Treasure Hunting. Giving Employers That Competitive Edge

Posted on: 26th March 2020.

Claire Cookson, CEO of DFN Foundation, will have a journal article published with AchieveAbility.

The article will feature in the Spring issue of AchieveAbility’s E-Journal, which celebrates Neurodivergent thinking and support of positive change for the greater inclusive good of our society.

Claire’s article identifies the true benefits of employing people with learning difficulties and autism and shows us that it’s not just a matter doing an honourable thing. Drawing on her background as an experienced senior leader in education and collaborating with businesses, educators and Local Authorities, the focus of Claire’s work is to develop employability outcomes for learners with special educational needs and disabilities.

Drawing on her background as an experienced senior leader in education and collaborating with businesses, educators and Local Authorities, the focus of Claire’s work is to develop employability outcomes for learners with special educational needs and disabilities.

The journal article explores how young people with learning difficulties offer sectors struggling with a skills gap a huge ocean of untapped potential.

Despite this there are still many barriers to employment for people with learning disabilities which we need to be broken down.

Claire said: “There is now a pressing need for change and intervention to ultimately improve the life outcomes of young people with learning difficulties.

"It is vital that we challenge perceptions and make more businesses aware of how they can access a new talent pool and enable a fair and more inclusive workforce."

"This can be achieved through effective training for young people with learning difficulties, but also changing culture by demonstrating how young people with learning difficulties and autism can enrich the workforce, bring greater diversity, stay longer in a job."

To achieve its ambitions the DFN Foundation has developed two supported employment programmes, DFN Project SEARCH, and DFN MoveForward.

The programmes are already having a transformative and life-changing impact on young people with learning difficulties whilst helping businesses diversify and expand their workforce.

Programme successes come from four key principles and a set model that bring all stakeholders together at an early stage, and places aspirational employment outcomes at the centre of their focused outcomes.

Claire added: "It makes good business sense to recruit from this neurodivergent population. Positive people improve team members’ performance, group performance, reduce group conflict, create more cooperation and greater overall performance. If you do what you have always done, then you will get what you have always got."

Claire’s full journal article can be accessed via the AchieveAbility E-Journal - Spring Issue which will be published in April and focuses on Neurodiverse Voices: Good Practice in the Workplace.

Click here to access the full report….

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