to keep

track of stock and services rendered by store staff. His behavior is appropriate at work and he has

expressed that he likes working. He is punctual each day, and he is willing to stay late when

needed. He really enjoys getting a paycheck and he usually spends his money on fast food and

movies from the local video rental shop. Alex is detail-oriented and reviews each column of

numbers several times before moving on to type another column. This results in slower

production rates in comparison to other workers who complete similar tasks.

Alex is intimidated by his boss because he knows that the boss has the ability to fire him, a fact

that his teachers at school presented during a unit about behavior in the workplace. Alex has

perseverated on this fact, making him afraid to talk to his boss. Also, Alex knows that at times

his speech is not understood by people he does not know, so sometimes he avoids talking to

people he does not know well. As a result, instead of speaking to his boss, Alex usually tells

problems or concerns to his school job coach who visits Alex at the job site each week. The job

coach is concerned that Alex will not ask for help if an emergency occurs, and that a certain level

of communication between Alex and his boss is necessary to develop a good working

relationship. The boss views Alex as a valuable employee and is willing to provide opportunities

for Alex to develop appropriate communication skills. The boss has also expressed an interest in

employing Alex for more hours per week after graduation, if he continues to develop his

business skills.

Alex's mother has expressed that she will support her son in his job at the office supply store by

helping him work on skills that are needed for the job, but she believes that he will need support

to be successful in this employment setting, especially when new tasks are assigned. She knows

that after Alex graduates, his school job coach will stop visiting him at work so she cannot

depend on his continued help. Currently, Alex has no services from the local vocational

rehabilitation agency, although his mother voiced an interest in this at his last IEP meeting.

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