Development of a Competency Model for Autistic Employment

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. The publication reports that autistic people are authors or co-authors, without specifying their number or identifying them by name.

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Hartman, L. M., Hancock, S., Plotnick, S. L., Powell‐Rudy, T., & Hartman, B. L. (2026). Development of a Competency Model for Autistic Employment. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 34(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.70059

Publication date: 22 Mar 2026 Added to AutiHub: 16 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
5
Autistic authors reported by the publication
Number not specified
  1. Lorne M. Hartman
  2. Samantha Hancock
  3. Samuel L. Plotnick
  4. Tracy Powell‐Rudy
  5. Braxton L. Hartman *

Abstract

ABSTRACT This short communication reports the development of a competency model for autistic employment, derived directly from autistic employees' accounts of effective workplace performance. Critical Incident Technique interviews were conducted with 15 autistic professionals employed in large corporate and public‐sector organizations, yielding 67 critical incidents and approximately 130 behavioral statements. Interview data were thematically coded against an established competency dictionary and refined through consensus, resulting in 12 competencies organized into four clusters: social, motivational, cognitive, and personal, with 89 associated behavioral indicators. The draft model was reviewed and refined through follow‐up focus groups with participants to assess clarity, accuracy, and comprehensiveness. Although several competency labels overlap with generic models, their behavioral expressions reflect autistic employees' distinctive strategies for managing communication demands, cognitive load, and workplace expectations. The model is presented as a set of hypothesized competencies intended for subsequent quantitative validation. Planned next steps include psychometric testing with autistic and non‐autistic employees to inform the development of more transparent, function‐focused selection and management practices.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 20 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
25
With a DOI
21
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
5 / 25 (20.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 25 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
25 / 25 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
102
From DOI or external metadata
102
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
50 / 102 (49.0%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 52 / 102 (51.0%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
5 / 102 (4.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 5 / 50 (10.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 95 (2.1%).
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