The on-going fight to dispel autism myths and improve employment prospects.
Autism means different things to different people. The spectrum can cover everything from mild difficulties with social interaction to very unstable and aggressive behaviours. As a result of this broad scale employers are wary of taking on people with autism because it’s still largely misunderstood. In reality the majority of people with autism are more than capable of working in an array of workplaces, provided that businesses understand how to support them.
In Cardiff there are some great examples of individuals and organisations that are working hard to improve employability either by offering training and work experience or by simply offering support to both employers and employees.
Opening doors
Only 15% of people with autism are employed in full time work. Of the autistic adults claiming benefits, 79% have expressed a desire to work but getting jobs has proved very challenging indeed. In October this year Liz Stewart opened the first autism friendly hairdressing salon, SP1, in Rhiwbina. Liz’s son Delroy has Down’s syndrome and he now manages the salon, they also employ staff with autism and offer training opportunities. Liz says that, “The main inspiration to open the salon was my son because there were no job opportunities around for people with additional needs and that’s why we offer training here.”
Liz explained that Delroy had finished college earlier this year and applied for many jobs with no success. She believes that it’s a real struggle to get employers to take on employees with autism and other behavioural disabilities, “It’s not their fault and there are thousands of people in their position looking for work.” Liz hopes that the salon is just the beginning and that as the business expands she will be able to offer more and more job opportunities to those with additional needs. Liz works part time at the salon and isn’t currently receiving a wage from the business so she can pay her four employees.
“There’s a lot of diverse opinion about how autism should be portrayed and discussed, we’re not asking people to agree with our take on it but we are asking them to engage with it”
Liz doesn’t think that there’s enough happening to support young autistic adults with finding work, “It’s almost as if our kids reach a certain age and everything just stops,” she says. Liz did however speak fondly of Whitchurch based charity Autism Puzzles who recently launched a new scheme called Autism Champions. The scheme aims to train businesses so that they are able to employ and manage autistic individuals. Autism Puzzles is a charity run by parents of autistic children, they frequently run drop in sessions, information workshops and training sessions as well as family fun days.
No quick wins
The Cardiff and Vale branch of the National Autistic Society is entirely made up of parents offering support services. Lynda Morgan is one such parent, not only is she heavily involved with the support group but she also has a job and works one day a week at Cardiff University in the Autism Research Centre.
Lynda believes that things are improving, “Compared to five years ago there’s a lot more going on to improve employability.” However whilst there are a lot of initiatives out there not all are seeing results. Lynda says that, “Some of the courses offer work experience for a couple of weeks but nothing further, whereas others are about getting people into full time jobs and keeping them there.”
“There are no quick wins with this,” says Lynda. “It will take some time to see whether or not the initiatives are actually having an impact.” There are also events happening in and around Cardiff to raise awareness about autism more generally. In early December Touch Blue, Touch Yellow was performed at Chapter Arts Centre. Written by Tim Rhys, the play attempts to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions that surround autism. Chris Durnall says that “There’s a lot of diverse opinion about how autism should be portrayed and discussed, we’re not asking people to agree with our take on it but we are asking them to engage with it.”
Getting people to engage and discuss autism is key to dispelling the reservations that business owners have about hiring someone with autism. There’s a lot happening in Cardiff at lots of different levels to encourage businesses to take on autistic staff. Thanks to the hard work of determined parent organisations such as Autism Puzzles and ventures like SP1 and Touch Blue, Touch Yellow, autism is being brought more and more into the light. Hopefully this growing focus will lead to more opportunities for autistic individuals to show employers all that they have to offer.