Complex needs.
There’s no such thing.
martin
Martin was curious about the statement ‘every autistic person can work’ as he employed an autistic man in his printing company who was struggling with the job and clearly unhappy.
After an initial chat, Richard presented the plan to carry out a workplace assessment and to work with both Martin and the employee. This was agreed and Richard met the employee (with his permission) and visited the workplace.
After carrying out the workplace assessment and spending time with Martin and the employee separately, a meeting with the three of us helped agree on an action plan.
By keeping in email contact with Martin and the worker Richard gets regular updates on how they are doing.
Results:
The employee has an action plan which gives him strategies to deal with the things he found problematic
The employee is settled at work and not looking to move on
Martin is delighted and has presented this story at conferences and is an ambassador for autistic people in the workplace
They both know if they need to get in touch again Richard can talk through any issues and connect with them.
gary
Gary is an area manager of a generic care provider in the West of Scotland. One of his teams is supporting an autistic female who is very challenging to the staff team.
They have a good support programme in place but need help to implement this.
After a discussion of what might work for this team, Richard started with a workshop for the team specifically focused on how autism impacts the autistic woman.
This was followed by a weekly catch up with the manager of the service with a focus on team development and building confidence.
Results:
This resulted in better adherence to the support plan and understanding of the female’s needs
Confidence within the team that they could deliver a good service and that she was well placed
After some months, staff turnover reduced
Staff absence reduced
The organisation’s positive reputation with the funding authority was raised
gwenne
Gwenne is the coordinator of a voluntary autism parent support group. They have a small fund for parent training and were looking to make the best of this by getting more bespoke sessions answering specific challenges the members of the group faced.
Richard had an initial meeting with the group, followed by phone chats with a few members and agreed to deliver a series of 5 workshops on subjects that were of particular relevance to the members.
These workshops covered issues such as working effectively with statutory agencies and transitions from school to employment.
Results:
Richard has an ongoing supportive relationship with the group and can support them with workshops or specific issues that arise
The issues addressed in the workshops helped families address specific challenges
Richard was able to link the group to other sources of useful information and advice, all resulting in an increase in confidence and optimism
jacqui
Jacqui is the training manager of an older people care company. She heard that Richard could design bespoke autism training for her workforce.
This appealed to her because she wanted something that would be meaningful for her team who had recently admitted a couple of autistic older residents into their care homes and lacked confidence in what they were doing.
After spending some time in the home speaking to the staff team and managers, we agreed to use 3 of the team ‘Lunchbites’ in the care home.
These are short workbook style sessions that can be used at staff meetings and be developed around any aspect or challenge of working with an autistic person/people.
Richard supported the manager to lead these the first time they used them and after that Jacqui used them herself.
Results:
A more confident staff team
Jacqiu’s skills and knowledge increased and she was able to develop this style of team learning
Families of the autistic residents were delighted that the home has been proactive to their needs
Improvement in the home’s reputation and an increase in referrals