How work experience is helping autistic students overcome employment barriers  

2:28pm

Autistic people are being helped into the world of work thanks to a North Yorkshire college's efforts to provide experience with employers.

According to a government report, autistic people are less likely to have easy access to work experience and this can have a knock-on effect on employment prospects.

The Buckland Review of Autism Employment found that from a young age, autistic people are less likely than their peers to have the time, connections or support to find work-related experiences and career advisors are often poorly equipped to support them.   

Evolve College, an inclusive post-16 college in Ripon, is trying to change this. It is headed by Bev Skaife with the support of a team of progress coaches, teachers, and support staff.

Hannah Rushforth, Evolve industry placement officer, matches students interests and skills to different employers who offer them work experience.

She said: “The Evolve work experience is designed for students to gain industry-based skills & experiences and increase their chances of employment after college.

“During students’ first few weeks at college, we work with the students to identify potential career choices and future aspirations, after which we work on matching each individual student to a work placement provider.

“This is a truly bespoke offering, where we source new work placement providers based on students’ aspirations and skill building requirements rather than having a list of employers and slotting students in.”

Each student is supported with interview preparation, and they are taken to visit their placements before starting. They also offer some students walking support to their placements to help build independence skills, with a goal of eventually being able walk to placement themselves. 

Ms Skaife said: “For some students, going into placement is a nerve-wracking experience for many different reasons, some that other simply take for granted. Simply getting a foot in the door for some students can be their target.

“By giving students the opportunity to experience work and skills in employability, they are hopefully in a better position to be able to overcome barriers faced with gaining employment in the future, and can show prospective employers how capable they are.”

One student, Glen Griffiths, is in his second year of work experience at Ripon Workhouse Museum. He goes there two days a week and his jobs include providing guided tours, gardening, and admin work.

His worth ethic has been commented on by members of the local community through positive TripAdvisor reviews.

One user said: ‘’We were greeted by a wonderful young man called Glen. He was welcoming and incredibly friendly and informative, he gave us a detailed explanation of the museum and what to expect with very interesting historical information, for this reason we will definitely be back. Thank you Glen, you made our day!’  

Despite saying that he had great friends at his placement, Glen admitted sometimes feeling talked down to because of his neurodiversity.

He said: “There are some people who, maybe because they know I am autistic, they seem to treat me a lot more special-like. They speak to me in high tones instead of talking to me just casually, even though I just want to be treated like a normal human being.”

Another student who has benefitted from Evolve’s work placement programme is Niamh Shaw.

Alongside working a part time job on a weekend and during college holidays, she does two days of work placement on the activities team of a dementia unit of Lister House, a local care home.

She said: “The best thing about my work experience is the residents because I get to interact with them and make them happy.”

https://youtu.be/Spp8vWNCqQY

The National Autistic Society provides a range of resources and autism-friendly guides to help businesses understand the needs of autistic employees.

To sign the campaign for all businesses to have autism awareness training, click here.