Employ Autism From School to Work

Ambitious about Autism, who are we and what do we do Ambitious about Autism started life as Treehouse School, Started by parents in 1997 who were unhappy with education provision in their area We have expanded and now have three education centres for young people with autism: Treehouse School, The Rise School and Ambitious College. We run training and development programs for Teachers, parents, Careers and professions to increase their autism confidence We advocate on behalf of young people with autism to influence national policy We run youth participation projects to involve young people at every step of the way. Our flagship project is myVoice

Employ autism: from school to work The aim of the campaign is to transform the employability of young people with autism, by improving their transition from school to work. The campaign will address three key areas.

1. We want all young people with autism to have access to high quality, relevant careers guidance, that is tailored to the individual, and identifies all the options and support available to them.

2. We want all young people with autism to have the opportunity to undertake meaningful work experience, to develop their work skills and increase their familiarity with the workplace.

3. We want all young people with autism to have access to high quality educational opportunities beyond the age of 16, which equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to enter the world of work.

myVoice empowering young people with autism to be active participants in their own communities, increasing their independence and  supporting them to make a successful transition to adult life.

Setting the Scene, Why Employ Autism? Lets takes a visual representation of what this country looks like for people with autism looking for work

The Triad of Employment Skills Money Self Esteem Everyone with autism has different needs and full time employment might not be the aspiration of everyone, but everyone should have the opportunity to contribute to society and gain the skills needed to do so. Our vision is to make the ordinary possible for children and young people with autism.

What can we do? Autism can work

Employ Autism is important for more then you think 15% of young people with autism believe that employers are likely to offer someone with autism a Job 19%of young people with autism say they have had good careers advice 79% of people with autism who are on out of work benefits say they want to work 26% of university graduates who have autism are unemployed compared to the national average of 4% 59% of people with autism without a job don’t believe they will ever get one Only 10% of people with autism get help in finding a job but 53% say they would also like help 43% of people with autism in employment say they have been bullied at work and discriminated against which has led to their dismissal However with help in finding employment over 70% of people with autism said they were able to find and keep gainful employment Autism costs this country £32 billion a year, by giving people with autism access to employment we can cut that by £9 Billion

The Cost of Discrimination UK annual figures Economic cost Research spend Spend/person with the condition Research spend/£1m economic cost Autism £32.1bn £4m £6.60 £124 Adults with autism £29bn 0.29m £0.60 £10 Dementia £23bn £50m £61 £2,145 Cancer £12bn £590m £295 £49,207 Heart disease £8bn £169m £75 £21,567 Stroke £5bn £32m £22 £4,693 Autism affects roughly 600,000 people in the UK. The lifetime support costs Of a person with autism is £1.5 million (£0.92 million if they don’t have an Intellectual disability which is 60% of the autistic population). These costs factor in Healthcare, accommodation, benefits, lost parental productivity and lost economic costs 42% of the economic costs for autism is due to lost economic productivity though unemployment

Reasonable Adjustments are just that, reasonable! Avoid psychometric testing and group interviews Give very clear instructions during the interview process Staff may need Autism Awareness Training Be aware of any sensory needs Set up a buddying system Coaching can provide a really helpful tool Provide a clear structure or timetable Be aware of difficulties that can happen before and after work to make someone feel anxious Flexi Time can be very helpful Give regular review and feedback sessions Be accommodating and understanding The best adjustment you can give is to ask what is needed, we are all different

Creating and maintaining successful meaningful placements We work with several organisations to create work experience programs including: Santander, Civil Service, Deutsche Bank, & Care Trade We match candidates to the job placement We insist that it must mirror employment as much as possible, candidates are paid, line managed and interviewed. At the organisations discretion the candidates are also given mentors to guide them though the world of work We deliver autism awareness training to the organisation and arrange induction days for candidates We support the candidate and the organisation throughout the placement

Have the placements been a success so far? Over the past year we have successfully placed 17 people in a variety of job roles 14 with the civil service, 2 with Santander and 1 with Deutsche Bank We will be placing another 4 with Santander by the end of the year and number greater then ten with civil service in the summer next year. Placements last between 2 weeks and 3 months Placements have covered careers as diverse as policy, HR, IT, Education, Transport, Work and Pensions, Economics and more Reactions to placements have been universally positive and all sides want to see expansion of scheme

Ambitious about Autism We practice what we preach! Our volunteering programs are designed to enhance CV’s and applicable working skills We work with our volunteers to develop themselves outside of our projects We deliver autism awareness sessions for employers We offer work experience within our organisation We work with the Civil Service and Santander to offer paid work experience We are campaigning for the government and schools to improve work experience and careers advice Launched Ambitious college to promote independence for young people with complex autism TreeHouse School has partnered with Sainsbury's to introduce work experience for our pupils myVoice has partnered with CareTrade to give tailored work experience to our volunteers At the request of our volunteers helped them co-produce the employ autism conference and launched this campaign We raise awareness by delivering presentations like this!

Imagine a world where campaigns like this It’s a challenge but it is a right everyone should have the opportunity to achieve! Imagine a world where campaigns like this do not have to exist

The perspective of a young person with autism A View from the ground The perspective of a young person with autism Louisa Futcher Louisa is 19 years old and in her first year at the university of Essex studying accounting. Louisa currently has a part time job in retail which she does at thee weekend and in my spare time i love to volunteer with projects and charity's. 

Or if you would like a copy of this presentation Any Questions? For more information Or if you would like a copy of this presentation Email: myVoice@ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk