Vocational Assessment

The assessment should make best use of existing documentation about personal, educational, occupational, social and communication functioning, and should include assessment of any coexisting conditions, especially depression, anxiety, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and global delay or intellectual disability in line with Autism in adults (NICE clinical guideline 142).

As part of initial assessment of behavior that challenges, take into account:

• The person's abilities and needs (in particular, their expressive and receptive communication)
• any physical or mental health problems, and the effect of medication, including side effects
• developmental history, including neurodevelopmental problems (including the severity of the learning disability and the presence of autism or other behavioral phenotypes)
• response to any previous interventions for behavior that challenges
• the impact of the behavior that challenges on the person's: o and that of their family members or carers o independent living skills and educational or occupational abilities
• social and interpersonal history, including relationships with family members, carers, staff (such as teachers) or other people with a learning disability (such as those the person lives with)

Vocational assessment aims to describe a person's vocational goals, capacity to work (general work readiness, skills and competencies for specific occupations) and/or a person's occupational performance at the current workplace. During the vocational assessment, information on the individual's capacity and/or performance to complete expected or assigned tasks, organizing oneself, working cooperatively with colleagues, taking directions from supervisors, or supervising others is collected. The vocational assessment (including initial screening to determine the need for comprehensive assessment) uses interviewing, standardized self-reported questionnaires, observation or specific tests to determine the capacity to work and/or the presence and/or severity of difficulties at work, ascertain its impact on functioning, and inform care planning, including the need for referral or follow up. A supervisor may be involved in the assessment.