Last week I had the great experience of visiting the CareTrade facility in Elephant & Castle to meet Mark Finch, Jemma Dear and a few of their students to discuss their "Autism Project" currently running.
The project is a two year employment programme for young autistic adults between the ages of 18-25 who are looking to break into the world of work but feel they require more confidence and experience before doing so.
The programme gives students an opportunity to gain valuable skills and working experience on different placements around the nation's capital. The charity work closely with Guy's and St Thomas' hospital as a main provider for such supported internships.
Mark Finch, head of education and learning at the Autism Project said: "The students have opportunities to have work placements and we build on that by helping them build their CV and become work-ready and by the end of the programme the aim is that they can get a job.
"The students that left us last year are now going into work everyday, they have a purpose, they're part of a community and they have a fulfilling life which is what everyone deserves."
However, working closely with employers has been no easy feat for the team at CareTrade, with both students and staff tackling the issues of discrimination and employer misunderstanding on a frequent basis.
"Employer understanding of autism is probably the biggest barrier for someone with autism." Says Jemma Dear, project manager.
"For everyone we work with, they're all capable of being employed, they have amazing skills and can bring so much to peoples workplaces but the biggest barrier they find is actually getting to the stage where they are offered a job.
"I've spoken to people who just don't have the level of knowledge that they should have, some people just don't really want to be inclusive. They think it means maybe offering an interview to someone but then not making the reasonable adjustments to put that person at the same level as everyone else. Sometimes it's a token of inclusivity rather than an actual practice."
Speaking on this issue, Autism Project student Toby Kempton, said: "Just because we've got autism, we're not hard to work with. It won't be as challenging as people make out. Different people are completely different. Ones autism will be completely different to another persons.
"I definitely think I've gained a lot more confidence since I first started here. I've met loads of different people and worked in completely different placements which has really helped me develop more confidence."
You can hear more from Toby and fellow student Ashwen Kilbert in the snippet below.
More to follow.
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