Employability
Opportunities
Emily Ross
My name is Emily Ross and I joined BeyondAutism in May as the Specialist Vocational Advisor. Its an exciting new role to help develop the employability options for our learners. I have worked with children and young adults with SEN in education and the community for a decade. In 2013, while working at a SEN college, I took on a Job Coach role and
supported a student with autism during their work placement at a supermarket. My passion for Supported Employment was born.
Since then I have gone on to set up Supported Internships at a major London hospital trust and worked for several charities as an Employment Advisor. I have worked alongside
companies such as Sodexo, GSK, British Airways, Sainsbury’s and the NHS to facilitate reasonable adjustments at interview stage and in work, so young adults with additional needs have access to meaningful employment.
Employment and autism
• 16% of adults with autism are in full time employment • 32% of adults with autism are in paid work
• 80% of non-disabled people are in work • 47% of disabled people are in work
• 60% of employers would worry about getting support for an adult with autism wrong • 60% also said they did not know where to go for support or advice about employing
someone with autism
Employment and meaningful activity
Why is employment important for you?• You get a sense of purpose • It increases your social circle • Financial freedom
• Improves mental health
If employment is important for us, it should also be an option for our learners.
I believe everyone who wants to work and can work, should be given the opportunity to do so.
Work Experience
We are hoping to expand our work experience opportunities off site as soon
as COVID restrictions allow. In the meantime we have increased our
in-house opportunities and have set up Social Enterprises for the learners to
participate in.
Toolkit
Launching in July 2021 the BeyondAutism Toolkit will give our learners the ability to tailor their work support to suit their needs.
It will feature Vocational Assessments and Vocational Profiles, which have been created by our team of professionals to suit our learners needs and communication.
The toolkit will also offer employers knowledge and advice on how best to support employees with autism.
Supported Internships
There are several supported internships happening across the UK, with the largest number happening in London. Supported internships run in partnership with a local college and a “host business” – where the internship is based. This could be at a hospital, council office or in the corporate environment.
Supported internships give children and young adults aged 16-24 a chance to experience working life in a real work environment, with on the job training tailored to support their individual needs. Interns also complete an individualised study programme, which includes the chance of achieving relevant qualifications (e.g. Food Hygiene) and an element of English and Maths.
The internships are unpaid, lasting for a minimum of 6 months (most run to an academic year schedule) and where possible support the individual to find a paid job after their internship ends.
BeyondAutism Internship
In September 2020, we launched our internship programme, for individuals with autism. Interns will join the team to gain real work experience and learn new skills across different departments within the organisation.
Each intern will spend an academic year with us, dividing their time equally between project work and paid work experience.
The work experience will be broken up into 6 different six-week rotations. Each rotation will offer the intern a chance to gain an understanding of how different departments work and develop their skill set From HR and Fundraising to Finance and Marketing, interns will be exposed to different types of work so they can finish their internship with an idea of what type of career they would like to pursue. They will also gain practical experience within our services. Supported by an in-house Job Coach and a mentor in each department, the interns will
develop their tools to apply for jobs once the internship ends – whether internally or externally, dependant on the career path they’d like to follow.
The other half of the interns’ time will be spent working on a project within the organisation that they work on from start to completion, so they can gain experience in planning and project management, something they will be able to showcase to future potential employers.
In September 2021 we are looking to expand our internship and recruit up to 6 new interns (currently 2 in 2020-21). We will be holding a recruitment drive, which will include an open day and skills matching exercises for any potential applicants.
Job Carving and Job Design
Job Carving is when someone is able to do the majority of tasks required by an employee in a role, however there might be one or two tasks that the employee cannot complete. Working with the employer there is room to
negotiate taking that task(s) away from the individual so they can still do their job. For example if working in retail – an employee who struggles with maths might stop working on the till and instead focus on stock control.
Job Design is when an organisation takes tasks away from other employees to create a role specific for the individual. For example in a busy office all the basic admin tasks could be taken from staff and a new employee would be the one responsible for completing those tasks.
Reasonable Adjustments
In the Equalities Act 2010 employers must make “reasonable adjustments” to accommodate for a person’s disability so they are not disadvantaged compared to their colleagues.
What is “reasonable” is up for debate, however common examples are: At interview:
• Allow a candidate to come to interview with a job coach/employment advisor to prompt them when answering questions
• Allow questions to be given to the candidate before the interview so they can prepare
• Conduct a work trial rather than a formal interview so the candidate can showcase their skills and ability In work:
• Allowing an employee to have adjusted start/end times – to avoid the rush hour
• Giving an employee a written/picture task list, to ensure they remember to complete all of their tasks
• Having extra 1 to 1 meetings so an employee feels supported and has the opportunity to ask for additional help if needed Often adjustments end up benefiting all staff. For example, colour coding cleaning products is a reasonable adjustment which is commonplace, it is now considered best practice.
Access to Work funding
The Department for Work and Pensions has a funding scheme set up for anyone who
needs in-work support due to a disability or long term health condition. It can also be used by someone who is participating in or about to start a Supported Internship. It is NOT means tested.
The aim of Access to Work is to prevent barriers to and in employment. It can fund a job coach for someone who needs more individual support to learn their role, it could pay for adapted equipment (for example a screen reader for an employee who has a visual
impairment), or it could also pay towards taxi’s for travelling to and from work.
There is no set amount for the Access to Work grant, the amount of the grant depends on the size of the employer’s organisation (employers may need to part fund the support) and also depends on the applicants individual needs.
Support Elsewhere
Leonard Cheshire https://www.leonardcheshire.org/get-support/working/employment-support/employment-support-london Mencap https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/employment-services NAS https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/employment Care Trade https://care-trade.org/British Association for Supported Employment (BASE)
