Tool Up Mentoring Programme helping autistic people into work
Looking to enrol onto this course? Click below to enrol:
- Diagnosed or self-identify as autistic?
- Struggling to find employment or progress in your current role?
Take a step towards a fulfilling career and enrol into our Tool Up mentoring programme. (Registrations are OPEN for February start..
Email: toolup@ndsa.uk
We are helping autistic people to find and progress in fulfilling employments through our new Tool Up Mentoring programme. It includes weekly one hour one to one mentoring sessions, an online employment readiness course and an online support group. Our Tool Up Mentoring programme will help you to formulate and progress towards your employment goal.
Employment provides a sense of fulfilment, recognition and belonging. Research has shown that employment is central to autistic sense of wellbeing and quality of life, yet 77% of autistic people are unemployed and want to work, 58% among them want and need some help getting into employment.
There is little evidence that various employment initiatives work for autistic people with a notable exception of mentoring. A prominent autistic autism researcher Dr Damian Milton and his colleagues have piloted a mentoring programme that shown progress into employment and an improvement to the wellbeing of autistic participants.
Our programme is based on Dr Milton’s study and designed with his participation and valuable contribution by Dr Susy Ridout, the expert in mentoring neurodivergent people. It is developed by autistic people for autistic people who are looking to get into meaningful employment or to change careers.
We are aiming to help autistic people to realise their potential and lead fulfilling lives, including achieving employment that meets their skills and aspirations, be it a vocational, admin or a professional career.
Our Tool Up Mentoring programme has three elements:
- One to one online mentoring, 1 hour per week for 20 weeks’
- An online support group,
- An online employment readiness course.
Weekly person centred online one to one mentoring helps to formulate and progress towards your employment goal. It could be finding work, progressing within the current employment or even finding a voluntary position as a stepping stone into work.
The support group will provide peer support, advice and a sense of community and help to build positive autism identity that is also key for autistic wellbeing.
The Tool Up course will provide helpful resources and a timeline to underpin the mentoring and progression towards the personal goal. It will take you through various steps involved in preparing and applying for work and managing your career once in work. It provides a wealth of tips and resources tailored to autistic people.
This programme helps both mentors and mentees to realise their potential, achieve personal growth and connect to employment and to an online autistic community.
Looking to enrol onto this course? Click below to enrol on the waiting list:
