Autism

All-age Autism Strategy Launch (18 April)

We are celebrating the launch of the first All-age Autism Strategy in Newham on Thursday 18 April; the theme for the event will be on Employment.  

We have an exciting agenda to share including special guest Mayor of Newham; NHS England Autism Lead; Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC); Auticon Recruitment Agency; John Lewis; Neurodiverse Coach & trainer; DWP and much more.

Our speed dating event in the afternoon (it will be like a careers fair) will give you an opportunity to find out what vacancies are available from a range of organisations from the training, retail, care, health and customer services industry. This includes John Lewis, NHS, Chosen Care, Look Ahead, Unique and Shreeji Training and Axis Europe.

If you are interested in what we are doing in Newham to support autistic people, please join us.

Location: Highway Church 88a Romford Road London E15 4EH   Reigistration opens at 9.30am; the event will be running from 10am to 4pm.
Directions to the venue from Maryland Station: 8 minute walk	Directions to the venue from Stratford Station: 16 minute walk

We have the following events planned:

• Panel of Experts: discussion around employment schemes & opportunities for autistic people, support available for both business & autistic residents, internships & experiences shared
• Speed Dating: 5 min presentations from local business to ‘sell’ their organisation & to inspire you to sign up for a future induction day or taster session to potentially work in their organisation
• Stalls: local business, support organisations, schools and other autism related services will be available on the day to meet and greet
• Video: local people living or working in Newham sharing their work experiences as an autistic person
• Refreshments: available on arrival and a hot lunch prepared by our local community group
• Networking: meet likeminded people, join the Carers of autistic resident peer support group, join the Autistic Residents Advisory Group (ARAG)
• Quiet Room: if it gets overwhelming at any point in the day, you can head over to the quiet room in the back to get away from the noise and activity

Come and join in to celebrate this event with us, all are welcome, including:

• autistic person;
• parent or carer of an autistic person;
• professional working with autistic people or interested in finding out more about autism;
• local business directly employing or planning to employ an autistic person; or 
• general public interested in learning more about autism in the community

We welcome parents of autistic children and autistic students and autistic adults looking for work or wanting to get an idea of what is on offer in the market place to join us.

To register and receive information for this event, please complete the registration form here. The Agenda for the launch event can be found here.

Accessibility:

BLS interpreters will be present throughout the day from 10:00am until 2:30pm.

The venue is based on the ground floor with double door entry into the venue, volunteers will be available to open doors or please ring the venue 020 8534 4019 to provide access.

Food:

Vegetarian, gluten-free and halal food available. There is limited vegan food.

Allergies:

We cannot guarantee any food is free of allergies, please proceed at your own risk or please bring your own packed lunch. Fresh fruit will be available.

Call out to all Local Businesses

Autism month of April is fast approaching and we want to share an exciting opportunity you can participate in as a local business in Newham.

We are launching our first All-age Autism Strategy in Newham on Thursday 18th April 2024 and our focus for this launch event will be on EMPLOYMENT.  

As a local business we want to support you in finding the right person for the job. We know there are many talented residents living in Newham, it’s a matter of finding them. This is particularly true for residents with Autism - a lifelong condition that affects how they perceive, communicate and interact with others and the world around them.  

Scientific research* has found common strengths that autistic people have, including:

• Solve problems 40% faster
• Think outside the box
• Acute hearing
• See greater intensity of colours, read tiny text from across a room
• Hyperfocus or monotropism - an intense form mental concentration for extended periods of time

*Visit www.embrace-autism.com for more information.

We are offering local business the following opportunities at the launch event on Thursday 18 April:

• Be on our Panel of Experts. If you currently employ autistic residents and willing to share your experiences of employing autistic residents and the benefits they bring to your company;
• Speed Dating – join our 5min speed dating style presentations. We are looking for local businesses to present in front of participants at the event. You will have 5min to ‘sell’ your business to local residents looking for a job. Participants can then come and find you at your stall to get more information about your vacancies and sign up for an induction day with you.
• Take a stall - promote your business with local residents, to identify potential autistic residents to fill vacancies or connect with other local businesses.;
• Sponsor the event. This will cover the cost of the venue, video planned for the event, lunch & refreshments, goodie bags, activities etc.  As a sponsor we will include your logo in the advertising of the launch
• Or join us as a participant on the day to find out what support is on offer for local businesses, hear what other local businesses are doing, and network;

If you are interested in being on the panel of experts, speed dating presentation, taking a stall, being a sponsor or just coming along, please let us know by completing the registration form here or if you would like to discuss the event in more detail, please contact Autism.Commissioning@newham.gov.uk.

World Autism Acceptance Week (2-8 April)

Join us for free activities and events during Autism Acceptance Week.

A programme of events and activities will be available for a range of people including:

• Autistic person;
• Parent or Carer of an autistic person;
• Professional working with autistic people;
• Local business directly employing or planning to employ an autistic person; or
• General public interested in learning more about autism in the community

This year we have a range of events and activities for under 5’s right through to adults, including research findings on Ageing and Autism, meet a neurodiverse children’s author, an introduction to autism, speech therapy drop-in, Parents events, coffee morning, UEL drop in, preparing for a careers fair, support for businesses.

The programme can be downloaded here.

If you are running any autism events/activities that you want to share with others throughout April, please let us know and we can help you promote your event/activity.

Please email Autism.Commissioning@newham.gov.uk to register your event/activity.