Welcome back to Taking Fair Work Forward – a learning course on emerging issues, for EIS equality rep. In this course, we wanted to link in key learning on equality issues, with current matters affecting education.
About this week
During the establishment of the EIS Disabled Members Network in 2021, members noted the need for improved understanding of autism in the workplace and support for autistic workers.
In this week’s learning we will draw on work undertaken by an EIS focus group of autistic members, and a related small-sample survey. We will look at increasing knowledge and understanding of autism and facilitate proactive changes that can make workplaces more equitable for autistic workers.
The work of the Autism Appropriate Workplaces Focus Group has informed several EIS learning events and is intended to culminate in the publication of guidance for Reps on this topic.
This week’s expert is Marion McLaughlin, CEO of Autism Understanding Scotland.
Learning points:
Reflective question
Reflect on the video and consider your own knowledge about autism and autistic people. Where does your knowledge come from? Can you think of any sources of knowledge you have accessed that have been shared by people who are autistic themselves?
Around one in 100 people in Scotland are autistic, so it is very likely that all colleagues, education leadership, and Reps will know, and work with autistic members, or you might be autistic yourself.
Autistic workers bring a wealth of experience and value to the education sector. As a group, autistic people are as diverse as non-autistic people, but in the workplace, they are often described as highly conscientious, reliable, detail oriented, able to be hyper focused and have excellent long-term memory. Furthermore, autistic people are often highly empathic and care deeply about social justice, principally standing by causes such as anti-racism, halting climate emergencies, animal rights etc.
Autism is often thought about only in the context of children, but nobody grows out of being autistic, and to many people it is an integral part of their identity. Unfortunately, many autistic people continue to experience barriers to their equal participation at work due to unhelpful workplace practices.
Fair Work for autistic workers, means addressing these practices.
View our archived material on Fair-Work within Scotland’s education system