A Historical Overview of Research in Supported Employment: Implications for the Next Decade

A goal of this paper is to overview the nature of research methodology used in studies of supported employment and to discuss implications for the next decade of supported employment research. Because of the similarities between the two initiatives, a methodologi-cal framework or cycle developed to analyze research on transition was used as the organizer for this overview of supported employment. The 1980s will be remembered by those of us in special education and rehabilitation as a decade of new initiatives built on themes. Beginning in the early eighties, the supported employment and transi-tion initiatives both extended the ideals of integration, independence, and productivity to new populations and operationalized them in terms of the real life outcomes of independent living, employment, and self-determination expressed in a community context. The similarities con-tinue. The number of supported employment and transition programs i