Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.
Autism acceptance month is an opportunity to help raise awareness and learn more about autism. Many autistic people experience exclusion due to people's lack of understanding of autism, therefore, autism acceptance month is an opportunity for us to do more to include autistic people in society and the workplace!
Autistic people are still facing a lot of challenges and discrimination, especially when it comes to employment, as some companies do not accommodate for those with Autism. A report by the office for National Statistics showed that just 21.7% of autistic people are in employment and it is estimated that around 700,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with Autism.
A lot of Autistic individuals would thrive in many areas of their employment with the right accommodations and therefore many employers are missing out on many benefits that autistic people may bring to their company. Co-founder and CEO of Spectrum Designs Foundation, found that Autistic employees have a retention rate of up to 90% and are extremely professional in the work place and are excellent at problem solving.
April not only celebrates Autism Acceptance, but gets everything thinking differently about how we can be more understanding of Autism and accepting many neurological differences.
You can find out more about Austim Acceptance Month here... https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/raise-money/world-autism-acceptance-week-2023
