Cocreating Inclusive Interviews: VR Technologies for Job Interview Training of Individuals on the Autism Spectrum and Strategies for Employers

This is a report on the research of how to use Virtual Reality (VR) technologies and Video Self-Modeling (VSM) techniques to structure job interviews so that individuals on the autism spectrum could more easily provide the information that employers seek. The report also addresses the use of the same technologies for job interview training by informing the affordances of a different structure of behavioral interview questions. The participatory research comprised two phases, Phase 1: codesign development and deployment, and Phase 2: codesign evaluation and revision. It was rooted in an iterative and inclusive process that generated an app with a scaffolding sequence of behavioral interview questions to address different verbal abilities of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It resulted in the creation of strategies for employers such as the Inclusive Interview Guide for Employers and specific question inputs. This cocreative method generated technologies and procedures that could be used by individuals on the autism spectrum, as well as by employers, employment agencies, and ASD support programs. It demonstrated a process by which to communicate better with individuals on the autism spectrum.