Navigating Employment for Persons with IDD-MH

Presenters: Ariel Schwartz, PhD, OTR/L; Megan Henly, PhD, MS; Andrew Houtenville, PhD; Alix Herer

Live Q and A moderated by Kelly Nye-Lengerman, PhD, MSW, Director, Institute on Disability 

Learning Objectives

• Describe the historical context of employment for persons with disabilities 
• Assess potential supports and barriers to employment for persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and mental health needs
• Identify the multiple interrelated government programs that influence employment for persons with disabilities

All live Q&A events are held via Zoom from 1:00-2:00 ET / 12:00-1:00 CT / 11:00-12:00 MT / 10:00-11:00 PT.

Ariel Schwartz is a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire and the Director of UNH-4U. Ariel is committed to advancing knowledge about the use of inclusive/participatory research approaches with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Throughout all of her research, she partners with individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Here research is focused on participation and wellness for transition-age young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities.  Recent research has addressed employment for transition-age youth with co-occurring mental health conditions, the development and testing of a peer mentoring intervention to address mental health self-management for transition-age youth, and the development of accessible research ethics training that will support individuals with disabilities to take on a range of research roles.

Megan Henly has worked in survey production and analysis since 2000, including in academia, government, and the non-profit sectors. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology and an M.S. in survey methodology. At the Institute on Disability, her work examines how people with disabilities are doing with respect to employment, health, community participation, and overall well-being.

Dr. Andrew Houtenville is a Professor of Economics and Research Director at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. He is extensively involved in disability statistics and employment policy research. He has been published widely in the areas of disability statistics and the economic status of people with disabilities. Dr. Houtenville received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of New Hampshire in 1997 and was a National Institute on Aging Post-Doctoral Fellow at Syracuse University in 1998/1999. He was also a Senior Research Associate at Cornell University and New Editions Consulting in McLean, Virginia.

Alix Herer has been doing research for the past 5 years at multiple universities. She has helped develop a peer mentoring program for young adults to help them with their mental health, studied employment for young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions, and how people with developmental disabilities make decisions about pregnancy. She has presented her research and published papers about her experience of being a researcher. Alix has had a lot of jobs and now is a preschool teacher.