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Department of Occupational Therapy
College of Health and Human Sciences

Occupational Therapy Transition, Employment, and Technology (TET) Lab

The TET Lab is focused on supporting the transition to adulthood, working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve improved employment outcomes.

About the TET Lab

Dr. Andrew Persch – Director

Our mission is to improve postsecondary employment outcomes experienced by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the adaptation, development, and deployment of systematic assessment and intervention strategies.

Dr. Andrew (Andy) Persch has more than 15+ years of experience providing pediatric occupational therapy services to children and adolescents with disabilities in early intervention settings; at all levels of the school system; and in research labs, pediatric specialty clinics, home, and community settings.

We would love to hear from you

Please contact us or complete the following form if you are interested in learning more about our studies – Research Interest Form 

Students, please let us know if you have an interest in our lab.  We have training opportunities available for students. Send us an e-mail and indicate if you are interested in transition, employment, and/or technology.

Current Research Learn More About Our Research

Vocational Fit Assessment and Employment Status in People with Intellectual Disabilities (2019-2024)

  • NIH funded research study through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that focuses on quantifying the reliability and validity of the Vocational Fit Assessment.
  • The intended population is people with intellectual disabilities in diverse special education, Project SEARCH, and vocational rehabilitation settings.
  • The significance of this research lies in the VFA’s potential to inform employment decisions and interventions and serve as an indicator of employment status among people with intellectual disabilities in transition to employment.
  • This research is being conducted in collaboration with Temple University, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the University of Florida, and with Project SEARCH.
  • We are enrolling participant dyads that include:
  • Adults with intellectual disabilities, aged 18-26
  • A person who knows them well and has been a part of their life for over a year (Partner reporters, e.g., teacher, parent, job coach, employer)
  • Participant dyads complete interviews with researchers to gather data about the VFA and other related measures.

Evaluation of Vocational Fit Assessment Clinical Utility

  • This study focuses on quantifying the responsiveness and clinical utility of the Vocational Fit Assessment.
  • Participants will complete a survey about their opinions on the VFA and its usefulness and relevance to their practice.
  • A subsample of participants will participate in focus groups to add depth of understanding to survey responses.

Evaluation of Vocational Fit Assessment Algorithm Accuracy

  • This study focuses on evaluating the algorithm that the Vocational Fit Assessment uses.
  • Participants will complete a survey designed to allow key stakeholders to use their professional judgment to evaluate data that results from the VFA reports.
  • A subsample of participants will participate in focus groups to add depth of understanding to survey responses.

Vocational Fit Assessment Self-Report for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

  • Doctoral dissertation and master student thesis project that focuses on the development and content validity assessment of the Vocational Fit Assessment – Self Report, an adaptation of the Vocational Fit Assessment that will be intended for self-reporting by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  • The VFA-SR will be adapted and optimized using a simplification of language and structure, enhanced accessibility features, and the addition of features including images and audio accompanying each question.
  • Contact cristina.parsons@colostate.edu for more information

A Community-Academic Partnership to Examine and Promote Best Practices for Virtual Supported Employment Services (2021-2024)

  • Objective 1. Characterize how various supported employment stakeholders adapted to pandemic-related virtual work policies across the three distinct phases of supported employment: exploration and discovery, job development, job placement and supports.
  • Objective 2. Examine the impact of the pandemic and virtual supported employment services on traditional service elements and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities across the State of Colorado.
  • Objective 3. Directly observe technology use in post-pandemic supported employment services to examine how it is impacting program logistics and workplace experiences for individuals with disabilities across the State of Colorado.

Enabling Self-Reported Outcomes for Youth with Developmental Disabilities: The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory-Patient Reported Outcome (2020-2023)

  • Funded research study through National Institutes of Health that aims to develop a clinically robust self-report software on patient reported outcomes, called the PEDI-PRO, for youth with developmental disabilities.
  • Conducted in collaboration with the University of Florida, the principal site, as well as collaborators from Boston University and the University of Temple.

Recent Publication Selections

  • Persch, A. C. (2022). Impacts of Environmental and Person-Fit Factors on Work Satisfaction and Performance in Adults with ASD. In E. Pyatak & E. Lee (Eds.), 50 Studies Every Occupational Therapist Should Know.
  • Parsons, C. C., & Persch, A. C. (12/2021). Employment Support Services as a Function of Transition-Age Young Adults with Intellectual Disability: Preliminary Findings. Policy Research, Inc.. Retrieved from https://ardraw.policyresearchinc.org/
  • Kirby, A. V., Holmes, L. G., & Persch, A. C. (2021). Longitudinal change in parent postsecondary expectations for youth with disabilities, Disability & Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2020.1718779
  • Persch, A. C., & Parsons, C (2020). Outcomes Assessment. In P. Kramer & N. Grampurohit (Eds.), (Ed.), Evaluation in occupational therapy: Obtaining and interpreting data, 5th Ed.
  • Cleary, D. S., & Persch, A. C. (2020). Transition Services. In O’Brien, J. C. & Kuhaneck, H. (Eds.), Case-Smith’s occupational therapy for children and adolescents (pp. 659-679). Elsevier.
  • Kirby, A. V., Dell’armo, K., & Persch, A. C. (2019). Differences in youth and parent postsecondary expectations for youth with disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 51, pp. 77-86.
  • Pfeiffer, E., Brusilovskiy, E., Davidson Pompnio, A., Persch, A. C. (2018). Impact of person-environment fit on job satisfaction for working adults with autism. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 48, 49-57.
  • Persch, A. C., Gugiu, P. C., Onate, J. A., & Cleary, D. S. (2015). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Vocational Fit Assessment. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(6), 6906180080.
  • Persch, A. C., Cleary, D. S., Rutkowski, S., Malone, H. C., Darragh, A. R., & Case-Smith, J. D. (2015). Current practices in job matching for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 43(3).

Our CSU Team

Meet our investigators.

Dr. Andrew Persch
Dr. Patti Davies
Dr. Julia Sharp
James Graham

Outside Partners

Dr. Dennis Cleary

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Project SEARCH

Dr. Beth Pfeiffer

Temple University, College of Public Health

Dr. Jessica Kramer

University of Florida

Erin Riehle

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Project SEARCH

Molly Michels

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Project SEARCH

Dr. Maryellen Daston

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Project SEARCH

What is the VFA?

The Vocational Fit Assessment is a 133-item survey used by transition teams that assesses both the abilities of workers and the demands of the job through a collaborative, data-based, decision-making process.