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Aim three of our autism strategy is 'Supporting more autistic people into employment.'
In this section we have included examples by Autistic Minds to help illustrate what reasonable adjustments can be made to support more autistic people into employment.
Later in this section we discuss:
- Themes, feedback and suggestions raised by people during our review
- Our commitments to deliver this aim
- How we will work towards our aim within CWP between 2022-2027
- How we will work towards our aim with partners between 2022-2027
Artwork by Abi Kelly
| Supporting more autistic people into employment | |
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Examples of sensory triggers for autistic people in the workplace. 
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Examples of reasonable adjustments for autistic people in the workplace.
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Carol is struggling in her job. On the outside it looks like she is okay because Carol is masking - this is what autistic people do to fit in and not stand out she is struggling to cope and is in sensory overload caused by unfamiliar smells, noise, and light sources.
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Latika is thriving in her job. She negotiated and agreed reasonable adjustments with her manager. Her colleagues understand and support her. The team all decided to create one page profiles to improve communication. Latika's desk has been moved further away from the light source and her hat, glasses, headphones, and incense help prevent sensory overload. She also has a quiet place where she can go when she's feeling overwhelmed.
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Themes, feedback and suggestions raised by people during our review: |
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Workforce development It is important to recognise that the comments grouped under Aim 1: improving understanding and acceptance of autism within society are relevant to this Aim. Quality of service provision and delivery The need for equal opportunities in the workplace from pre-employment (advertisement and application processes) through induction to retention, including reasonable adjustments. |
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Our Commitments to deliver this Aim |
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Workforce development Please refer to our commitments under Aim 1: improving understanding and acceptance of autism within society. Quality of Service Provision and Delivery As a Level 2 Disability Confident employer, we aim to become an employer of choice for autistic people, by strengthening our autism- inclusive approach and enabling autistic people to access employment with us more easily, signposting people to support to help them apply to work with us and providing support as an employer. Working with partners and stakeholders We will support autistic people who can and want to work to do so, and to ensure that those who have found a job are able to stay in work. We will promote and continue to strengthen our links to community autism hubs – where advice on employment training can be accessed to support this. We will also ensure signposting (within our own primary care services) to social prescribing link workers. |
How we will work towards our aim within CWP between 2022-2027
Quality of Service Provision and Delivery
Supporting autistic people to work in our organisation
As part of our Trust-wide aim to recruit more people who are representative of our communities and the people who access our services, we will create more peer support roles which are filled by people with lived experience, including autistic people
- We will ensure that all roles are made accessible to autistic people, by reviewing our recruitment and selection processes to be more inclusive.
- We will continue to run pre-employment hands-on work experience programmes through our Vocational Learning team. These are open to people from all backgrounds, including those with disabilities.
- We will continue to support autistic people in the workplace using our Reasonable Adjustments Guidance, which was developed by our Staff Disability Network
- We will continue to listen and act on staff experience using our Staff Disability Network - bringing people together to share experiences. This pro-active group helps us create an inclusive working environment.
Supporting autistic adults accessing our services
For adults accessing our autism diagnostic service, we will continue to seek funding to provide 2 post-diagnostic follow-up appointments linking in with local area Autism Hubs to provide a wide range of community support.
How we will work towards our aim with partners between 2022-2027
Working with partners and stakeholders
We will work with local area Autism Hubs to support autistic people to access their local communities. This work includes our adult autism team running group sessions for people who need low level advice and support.
We will influence organisations in local communities to support more autistic people into the workplace, by providing advice and support around our own experience as a Disability Confident employer through CANDDID.