Webinar: The voice of young people with learning disabilities and autism in supported employment

Presenters: Andrea Meek and Dr. Elisa Vigna, National Centre for Mental Health at Cardiff University and Gerraint Jones-Griffiths, Learning Disability Wales/ Honorary Associate at Cardiff University.

Abstract

This presentation will explore the importance of partnership working in Supported Employment, based on Engage to Change, a 7-year national project supporting young people aged 16-25 with a learning disability and/or autism, to achieve paid employment with job coach support.  The project offered employment support and opportunities through a partnership of organisations, aiming to promote cultural and social change in Wales and to influence policy to promote employment for young people with learning disabilities.

The presentation will be led by the Engage to Change Lead Ambassador who is an Autistic young person with lived experience, and two researchers. We aim to inspire attendees on building strong partnerships between organisations on national and international levels. We will include the importance of involving member-led and self-advocacy organisations to empower young people with learning disabilities. It will also include a description of changes over recent years and how accessible working and co-production actively supported influencing work with young people, employers, local government, families and carers. The presentation includes videos of people with lived experience and activities for attendees to participate in. We aim to explore what works and how lessons learnt can be used to promote cultural change and enhance inclusion in employment.

This webinar is part of our Autumn 2024 ExChange Wales Conference ‘Being Seen, Heard and Valued’.

You can find out more about the conference and sign up to our other webinars here: