Support Available

While waiting for an appointment with our services, it is important that this does not prevent you, or those support you from accessing other service which may help you during this period

ELFT Recovery College

Delivered by ELFT, we have Recovery College's in all of our boroughs which offer free workshops and courses to promote mental health wellbeing and recovery through education and learning. The Recovery College is open to everyone living in these boroughs.

Tower Hamlets Recovery College

Newham Recovery College

City & Hackney Recovery College

Luton & Bedfordshire Recovery College

Celebrating Tower Hamlets Recovery College at the Annual Fete | East London NHS Foundation Trust

Reasonable adjustments are aids that should make doing a job far easier. They can help to do things such as prevent sensory overload, manage workloads, make communication with other members more comfortable and ensure that all tasks are clearly set out. You do not need an an Autism diagnosis to access reasonable adjustments

Examples may include:

Noise-cancelling headphones to block out background noise in a busy office
A screen filter for a laptop or desktop PC to make a screen seem less bright
Use of a quiet or secluded part of the workplace, which can be useful for avoiding loud noise
Time management and project management apps to help with scheduling tasks
Instant messaging or text-to-speech apps for those who are non-verbal or aren't confident on the phone or face-to-face conversation
Ergonomic equipment such as keyboards, mice, trackpads, and other tools that can help to make an autistic employee feel more comfortable
Flexible hours and a working pattern to suit all needs
Exemption from team meetings or client meetings

Most of these can be done pretty easily and cheaply, but how can they be put in place?

Ask your employer for a meeting to ask for reasonable adjustments
Appy to Access to Work funding, either yourself or through your employer

To ask your employer directly, try to think about what reasonable adjustments are needed, what sensory issues are experienced and if there is any equipment available to support with this.

To apply for Access to Work funding, you can ask for this if:

You've got an interview coming up
You have just started a job
You are self-employed
In a job already

Online Courses

Future Learn, Understanding Autism

University of Kent's free online Autism course.

Autism Essentials

Reframing Autism is pleased to introduce a free, self paced online course that provides a neuro-affirming understanding of Autism.

The course focuses on five main areas:

Language
What Is Autism?
Brain Differences
Communication and Socialising
Thinking and Processing

Understanding You, Discovering You

An online peer support course for autistic young people aged 16-25.

Recommended Books

Avoiding anxiety in autistic adults - A guide of autistic well-being, Dr Luke Beardon
Cards against anxiety, Dr Pooky Knightsmith
Different, not less, Chloé Hayden
Divergent Mind: Thriving in a world that wasn't designed for you, Jenara Nerenberg
Late Bloomer: How an Autism Diagnosis Changed my Life, Clem Bastow
Looking After Your Autistic Self – A Personalised Self-Care Approach to Managing Your Sensory and Emotional Wellbeing – Niamh Garvey. Niamh Garvey offers tips and tricks designed to reduce sensory and emotional stress and look after your autistic self.
Love, Partnerships or Singleton on the Autism Spectrum (Insider Intelligence) – a book edited by Dr Luke Beardon and Dean Worton.

Websites

Autism Understood
A website about autism for autistic young people.

Autistica

The UK ’s leading autism research and campaigning charity. With lots of self-help resources and information about research.

National Autistic Society

Lots of information about autism, including a dedicated section for processionals working in education, health, social care, recruitment and criminal justice. The charity also has a large number of training courses.

Find your local branch here: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/branches

Reframing Autism
A superb Australian website made by autistic people, for autistic people with lots of resources.

Neurotribes – The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently – Steve Silberman
Uniquely Human: A different way of seeing Autism, Barry M. Prizant with Tom Fields-Meyer
Untypical: How the world isn’t built for autistic people and what we should all do about it – Pete Wharmby.