This review examined various studies regarding the employment outcomes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) within the United States. This review provides a snapshot of the individuals’ employment rate, setting, income, quality of life, and well-being. A thorough literature review was conducted to retrieve studies and gather information. The studies were retrieved from Proquest, Ebscohost, Emerald, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. Other databases included Eric and PsycINFO. The inclusion criteria were the studies published after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as well as the studies published in English and limited to the population of the United States. A total of 27 studies were included in the review. The results indicated that the employment settings for individuals with IDD, such as sheltered, supported, or competitive employment, have different impacts on working hours and weekly wages. This paper also established that the employment of individuals with IDD has a positive influence on their self-esteem, selfconfidence, career progression, and independence levels, especially in integrated employment. Furthermore, this review demonstrated that the work of such individuals provides a source of income and enables them to contribute to the national economy through taxes. However, the review suggests that there is still a need to improve the employment of such individuals in order to increase the employment outcomes to significant levels. There is a need to mainly focus on enhancing sheltered employment whose results are relatively lower when compared to the other forms of work. Practices and research implications were also discussed.

Introduction

Historically, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) were secluded to family homes and private and public establishments (Olney & Kennedy, 2001). However, changes in the late 1960s led to deinstitutionalization and increased financial support for community-based services focused on community-based living for people with IDD. This expansion also characterized the period of special education services, daycare services, and facility-based workshops becoming mainstream (Migliore, Mank, Grossi, & Rogan, 2007). Furthermore, federal legislation with regard to individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) (such as the amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1986, Americans with Disabilities Act 1990, and Rehabilitation Act Amendments1992, the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, and the amendments to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 2014) have emphasized enhanced employment opportunities for individuals with IDD. These legislative changes and other factors, such as customized training programs, work environment-related factors, technology, facility-based employment, and integrated employment, have enhanced both employment opportunities and outcomes for people with IDD (Test, Mazzotti et al., 2009). Customized training is a type of training that includes the employer’s commitment to share expenses with the training provider in order to meet precise skills.