FREE online autism training is to be provided to the county’s businesses after Worcestershire County Council teamed up with The National Autistic Society (NAS).
The training aims to help individuals and organisations work with customers and colleagues on the autism spectrum.
Coun Marc Bayliss, Cabinet Member for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills, said: “We’re really pleased to be working with the National Autistic Society to give our businesses an opportunity to learn more about autism and how those with the condition can be best supported in the business community.
“We are keen to make our business community open and welcoming to all, so that they can go on and thrive.”
According to WHO, one in 100 people are autistic, which equates to 700,000 people in the UK.
“So, they make up a significant part of our national customer network and potential current and future workforce employees,” Coun Bayliss added.
The four free training modules available to organisations in Worcestershire are:
Understanding Autism
This module looks at common difficulties faced by autistic people, how to challenge common stereotypes and provides information on how to make environments more enabling for autistic people.
Autism and Communication
The module provides information on how to recognise and respond to the natural communication preferences of autistic people.
Autism and Sensory Experience
This module describes differences in how people on the autism spectrum process information, discusses the impact of sensory differences on everyday life for autistic people and provides information on how to recognise and respond to the sensory needs of people on the autism spectrum.
Autism in the Workplace
This course is specifically for employers and colleagues of autistic people.
It describes difficulties autistic people may experience in the workplace and why.
It provides information on the potential causes of anxiety for autistic people in the workplace and identifies and gives recommendations on implementing reasonable adjustments to support autistic colleagues.
Visit autism.org.uk/wcc to sign up for the modules.
