Nurturing skills and shaping futures

Work experience at BeyondAutism Sixth Form

Just 22% of autistic adults in the UK are employed¹. At BeyondAutism, we are committed to rewriting this narrative, equipping our learners with the skills they need to thrive independently beyond their education.

One way we achieve this is providing a range of internal and external work experiences based on each learner’s interests. Below are some of the vocational opportunities that shape our Sixth Form learners’ journeys and prepare them for the future.

Inside our charity office

Every Monday, a group of pupils join us in our charity office, to help prepare and ship our employability toolkits. This hands-on experience involves:

Organisation skills: Learners check a spreadsheet with toolkit requests, ensuring they are accurate and complete.
Assembly skills: They put together envelopes with our toolkits and address them to each recipient, learning the importance of attention to detail.
Responsibility: Pupils then post the toolkits, teaching them about responsibility and following a process.

This work experience provides valuable practical office skills and gives learners the opportunity to transfer skills learnt elsewhere such as writing and other fine motor skills.

The Earlsfield Café

Some of our learners participate in an external work experience at a local café in Earlsfield. Here, they engage in tasks such as restocking, cleaning chairs and tables, and assisting with recycling efforts. This experience offers several benefits:

Learning how to ask for and follow instructions: Pupils develop valuable skills in taking and executing instructions effectively.
Teamwork: Working alongside café staff teaches them about cooperation and collaboration.
Time management: Managing diverse tasks helps them hone the skill of efficiently allocating their time to fulfil various responsibilities.

We asked two of our learners who regularly attend work experience at the café what they thought about their placement. They both expressed their enjoyment of the experience. One learner indicated in his worksheet that he enjoys the cleaning tasks at the placement as well as ordering a cake and hot chocolate once his tasks are completed. For the other learner, they shared that they would like to become a shop assistant building on the skills learnt at this placement.

The charity office and café work experience offers are just a glimpse into the diverse employability opportunities we offer our learners. Our curriculum also includes opportunities at a farm, a cinema, and much more, tailored to each student’s aspirations.

Every autistic individual has unique talents and potential, and we are dedicated to equipping them with the right skills to unlock their full capabilities. To learn more about the vocational and employment work we do visit our Sixth Form website. If your place of work has a potential work experience opportunity, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

1. Office for National Statistics, Outcomes for disabled people in the UK: 2020, (2021)