Autism: Spectrum of Employment Skills (ASES)

One in every 59 children born is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) revealed that less than 10% of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are employed. Those employed are often in low-wage jobs. Key barriers to their employment are lack of access to vocational training, communication difficulties, denial of reasonable accommodation and prejudices about autism. During a discussion on employment of autistic people at the European Parliament in 2019, the Director of Autism-Europe, Aurélie Baranger, emphasized that many strengths are associated with autism and that it is key to build on these individual strengths to foster successful employment. She described the possible types of employment and support methods, giving as good practice job coaching and hiring programmes in the field of new technology. 42% of autistic adults in employment say they require support, but only 12% receive any.

The ASES project will focus on the development of a training material and tools for SME management to increase workplace inclusion of adults with ASD. It will develop VET digital training resources to train employers and HR staff to recruit, mentor and empower staff with ASD throughout their employment cycle. The training resources will be designed to be used for distance learning and will embed gamification elements to facilitate learning process. Additionally, the training resources and curriculum will be pilot-tested over the course of 6 months, in the third year of project implementation. The pilot test will serve as an opportunity to see the effectiveness of project results and their short and long-term impact on: a) SMEs who to apply inclusive employment practices b) The performance and well-being of Individuals with ASD who will be employed by SMEs in the context of the Pilot test.

Objectives:

1. To furnish management with a recruitment and career development methodology suitable for staff with ASD
2. To offer a distance learning solution for training SME management staff in exploiting the qualities of staff with ASD
3. To increase the productivity of employees with ASD at the workplace
4. To increase the recruitment and retention rate of staff with ASD
5. To reduce employment gap between people with and without disabilities by increasing employment opportunities for people with ASD
6. To eliminate exclusion of people with ASD in the workplace
7. To enhance the role of VET in the career development of staff with ASD 8. To benefit the European economy through increased productivity and employment levels of people with ASD