Résumé
According the current scientific literature, the management of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is usually described during childhood rather than during adulthood. Moreover, the DSM V diagnostic criteria indicate that the impairment of communication is one of the major ASD symptoms. In that context, we studied the occupational integration of autistic workers to analyse their needs and specificities in communication within the (French) Supported Employment Service named ESAT. In order to do that, we created a questionnaire which has been used as a framework for interviews with adults with ASD working in assisted employment services (ESAT) 20 workers and 13 supervisors within 5 different services have been interviewed. Our results showed variable communication profiles among workers with ASD, and a difference in the perception of the workers’ needs and specificities between the supervisors and the workers themselves. Workers with ASD mainly mentioned that they were struggling with social skills, whereas the supervisors were more likely to mention difficulties in understanding the instructions (69% of them-some even mentioning specificities in expressive language). Eventually, the sensory environment seems to have an impact on well-being and communication, since 65% of the workers with ASD declared to be disturbed by noise. We could observe that, while addressing those special needs, assisted employment services (ESAT) put in place different types of adaptations, some of them being related to communication. If not all workers relied on these adaptations, 50% of them considered them as useful. Workers are being offered individualized support depending on their individual needs. In the field of communication, speech therapy could be an answer for some of these needs.