Stephen* joined Prospects' Brighter Horizons course, which helps people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to develop work-related skills and find long-term, voluntary work.
Stephen's main objectives were to find work, meet new people and improve his social skills - especially in the workplace. He attended weekly group workshops at Prospects on subjects including coping at work, and workplace relationships. Stephen also came to one-to-one sessions where we spent time working on conversation skills, interpreting body language, and appropriate and inappropriate topics of conversation at work.
We wrote to local supermarkets to ask about voluntary placements, as Stephen had always wanted to do this kind of work. Soon, we had a call from Sainsbury's, who said they would like to meet us to talk about a voluntary placement. We spoke to Sainsbury's about Asperger syndrome, the support Stephen might need, and the help Prospects could offer. Stephen was then offered an eight-week placement.
Stephen's work at Sainsbury's included working on the shop floor, in the warehouse, and helping customers with their shopping. He worked five hours a day, three days a week. Prospects visited the store once a week to talk about how things were going, and to speak to Stephen's managers about any issues that had arisen. Stephen got extremely positive feedback from his managers. He also felt much happier and liked having the structure that employment can bring, and the sense of responsibility.
At the end of Stephen's eight-week placement, his manager asked if he would like to join the team as a paid employee when a position became available. Stephen was over the moon and can't wait to get started.
*Not his real name.