Over the last month I have attended the Autism Show in both London and Birmingham, eager to meet new people and see the latest news and technology etc. One of the key areas I was interested in looking at is the support provided to people who are looking to seek employment (of all ages). Through the power of Twitter I had been in contact with Autism Forward and met up with Jane at the London show; the conversation we shared gave me great hope and encouragement.
Last week I spoke about education and transition, looking at how periods of transition (of any size) need to be supported on a personalised level. As a business, TRACK will offer mentoring to people looking to seek employment and also to support those once employment is gained. From a Facebook post last week I have spoken to many individuals throughout Northamptonshire who would value varying degrees of support to seek employment. The pre-employment mentoring can vary from initial job search and finding areas of interest, through to CV and interview support. Of course anything we offer will be specific to the individual with whom we are working. Employment support may involve either face-to-face or e-mentoring, and could be on a whole range of topics, for example discussing how to resolve potential conflicts with colleagues or looking at the best way to speak to managers to ensure the environment allows you to be at your most productive.
Another of our key objectives is that our support is applicable to people of all ages and ability/qualification level. This means we will be able to support people graduating from University and looking to seek employment through to school leavers who are unsure of what they want to do, and also older people whom may be looking to change jobs or even gain some new qualifications.
I would really like to hear from people who on the autism spectrum as to areas which they feel support would be most beneficial. I realised that this will be a personal decision, but I am keen to gain as wide a range of ideas as possible. Please contact us via email or our Facebook and Twitter pages
Also, it is worth noting that during some of blogs we are trying to use different terms to ensure blogs are read by as many people as possible. For example as a teacher I was told to look up information on Autism Spectrum Disorder, so this is what I would search. This in no ways means that I view autism as a disorder, but we want to reach as many people as possible to ensure that we can raise awareness, leading to action in terms of supporting people on the autism spectrum to seek employment.
We believe that with small changes the workplace can become so much more accessible to people who want to work. From my experience the majority of autistic people do not want charity, they want opportunity. Work with us to help a create spectrum of opportunities which will benefit all of those involved.
Contact us and find out how we can work together. Thomas@track.org.uk
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