Overview
Currently 1 in 59 children is diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, making it the number one neurological disorder diagnosed today. Although ASD is primarily thought of as a childhood disorder, it is a life-long condition. And despite the alarming increase in diagnosis over the last 25 years, people living with ASD have the lowest employment rates among any disability group in North America, even when controlling for impairment severity.
Without an understanding of neurodiversity and some tweaks in methodology, traditional coaching models fail to effectively meet the needs of individuals on the autism spectrum. As more and more people with this diagnosis enter the workforce, this skill set is crucial to the modern-day career practitioner.
Why You Should Attend
This webinar series will be focused around helping career practitioners to understand how people who live on the spectrum think and process information differently and the impact of these differences on employment. The series will help practitioners to empower their practice and effectively support high-functioning individuals living with Autism, Asperger’s and Verbal Learning Disorder.
Webinar #1: What and How of Autism – and its impact on employment
Recent statistics indicate that 85% of people living with autism are unemployed or underemployed, giving them the lowest employment rates among any disability group, even when controlling for impairment severity. This webinar will focus on what specifically is so different about autism.
- Understanding of invisible disability and its impact on employment
- How people who live on the spectrum think and process information
- How neurotypicals think and process information
- The impact of these differences on employment
- Employment strengths of people on the spectrum
Webinar #2: Autism Employment Barriers… and how to get around them
So now that we know there are different challenges for this differently enabled population, it’s important to develop an understanding of how to effectively work with these differences.
- ASD-specific employment barriers overview
- ASD-specific resume writing challenges and how to navigate them
- ASD-specific challenges with job applications and how to navigate them
- ASD-specific interview challenges and how to overcome them
Webinar #3: Autism Employment Success: He got the job, now what?
Although getting the job is a major obstacle for many professionals living on the spectrum, keeping a job in today’s socially nuanced workplace is often much more difficult.
- Tips for setting up an ASD employee for successful employment
- Tools for managing sensory sensitivities in the workplace
- Tools for circumnavigating social blunders in the workplace
- Executive function challenges and tools to help
- Recognizing anxiety and techniques for managing problematic anxious behaviours in the workplace
Presenters share their insights on why you should attend this webinar series.
What are people saying about this webinar series with Sarah Taylor?
The webinar series was fantastic! The facilitator Sarah Taylor was amazing and very knowledgeable about the topic. The information presented was relevant to my field of work. I also did not find it too overwhelming. It was great that the presentations included different medias such as videos, survey input and real life examples.
I found the webinar very informative and useful. It provided a lot of insight and answers to challenges that job coaches have encountered working with individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
It was fantastic, the information was very clear and easy to understand. She shared great first hand scenarios that added my learning and provided excellent resources. I was very impressed, my favourite webinar I have participated in so far this year!
Thoroughly enjoyed the webinar series. I thought it was relevant and current. It allowed myself and my team to take a step back and look at the behaviours of some of our clients with new understanding.
Sarah Taylor is a Principal Consultant at Next Level ASD Consulting. Sarah worked at the renowned Society for Treatment of Autism (located in Calgary) for 17 years and over that time developed her skills in assessment, consultation and advocacy for people who live on the Autism Spectrum. In 2014, Sarah made the switch from working with and advocating for children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder to designing and implementing a federally funded program that provided employment supports for adults with autism and coaching support to partner employers.