Employing a person with a learning disability

Skills for Independence

Careers Wales has a great site for young people with a learning disability called My Future.
It covers

Exploring future options

Work experience

People who can help

Who am I

Making decisions

There is an excellent interactive game for young people with a severe learning difficulties which covers issues such as making the right choices,dressing well for going out,going shopping and many others.

Social Enterprise

Perfect Pots is a social enterprise project.They have been shortlisted for the 'Social Enterprise in Schools Award' and are now down to the final three. The winner will be chosen by an online vote. Working in a social enterprise has already made a huge difference to young people with autism and learning disabilities who attend the

Holbrook Centre for Autism.

view this image at www.helphope.org.uk

It has helped them to believe in themselves and to better understand their abilities, as well as to cope with the challenges they face.
'Perfect Pots' has proved to people in the local area that young people with autism can make a positive contribution to their community. Voting closes on 30th November. You will have to vote for social enterprise in all four award categories for your vote to count; there are short video clips to help you choose but others to consider are:

The Breadmaker

Pack It-Group

Workbased learners

The NIACE website has 'free resources to help work-based learning providers and practitioners in supporting learners with a range of learning difficulties and disabilities,

The resources consist of:

• a series of case studies - highlighting practical examples of providers with a wealth of experience in supporting learners with learning difficulties and disabilities in work-based learning
• seven briefing sheets - each highlighting a particular learning difficulty or disability, explaining how it may affect learners in work-based learning and signposting to more sources of information and support.' These include the briefing sheet:

Working with learners who have learning difficulties

Also on the NIACE website are

Moving into Work:
'There are six information sheets in this set which are aimed at a number of different key
players who need to be involved in the process of supporting people in their transition to
work': Copies of the information sheets can be downloaded from NIACE


These include a guide for Employers






and a An information sheet for people with learning difficulties
with simple text and pictures


Source : NIACE

Work Experience

This 3 minute film from the Community Channel follows the work experience of a young man with a learning disability .

Transition and Beyond

Newham Easy Read site is about the issues that face young people with a learning disability when they leave school or college.

Some of the information is geared to London and the Newham area but there is lots of information which could be used by anyone in the UK. There are sections on relationships, travel training, leisure, work,money,support, day services,living on your own,safety and education.
It is written in simple language with pictures and sounds so that it can be used by young people with a learning disability.

Tell me about your job?

Learning with CKUK is a site designed for adults with a learning disability.It has many resources to explore . On the theme of work it has 3 interviews about people's jobs which are easy to understand and could be read together using the whiteboard.

Skills for Working and the Excellence Gateway

The QIA Excellence Gateway has a publication

Skills for Working available as a large PDF .

The guidance is written for staff working with adult post-16 learners with learning difficulties or disabilities in the range pre entry to level 2.

Skills for Working offers ideas and suggestions on how to support the development of literacy, language and numeracy skills for learners in a vocational context.It also offers guidance on working with employers (page 49) and supporting people to move on from education to work. The appendices has examples of locally-devised materials developed with and for learners.

There is a Work Experience Log book (page 142) . These are examples rather than templates to download and use. There is also a DVD which accompanies this publication.It includes a 30 minute video introducing Yvonne, a learner on a work preparation programme.

The publication can be ordered on the QIA website and is free. QIA also has an example of good practice:

Brent Adult and Community Education Service offers a programme to find realistic work placement and develop independence for learners with learning difficulties or disabilities with a wide range of partners.

Yasmin Fedda and the Breadmakers

There is a great 11 minute award-winning film by Yasmin Fedda to watch watch here
https://www.scottishdocinstitute.com/films/breadmakers/
link has gone missing on  BBC Film network.
 The film documents the work of the bakery team at Garvald Edinburgh. They provide day, accommodation and support services for adults with disabilities inspired by the work of Rudolf Steiner.
The film shows their principles of recognising and valuing the uniqueness of each person and allowing people to realise their potential.
links updated Feb 2017