RS5 Case Study: Fidelity Illustrated
Alex and Jordan: Similar Goals, Different Employment Experiences
Alex and Jordan are both 23 years old and recently graduated from public high schools in the same state. Like many young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), the end of school brought excitement, uncertainty, and pressure. The routines and supports that had structured much of their lives suddenly changed. Teachers, transition coordinators, and family members began asking a new set of questions:
What happens next?
Will they find meaningful work?
Will they be independent?
Who will support them?
Both Alex and Jordan want what many young adults want. They want to earn their own money rather than depend entirely on family. They want to spend less time at home and more time doing something meaningful. They want coworkers who know their names. They want reasons to wake up in the morning, routines that feel adult, and opportunities to contribute to something outside themselves. Both have talked with their parents about larger goals:
- Having enough income to help pay bills someday
- Feeling more independent
- Meeting people outside of school
- Developing confidence
- Building skills for adulthood
- Potentially living more independently in the future
Neither describes these goals using policy language like competitive integrated employment or community participation outcomes.
Instead, Alex says: “I want a job where people know me and I can help.”
Jordan says: “I just want to work like everybody else.”
Their families express similar hopes.
Alex’s mother worries about long-term independence: “I’m not expecting everything overnight. I just want to know what life looks like after school.”
Jordan’s father wonders: “Who’s going to help when we aren’t around forever?”
These concerns are familiar to many families navigating employment services for people with IDD.
Both Alex and Jordan participated in school-based transition experiences. Both completed short internships through high school programs. Teachers described them as motivated, polite, and eager to work. Neither had extensive paid employment history before graduation.
(Download Word Document or PDF for Full Case Study)