Sheffield Children’s hospital has set up the first partnership with Choices College which specialises offering supported internship courses for 16-24 years old adults.
The partnership aims to provide a variety of 12-week placements tailored for individuals with autism, learning difficulties and disabilities.
According NHS data, only 4.8% of adults with a learning disability known to adult social care in England were in paid work in 2023, a decrease from five years before.
Nearly one in four of the working-age population are classed as disabled, and in 2023, twice as many disabled people were unemployed compared to those without disabilities.
The latest data from a Labour Force Survey shows that only around 30% of working age autistic people are in employment, compared with around 50% for all disabled people and 80% for non-disabled people.
Joan Pons Laplana, Choices College Area Manager for South Yorkshire, who is autistic, said: “That’s why I’m very passionate about this project. I got a lot of problems during my career.
“I was a bit sick of the misperception that because you have autism, you are not capable of doing a job.
“We want to change perspectives about people with additional needs. The fact is that they can be fantastic employees if they are given the opportunity.
“We support them, we help them to believe in themselves and also change perceptions of people who work with them to show that they have huge potential, to stop people thinking of the limits and to see their possibilities.”
He added that that Choices College’s aim is “to increase the numbers of people with disabilities to work in the NHS.”
Choices College was set up 3 years ago and 80% of participants have had a positive outcome, including gaining employment or going into further education.
Anne-Marie Lynch, Work Experience Co-ordinator at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, said: “We have been very keen to get involved in a programme that enables us to offer young people the opportunity to find out more about what it is like to be a part of the working world.
“We are very committed to providing our interns with transferable skills to carry with them into their future endeavours.”
