World Autism Acceptance Week

Today the Fairfield team are wearing bright colours to raise money & raise awareness of World Autism Acceptance Week.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum, and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.

Design engineer, Billy Hanner, has neurodiversity which meant that in academic settings, he struggled with exams while excelled in the practical assessments when completing his apprenticeship. Billy graduated in 2020 with a first in his electrical engineering degree. As an inclusive company, we work closely with Billy to look at all options to ensure he has all the resources and support provided to thrive in his career.

We understand that anyone who has autism may:

• need more time to process questions, requests and instructions
• may struggle meeting new people • may struggle to pick up on unwritten rules
• may find office environments overwhelming
• may struggle with small talk and workplace relationships

So, we encourage our team to:

• give clear instructions and put important points in writing for clarification
• not rely on body language or facial expressions to communicate
• give anxious or agitated colleagues space and time to recover
• offer to be a buddy for workplace social events