Autism Awareness Week 2021 and Advancing Analytics
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex, lifelong developmental disability.
Because autism is a spectrum disorder, each person will have a distinct set of strengths and challenges.
Characteristics may present as:
finding it hard to communicate and interact with other people
finding it hard to understand how other people think or feel
getting anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events
taking longer to understand information
repetitive thoughts or behaviours
Some people with ASD may require significant support in their daily lives, while others may need less support and, in some cases, live entirely independently.
In the UK, there are approximately 700,000 people on the Autistic spectrum – that’s about 1/100 people
Unfortunately, just 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment, despite the majority wanting to be.
How can employers play their part?
Employers can make a start by investing time and resources into increasing their understanding and awareness of autism, and work to make their workplace more autism-friendly.
Companies should also look at how they can offer employment opportunities such as apprenticeships, internships to people with autism
Here are some resources we found for employers:
Mikey and Lucy
For this post, we are very lucky to have one of our awesome Senior Consultants Mikey and his daughter Lucy share with us their personal experiences living with Autism and provide some great advice and information about how you can support your family, friends and employees.
Autism & Family Life
What is hard for the family?
Lucy relies heavily on routine any changes can be difficult for her to deal with, she has sensory processing issues too which means she cannot regulate herself with many things like sounds, textures and the same emotionally, even a small issue can lead to stressful situations which once started cannot be stopped. This can be particularly difficult for some of the enjoyable aspects of life such as Holiday’s which can be really challenging from the packing stage right to a few hours of being back home… (airports with lots of people and noise are really difficult some airports in the UK are very good having family rooms and lanyards that get you fast track etc but most other countries do not do this sadly). It’s difficult for siblings too they miss out on things simply because there are some places we can’t go with Lucy; we also get burned out which means we don’t have as much time as we’d like to do things.
How can people help?
If you know a family who have an Autistic family member the best thing you can give them is your time, visiting them and arranging days out seem to take the burden away for the family. Lucy enjoys spending time with people and can be a bit less particular about things when others are around. If you have relatives or closer relationships arrange sleepovers, take them to the cinema any time you can give to the parents helps massively even having a couple of hours.
How can your Employer help?
I’m quite lucky in that my partner works for themselves and can arrange her days accordingly, we have regular meetings with schools and other organisations which are done through the working day so flexibility is the key, I’m lucky now that my role is largely remote that I can do more.
Introducing Lucy!
Lucy is the daughter of our Senior Consultant Mikey and she’d like to share with you what having autism means to her.
My autism tweet
Hi my name is Lucy and I have autism and this is what autism mean to me.
1. it means that I am special
2. I get more help and support
3. People at school be nice to me
4. I find things a bit hard than other people
5. I get a bit sensitive
And also most people in the world are born with autism and it’s not a disease or anything but it’s quite good to have autism so # happy autism awareness day and hope you celebrate it.
Thank you to Mikey and Lucy for sharing with us!
Daisy Chain
For this year’s Autism Awareness Week, we are championing Daisy Chain, a UK based charity who provide life changing support for autistic children and adults.
They offer a variety of fantastic services, from social groups for all ages, to a dedicated employability programme, support obtaining housing and a support and advice helpline.
How you can support Daisy Chain?
Donate directly via their website
Volunteer your time (COVID restrictions permitting) by getting involved in events and fundraisers
Donate unwanted items for them to sell in their superstore.