Ashley: Employment experience for people with learning disabilities and autism- Essex County Council

Employment can be rewarding for the employees and their employers, but the employment journey can be challenging, with many ups and downs. Ashley’s story of employment highlights how with the right person-centred support and adjustments paid employment is possible and value is not only for the employee, but the employers and community. This series of short films demonstrate how much difference employment can make to people with learning disabilities and autism. These stories have been taken from the ‘employment experience for people with learning disabilities and autism’ a collaborative research project between Essex County Council and Revealing Reality. Which explored the needs, motivations, and barriers to successful employment for people with learning disabilities and autism in Essex. With the ultimate goal for this research was to identify the opportunities for people with LD&A to have rewarding and meaningful employment – and getting employers across the county to see the value and benefits of doing so. We plan on continuing to share and make sure these experiences are informing the work going on within ECC and wider networks. Please get in contact with research@essex.gov.uk, if you have any questions and if you or any stakeholders would benefit from hearing more about this piece of work.