Employers’ attitudes toward persons with disabilities in the workforce: Myths or realities? Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

A review of literature on employers ' attitudes toward workers with disabilities was completed. Factors that may affect employers ' attitudes toward persons with disabilities in the workforce are provided, as well as a description of the methodologies used in the investigations. Although several key themes emerge, decades of employer attitudinal research has generally produced inconsistent findings due to variations in research design. Major legislative and philosophical forces during the past 30 years have attempted to enhance the participation of working-age Americans with disabilities in the competitive labor market. The public policy initiatives related to employers and/or work disability began in 1970 with the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). OSHA was followed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, state workers ' compensation enactments of the 1980s and 1990s, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, and the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA) of 1999 (Hunt, 1999). The forces that have both paralleled and provided the impetus for passage of much of the legislation include the following: 1. significant changes in thinking regarding the vocational rehabilitation and employment potentia