Bridging the gap between Autism, Learning Difficulties and Employment

Only around 30% of autistic people are employed, and around 50% of disabled people, according to The Buckland Review of Autism Employment (2024).? These figures clearly indicate the need for greater support for young people with SEND seeking employment and for businesses to transform their workplaces into neuro-diverse-friendly environments.

Luckily for you, we have some intuitive methods to ensure that your business is as accessible as possible.??

Firstly, your business, which is clearly seeking to develop its understanding of neurodiverse people (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this blog), would benefit greatly from specialist training.? There is a wide range of training out there, and many provisions can work closely with your business to create a bespoke model and best practice for your business needs.??

Forward2Employment, as well as a variety of other provisions throughout the UK, offer diversity training for their partner businesses; to help them and their workers prepare and develop their skills for welcoming a new member to their team.?

If you, as the business owner, have reservations about the day-to-day running of your business alongside hiring a new person who may need extra support, then there are initiatives which can be developed either in-house or by outsourcing to an external provision.? You could develop initiatives in-house by hiring a member of staff to help with developing their skills and bridging the possible gap, or you could outsource this support to an external provider.? However, this could be costly for your business, with less of a meaningful output and/or profit margin.? Thankfully, there is an alternative, which is low-cost and can help you to increase your profit margins and start opening the workforce in a diverse and rich way.? In the UK, there are provisions such as Forward2Employment who provide free Supported Internship and Supported Employment initiatives, which not only supports the worker on a daily basis, but also act as a bridge between them and your business.??

?These programmes act as a go-between for the worker and your business to help with workplace adjustments, which the worker or the business may struggle to communicate or implement by themselves.? Your business will benefit from a happier workforce.? According to the NHS Employers website (2024), making adjustments for staff improves employee engagement, retention, productivity and reduces absences.?

?There are a variety of provisions across the UK, and we have provided a list of some which are based in the South-East of England:?

• Forward2Employment
• bemix
• The Education People
• SKILLS FOR INDEPENDENCE AND EMPLOYABILITY LTD.

For a full list of all the provisions throughout the UK, you can find this on the BASE-UK website (2024).?

?The untapped talent pool of young people with SEND is something which can make your business stand out against your competitors, all at a limited- or no-cost to them.?

?Basically, by helping bridge this gap, your business would be:?

• Improving your social standing in the community.?

• Developing a diverse workforce.?

• Improving your workers knowledge and understanding on neurodiversity.?

?Now is the time for your business to show that is it leading the way in diversity and employability.?

?If you are interested in becoming a partner business with Forward2Employment, visit our dedicated Business page here: https://www.forward2employment.co.uk/information-for-businesses/?

?We also recommend reading through The Buckland Review of Autism Employment: Report and Recommendations [1] to find out more about where this research is heading and how to stay ahead of ensuring your business provides the best opportunities for all.?

References:?

The Buckland Review of Autism Employment: Report and recommendations (28 February 2024) GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-buckland-review-of-autism-employment-report-and-recommendations/the-buckland-review-of-autism-employment-report-and-recommendations?

Making workplace adjustments to support disabled staff (08 December 2023) NHS Employers. Available at: https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/making-workplace-adjustments-support-disabled-staff?

Map of member organisations (2024) British Association for Supported Employment. Available at: https://www.base-uk.org/find-member-organisation?

[3] https://www.bemix.org/??

[4] https://www.theeducationpeople.org/??

[5] https://www.littlegate.org.uk/??

[6] https://www.theoaks.ac.uk/??

[7] https://www.base-uk.org/find-member-organisation??