Ambitious about Autism – Written evidence (YDP0026)

Who We Are 

Ambitious about Autism is the national charity standing with autistic children and young people. We believe every autistic child and young person has the right to be themselves and realise their ambitions. We started as one school and have become a movement for change. We champion rights, campaign for change and create opportunities.

About Autism

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which is estimated to affect one in 100 people in the UK. However, it is likely this figure is higher. A recent study of seven million young people found that around one in 57 children in England are autistic (1.76%).[1]

Question:

What barriers do young disabled people face when leaving education and entering the job market and workplace? Does this differ between different conditions or disabilities, and if so, how?

Poor educational outcomes and lack of careers support and work experience are all key barriers for autistic young people seeking work. Many autistic children and young people are written off before they have even left school with research by the University of Birmingham showing they are twice as likely to be excluded from school than their peers[2]. Outcomes are frequently poorer for autistic children and young people with less than half saying they are happy in school and only 20% achieve grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs, compared to 52% of all pupils6.  Poorer attainment levels lead to more limited choices, which, combined with poor careers support, lack of work experience and a neurotypical bias within employer recruitment practice are all barriers for autistic young people seeking work.

Autistic young people also need more support to think about career options and engage in work experience earlier in their lives through timely careers education, information, advice and guidance from qualified professionals. Without this broad support autistic young people face greater barriers to the workplace than those with any other type of disability.

According to the Office for National Statistics only 29% of autistic people are in full or part-time employment, compared with 53.5% of disabled people and 81.6% of non-disabled people.[3] This is in spite of the fact that Ambitious about Autism research shows that 71% of autistic young people who are unemployed say they would like to be in work, but less than a third said they are confident they will be able to find work in the next year.

All the various routes into training, work experience and the very varied range of employment need to be seen through an autism lens to give autistic young people the same opportunities that are open to other young people,. These should ensure providers and professionals are autism trained and any neurotypical bias in recruitment and provision is fully addressed.   

For example all the main apprenticeship providers should be targeted for mandatory autism training. In addition, more should be done around raising the profile of how apprenticeships can be made more inclusive. Many schools, colleges, providers and employers are not aware of the changes to eligibility requirements for some apprenticeships. Support in funding a brokerage service should be explored, following a model that has been championed at Essex County Council. 

Questions:

How effectively do education systems provide careers advice, guidance and support which meet the needs and career aspirations of young disabled people? How could this be improved, and what examples of good practice are there in the UK and abroad?

Do staff in schools and other education settings providing careers guidance and advice have the appropriate training and resources to support the needs and aspirations of young disabled people?

The fact that employment rates are so low for autistic people, in spite of their desire to be in employment, suggests that not enough is being done to meet their needs as a cohort to ensure they can successfully transition from education to work or stay in work. In order to comprehensively address the lack of employment and career development opportunities for autistic young people we believe it is vital that a holistic ‘child to career’ approach to autism employment is taken beginning during compulsory education. This should encompass the following issues to comprehensively boost the employment prospects of autistic people:

• Early autism diagnosis;
• 11-16 education;
• Post 16 education, and smooth transitions from education into training and employment;
• Mandatory teacher training on autism;
• Careers information and guidance at school and beyond, when considering and recommending what more should be done to prepare autistic young people for employment and careers.

The poor experiences, outcomes and support systems for autistic children and young people at these stages makes it much more difficult to find training, work experience, employment and careers in adulthood. Ultimately to deliver these outcomes we believe there needs to be a cross government autism employment strategy that joins up DfE, DWP and DHSC provision. Employment, Health and Care Plans should be piloted to achieve this.

Poor educational attainment is a key barrier for autistic young people seeking work. We know that autistic young people are twice as likely to be excluded from school than their peers and only 20% achieve grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs, compared to 52% of all pupils.[4]  Six in 10 autistic young people say that the main thing that would make school better for them – thus precipitating better outcomes - would be having a teacher who understood autism.[5] Furthermore 80% of autistic young people say that careers advice in school is poor or non-existent. Research shows that half of careers advisors do not understand autism11. Careers professionals need to have the knowledge and resources to effectively support autistic children and young people.

We want education policy to work for all SEND pupils so they can achieve their potential, with a clear expectation that every school is a SEND school, every teacher is a SEND teacher, and every policy is a SEND policy. In order to achieve this staff must be adequately trained in autism. We believe a SEND workforce strategy and development plan is needed to deliver a valued, skilled, sufficient SEND workforce, backed by resources and with clear timescales.

This should include mandatory teacher training as a key factor in ensuring autistic children and young people succeed at school, and careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG) which provides more tailored support to autistic young people from an early age enabling them to think about career options and engage in work experience earlier in their lives.

CIAG should include:

• A Year 9 transitions review that introduces access to a qualified careers adviser with SEND-specific knowledge;
• Promotion of the existing Access to Work scheme to support autistic young people with work experience;
• Creation and promotion of guidance to make the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Careers Guidance work for autistic young people and create an inclusive National Careers Strategy.

There should be far more tailored training and resources support for autistic young people to prepare them for looking for work, such as employment skills, drafting CVs and interview skills.

Autistic young people need to be given broad opportunities for work experiences in the purest sense – i.e. the opportunity to try lots of different types of job across all major sectors.

Question:

What actions could employers be taking without Government support? What barriers prevent them doing so?

There is much that employers can do and many indeed do to support autistic employees in workplaces now, sometimes without any specific government support. Our Employ Autism programme grew out of an idea suggested by our Ambitious Youth Network to address concern about the very poor employment outcomes for autistic young people through paid internships and provides evidence that support and an inclusive environment can have a statistically significant impact on employment rates and positive experiences of work for autistic young people.  

Employ Autism provides autism resources, training and mentoring support to partner organisations and works in partnership with employers to provide paid experiences of work to autistic young people. Following a pilot we are now offering the Employ Autism service to more employers and businesses to help them harness the power of autism inclusion at work.  

The Employ Autism programme is part of a Discover Autism Research and Employment (DARE) longitudinal research project in partnership with the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at University College London and Autistica. 

So far, via the Employ Autism network:  

•       1,200 autistic young people have been given tailored careers support. 

•       500 autistic young people have accessed paid work experience.   

•       Over 500 careers and employability professionals have received autism training. 

•       83% of autistic interns participating in Employ Autism have been offered a contract extension or permanent role.   

Our independent evaluation has shown that Employ Autism is working effectively to give autistic young people a better chance of securing work, and also increases the awareness, attitudes and confidence of employers to benefit from a neurodiverse workforce.  

Highlights from the evaluation show:  

•       More than 80% of the autistic participants in Employ Autism said they had never experienced stigma in their workplace, and almost 90% agreed that if a new person was to disclose they were autistic that they would be well supported by their employer.   

•       82% of autistic interns felt able to express themselves freely to their employer and within their teams. 

•       Interns, employers and parents reported that the Employ Autism network broke down key barriers to employment for autistic people and helped interns find a way into employment. 

•       The Employ Autism pilot evaluation also reports that our autism training for employers significantly improved autism knowledge and commitment to inclusion in the workplace overall.    

The evaluation of the pilot phase of Employ Autism shows that the vast majority of reasonable adjustments needed from employers by our autistic interns cost very little or no money. These include measures such as changes to working hours, communication, support, logistics, the physical environment, equipment, the role, clothing or appearance, social obligation and flexible working location. 

Our Higher Education Network partners with universities to deliver the Employ Autism programme to their students.  We have worked with 19 universities since 2021 and have created more than 60 paid internships for autistic students, as well as training to careers and employability professionals. This project is being evaluated by the Centre for Applied Autism Research (CAAR) at Bath University.  

Our learning from the Employ Autism project could easily be applied by other employers to increase participation of autistic people in the workforce. The specific actions detailed below would all support such a shift.

Advertising and recruitment adjustments 

Autism accessibility in advertising and recruitment matters. An example of the form this could take would be a clear message inviting applicants to request reasonable adjustments, with a named contact a range of ways to make contact, which suit a variety of communication needs e.g. text-based using adjustment request templates and forms, phone calls/video calls.  

Employers need to ensure recruitment messaging encourages applications from diverse backgrounds and states that they are happy to make reasonable adjustments in recruitment process and in the job itself. It is important for in house recruitment teams and recruitment agencies to receive autism training so they know how to deliver this.  

Recruitment agencies should work with autistic job seekers to guide them through the recruitment process and ensure that employers make all necessary reasonable adjustments for autistic candidates. 

In job adverts thought needs to given to “essential” and “desirable” criteria as this can result in a non-application due to an autistic young person feeling they cannot meet all of the essential experience/skills listed.  

Simpler, more streamlined and direct adverts could encourage more applications from autistic young people. Job adverts also need to avoid metaphors and jargon such as ‘hit the ground running’.  

Recruiters and employers need to be mindful that autistic people are unlikely to “embellish” their experience and CV. They need to be asked very specific questions about their skills and experiences. 

Decision making should be communicated in written form avoiding vague or ambiguous explanations for why an adjustment cannot be made and specifically referring to the Employer Code 6.28 (EHRC). This will eliminate the possibility that poor decisions about requested adjustments are made by individuals in isolation and that there is a consistent and informed approach in place. The government should consider making this a statutory requirement. 

Interviews 

There is research suggesting that interviews may not be a fair or necessary way to recruit autistic candidates14. Survey work carried out by Ambitious about Autism of over 500 autistic young people and their parents and carers shows that 73% of autistic young people and their parents and carers say that being anxious about the application and interview process not being accessible to them in the biggest barrier to them finding work15. 

The communication and interaction focus of the interview process needs to be adapted for autistic young people to allow for the fact that they could be at a significant disadvantage because of their autism.  

It is crucial that employers are aware of the kind of adjustments that they can make to the interview process to achieve this. For example asking more detailed questions to enable autistic young people to get to the right answer as they might not offer the correct amount of information and therefore fail to fully explain the breadth of their experience. This should be done through training and awareness raising directly with employers.  

Employers need to really understand the kind of skills that are required for the role the autistic young person is applying for and adjust their questions to reflect this. This will give autistic young people a better opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and to make the process fairer and more accessible.  

More physical support for interviews in the shape of a person accompanying the autistic young person to act as a source of support/translator has been shown to work in helping to achieve more positive outcomes for both autistic young people and employers. Questions should be sent in advance to all autistic interviewees. Interviewers should ask relevant questions like “what did you do when” rather than hypothetical “what would you do if…” 

Thought and adjustments need to be applied to the kind of questions that are asked, dispensing with more generalised and abstract concepts such as competencies, to focus on giving autistic young people an opportunity to talk about real experiences and skills which will be useful for the role they are applying to.  This needs to done via direct questioning, rather than via “storytelling” as is currently the case with competency answers – as these are often areas where autistic young people can struggle to understand and provide useful examples.  There needs to be less of a focus on soft skills (e.g. demonstrating motivation, body language, eye contact etc). 

Our Employ Autism interns highlighted that they valued these kinds of changes being made in the application and interview process specifically. For example, being able to seek clarifications and further explanation of unclear questions to know what is actually being asked, being guided on relevant information to provide, and being able to have interview questions in advance. 

Job trials                

As well as offering interview adjustments an alternative employers should offer autistic young people is job trials for autistic candidates, in place of traditional question-based interviews, so that autistic people can demonstrate what they can do, rather than explain and communicate what they can do.  

The government should explore whether this should be a statutory requirement for employers to offer to autistic young people. Employers will need support to design effective jobs trials. They may need to draw on the experience of their graduate intake programmes and how those tests are designed identify talent. 

Employers can also draw on the support of organisations, such as Ambitious about Autism, to ensure that job trials, and the visual supporting information required, is fully accessible and appropriate for autistic young people.  

Reasonable adjustments for existing and new employees

Employers should ensure that there is a transparent, formal and documented reasonable adjustments decision making process in place. Processes should include and draw on knowledge and expertise from any employer internal staff networks, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion leads, HR specialists and also external specialists, such as Ambitious about Autism. 

A culture of inclusivity, that invites openness, needs to be created by employers. Proactive marketing campaigns should be launched to create more confidence and celebrate autism, other neurodiversity, and disability and diversity more generally within the workplace.  Autism, disability, diversity and a culture of inclusivity more generally, should be seen as a great business benefit to recruitment teams and hiring managers.  

Autistic young people need to see people like them as role models at the top of big organisations, to drive culture change and autism understanding and acceptance, and also help to make recruitment processes more open, accessible and effective. Autistic employees in leadership positions need to speak openly and publicly about being autistic to encourage other autistic employees to come forward. 

Employers need to increase visibility of their work and commitment to supporting autistic talent in their workforce by; 

• Publishing digital case studies on internal and external websites highlighting best practice support, wherever possible and anonymised if necessary; 
• Promoting internal and external resources through events, townhall talks, lunch and learns, and newsletters; 
• Upskilling autistic employers’ knowledge on strategies and “join up” and increase the quality of the support that is available to them.  

Employers need to support and resource a dedicated autism colleague group to provide peer support and act as a steering group for all Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and autism specific initiatives.  

Employers should create and digital ‘hubs’ of resources for autistic employees and distinguishing these from other sources of information for other neurodivergent employees such as ADHD/dyslexia etc. Toolkits for managers and HR professionals should be developed by employers, supported by appropriate and mandatory training for all managers and HR professionals. Autism training and acceptance training for all staff within organisations over a certain size should be made mandatory. 

Employers need to collect data from truly anonymous staff surveys (i.e. not asking for role/department) on how many autistic employees are present and ratify this with data collection from EDI monitoring forms and other disclosures (implicit or explicit, for example in requesting adjustments that commonly work well for autistic people without explicitly disclosing that they are being requested by someone because they are autistic). These would enable employers to assess whether autistic employees are confident to disclose. Lack of confidence in disclosing could indicate a systemic issue relating to a lack of confidence about the organisation’s culture in terms of autism acceptance and appropriate support. 

Managers need to invite conversations around disclosure and reasonable adjustments and make it clear that people won’t be penalised for asking as part of a culture of inclusivity. However, disclosure is a very complex issue. Evidence shows that some people may never want to disclose due to past experiences of stigma/discrimination16. The focus should therefore be on ideally creating a culture that is so inclusive and accepting of diversity that disclosure doesn’t have to be necessary to accommodate people who never want to disclose. 

Working practices or initiatives to reduce stigma and improve the productivity of autistic employees 

In a survey carried out by Ambitious about Autism of over 500 autistic young people and their parents and carers, 65% said they felt that employers didn’t see their potential. Over a fifth said they don’t tell potential employers they are autistic because they are afraid of being treated unfairly, with over 70% saying they don’t disclose they are autistic due to fear of discrimination.  

When autistic young people do request adjustments at interview, only 16% said employers always provide them. 29% said employers rarely or never provide them. 45% said their employers’ understanding of autism was poor or very poor and 55% said it was good or very good. Half of respondents (51%) felt that their employer understood them and their needs but half (49%) said they did not. 36% of respondents said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work17. 

These statistics highlight the importance of a campaign on autism understanding and acceptance – through specific autism and Disability Confident campaigns - to address stigma and ensure that workplace adjustments are in place to maximise the productivity of autistic employers. 

Employers and the trainers they use also need to build understanding and acceptance, particularly amongst organisational leaders, line managers and HR professionals. Training also needs to challenge pre-conceptions and stereotypes about autism  and acknowledge that every autistic individual has their own strengths, differences and needs, their own life journey and their own unique story.  

The Employ Autism evaluation has shown that while training is an important foundational step in improving employers’ understanding and inclusion (some of whom will experience significant improvements as a result of the training) it should not be relied upon as the sole initiative to address barriers to employment such as understanding and stigma. Instead, training should be part of a broader package of initiatives available to support autistic people, or at the very least, with significant autistic input, to maximise employers’ learning and appropriate application of knowledge in the workplace. Employers should ensure all policies and procedures are autism friendly, and should have a person responsible for overseeing reasonable adjustments, so line managers do not make decisions alone.

As stated above autism training and acceptance training for all staff within organisations over a certain size should be made mandatory and employers need to collect data from truly anonymous staff surveys on how many autistic employees are present, ratifying this with data collection from EDI monitoring forms and other disclosures. 

September 2023