Inclusion @ Work

Supporting autistic people at WORK

With the help of The National Lottery, Triple A has launched a programme to support more autistic people living in Cumbria to find paid employment and to work with employers in making appropriate reasonable adjustments to enable autistic people to bring their skills to the workplace.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published new data in 2021 that shows just 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment. This is a shocking figure, which is even lower than previously suggested in surveys (and it is lower than for any other form of disability). Yet autistic people can bring so much to the workplace: attention to detail, reliability, commitment, and an ability to look at things differently – all the things that employers look for in building a diverse workforce with a range of different skills. And at a time when employers right across Cumbria are reporting that it is harder than ever to recruit new staff, we can use Triple-A’s expertise and insight into autism to help address this employment gap from both sides, supporting autistic people into jobs and also supporting employers and colleagues with suitable, tailored awareness training (delivered by autistic trainers, sharing their lived experience).

Please contact Triple-A’s office if you would like further information about our Cumbrian autism employment project.

Inclusion Partner

Sara Braithwaite

Sara has many years of experience from both perspectives of employment and recruitment, as an employer and as someone supporting people into employment. Latterly she was part of the Employability team at Newton Rigg College, working as Work Placement Coordinator for Foundation students, many with autism, to ensure students had a positive and realistic introduction to the workplace. In her prior career as a manager for the National Trust, she led a team of 20 staff and 80 plus volunteers and was responsible for recruitment and selection, particularly in the areas of retail, catering and visitor services.

In her life outside work, she is a foster carer and has welcomed approximately 40 young people into her home over the years, she lives on a smallholding in the Eden Valley, where she loves keeping sheep and growing things.

Please complete this form if you would like to join our Inclusion @ Work programme.
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