This Learning Disability Week, the theme for Thursday is work. It’s an opportunity to talk about what that really means for people with a learning disability and autistic people; about what people tell us they experience and what they want.
We hear, and know, that work means more than ‘a job’. Work means freedom, identity, financial security, connection and purpose. Unfortunately, we also hear, and know, that too often people are not given equal access to opportunities, that cultures and systems actively prevent people from connecting with meaningful work; and that good intentions can lead to hollow gestures.
That’s not equality. That’s not dignity, and it’s not good enough.
My team have seen first-hand people with learning disabilities, and autistic people, thriving in roles they love. Contributing, not as an act of charity, but because they were seen, supported, and given the right opportunities. We’ve seen the dedication, creativity, loyalty and graft that they bring to the teams they join. And crucially the unheard perspectives that employers get to benefit from when we help more people to play their part.
Looking at the world of work, and in particular in the areas in which we operate, it’s not hard to find examples of employers who are committed to creating a more inclusive future, though these examples are increasing, they are sadly still too few.
With this in mind, our members encouraged us in 2024 to establish our Creating Careers programme, generously supported by the National Lottery Community Fund. The programme, in partnership with local businesses, helps people with learning disabilities and autistic people secure and sustain paid work; and to experience the many benefits of employment.
Taking the view of one of our founding member Lou Townson as a guiding principle: Creating Careers focuses on what people ‘can do’ and not what ‘they can’t’.
Working completely together, shoulder-to-shoulder, people who join the programme connect with a job coach who supports them directly to find their right fit in the workplace. They then work closely with like-minded employers to connect talent with vacancies.
Through this programme, we’ve seen people become valued team members in a range of local businesses, earning their own money, making friends and connections, establishing routines and purpose.
Through this programme we’ve also seen, that as a society and culture, we still have a long way to go before some of the outdated ideas about what people can contribute are a thing of the past.
Our customers tell us:
- People don’t need ‘special’ jobs: they need accessible ones.
- They don’t want a pat on the head: they want a payslip, respect, and a career path.
- They don’t want to be included after the fact: they want to be in the room, from the start.
In this Learning Disability Week, it’s important to take an opportunity to reflect, and it’s important that we collectively aspire higher to ensure that inclusive employment is not seen as charity, but as equality.
That means designing systems that don’t just ‘accommodate’ people, but expect them, include them, and invest in them. It means having:
- Accessible recruitment with interviews and forms that work for everyone
- Co-designed job descriptions written with people who understand the lived experience
- Support built in, not added on the side from first day to promotion pathway
- Representation at all levels from apprentice to leadership.
This isn’t just good for individuals. The businesses we work with, in sectors including manufacturing, hospitality, financial services and retail, tell us on a regular basis about the many ways in which inclusion is good for their business. Whether it’s accessing more talent, making things clearer, inviting new ideas and solutions, or just meeting new people, an inclusive business is one that benefits from so much more than ‘doing the right thing’.
The tide is turning; and whilst change is slow, it is coming. I see it when I meet business leaders and welcome them to our Creating Careers community. More people each day are ready to do things differently. I see it when a team adapts their recruitment because they want to welcome new perspectives. I see it in the little actions too, talking to peers, opening doors, challenging assumptions. These aren’t meaningless gestures, they’re a real step towards a new kind of workplace. One that is built on equality.
But I know that we can go so much further and so much faster to help more people make their mark in the work place, and for more workplaces to benefit from their talents.
So, embracing the theme of work for this year’s Learning Disability Week, People First are asking employers, HR leaders, and colleagues everywhere… ‘will you work with us?’ To listen. To change. To co-create the kind of employment system that really works for everyone, because a workplace that only works for some… doesn’t really work at all.
Let’s get fired up about doing the right thing and fired up about making change.