Past projects
Employ Autism
Background
Our Employ Autism programme offers autistic young people age 18 – 25 years, opportunities for paid work experience to support their transition to adulthood and help address the low employment rates among autistic people.
The programme provides valuable real-world experience, helping autistic young people develop confidence and workplace skills.
The research
To understand the impact of the programme, we commissioned a PhD student from UCL’s Institute of Education, based at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), to carry out research on Employ Autism.
The research explored:
- The impact of Understanding Autism in the Workplace training
- The experiences of interns, employers, and parents
- Long-term employability and wellbeing outcomes, tracked up to 24 months after the internship
The findings from this research were used to strengthen and develop the Employ Autism programme further.
- Evaluating the impact of an online autism training on changing employers’ autism knowledge and commitment to inclusion in the workplace (Ashworth and colleagues, 2024)
- Evaluating a new supported employment internship programme for autistic young adults without intellectual disability (Ashworth and colleagues, 2024)
- Tracking the long-term outcomes of a supported employment internship programme for autistic adults without a learning disability (Ashworth and colleagues, 2025)
- PhD Thesis: Tracking and Evaluating a Supported Employment Internship Programme for Autistic Adults without a Learning Disability
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Post-16 education
Background
The Children and Families Act (2014) was introduced to reform services for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and to better support families. It brought significant changes to education, services, and support, including new entitlements for provision up to age 25.
The research
Funded by the Department for Education through the Autism Education Trust (AET), this research explored how post-16 education has changed for autistic young people since the introduction of the Children and Families Act.
We worked with the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at UCL’s Institute of Education and supported a team of four young autistic researchers to co-produce the study alongside the research team.
The research involved speaking to autistic young people, their parents, and their teachers about their experiences of post-16 education. The findings were published in several academic journals.
- ‘I can’t say that anything has changed’: parents of autistic young people (16–25 years) discuss the impact of the Children and Families Act in England and Wales (Crane and colleagues, 2023)
- Autistic young people’s experiences of transitioning to adulthood following the Children and Families Act 2014 (Crane and colleagues, 2022)
- The transition to adulthood for autistic young people with additional learning needs: the views and experiences of education professionals in special schools (Crane and colleagues, 2021)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Know Your Normal
Background
Many autistic people face challenges with their mental health at different points during their lives. In 2017, our Youth Council and myVoice volunteers decided to run a campaign focused on mental health.
The Know Your Normal campaign aimed to reduce stigma around mental health and create resources for autistic young people to work out and understand what their normal is.
The research
As part of the campaign, a team of Youth Patrons collaborated with UCL Institute of Education’s Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) to research the mental health struggles that many autistic young people face and the support they receive.
Alongside the research report, the young people developed a practical Know Your Normal toolkit to help autistic young people work out their ‘normal’ so they can explain to those who support them when they are not feeling themselves.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Right from the Start
Background
It can be challenging for parents to know what to do in the early years following a child’s autism diagnosis, from assessment to starting school.
The research
We commissioned research from University of Warwick and University College London (UCL) to explore the needs of parents with young autistic children and their access to services, including the barriers and facilitators in the early years.
The study used online surveys and follow-up interviews with parents of young autistic children and was carried out from December 2018 to July 2019.
The findings helped us to develop our toolkit that provides information and signposting to parents of young autistic children.
- Right from the Start toolkit (2020)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________