Resources & Guidance

This page provides resources and guidance which you may find useful for supporting autistic people in your organisation workplace. For making adjustments in the workplace you can access our Downloadable Resources. 

If you have any suggestions for other useful resources and guidance please let us know. 

What is a reasonable adjustment?

According to the Equality Act 2010, a reasonable adjustment is a change to the physical environment, service provision or approach which allows people with additional needs (including autism) to have equal access to public services such as healthcare and employment. 

Employers sometimes think that making adjustments will cost too much in terms of time or resources or that this will be unfair for other employees. However, research suggests that adjustments can often be simple and inexpensive to implement. A positive and open approach to providing workplace adjustments is likely to be beneficial to all employees, not just autistic people (e.g., providing noise-cancelling headphones, quiet spaces, flexible work timetables). 

You can find examples of workplace adjustments to amend and implement in your workplace in the downloadable resources. 

You can also hear the employment experiences of autistic employees in relation to reasonable adjustments.

What are our employer obligations around hiring autistic people?

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to the hiring process and to the workplace to allow autistic people to perform well. 

You can access downloadable resources for making adjustments to hiring processes and to the workplace which you can adapt for use in your workplace.

What would an accessible hiring process look like?

Autistic people often have more negative experiences of applying for jobs and going through the job selection process than non-autistic people. Job descriptions may be vague and generic, interview questions are often complex and ambiguous, and unfamiliar and noisy interview settings can be challenging for autistic people. Job selection processes often put the emphasis on social skills rather than job skills and many autistic people 'mask' their autistic traits to try to succeed in this context. 

You can find suggestions for making your hiring processes more inclusive in the Downloadable Resources. 

In this video, Kelly, a project coordinator from Disability Sheffield describes what a reasonable adjustment is and gives suggestions for how to implement them in workplaces and in the hiring process.

What resources are available for employers to provide ongoing support to autistic people in the workplace?

There are many resources and sources of guidance for employers which provide support for adapting workplaces for autistic employees. We have included some of these below. 

Please let us know if you have any comments about these resources or have any suggestions for additional resources which might be useful.  

Training & Consultancy

You can access training on autism for yourself or your workforce. This includes general training and consultancy which can be tailored to your organisation. 

The National Autistic Society provides a course called 'Understanding autism in the workplace' which helps people who manage or work with autistic colleagues to understand autism and how to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

The Open University provides a free course called 'Understanding Autism' which explains autism and explores diagnosis, intervention and societal issues around autism. 

Autism Plus provide specialist training and consultancy services to organisations and companies seeking to upskill their organisations and teams. 

Researchers at the University of Nottingham have carried out research with line managers and neurodivergent people to identify barriers in the workplace. They have used this to develop a consultancy program which provides tailored support for implementing adjustments in the workplace. 

Autistica have developed The Neurodiversity Employers Index. This is an evidence-based framework which provides strategies for attracting and supporting neurodiverse talent.

Guidance & Support

The Buckland review of Autism Employment was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, in the UK Government. It provides 19 recommendations for improving these outcomes. These include promoting:

The CIPD (the professional body for HR professionals), in collaboration with Uptimize, have produced a guide for human resources professionals to learn about neurodiversity, the benefits of having a neuroinclusive workforce and how they can support neurodivergent people to be successful at work. 

Access to Work is a support grant scheme for disabled people to aid them in starting or staying in work. It can provide practical and financial support for workplace adjustments. For example, it could be used to provide support for flexible working arrangements, such as work from home, or help with travel costs. Employees should apply within 6 weeks of starting in a new organisation. Employers may need to share the cost if the person has been employed longer than 6 weeks.

Employment Autism provide advice and support for employers. This includes advice on how to recruit autistic people (covering advertising roles, selecting candidates, adjustments to the job selection process and induction for new employees). Advice on how to manage autistic employees and adjust the working environment is also provided. 

The institute of Engineering and Technology have produced a toolkit for understanding and managing neurodiversity at work. This includes a section on autism and on workplace adjustments. 

Neurodiversity in Business is an industry group which shares advice and guidance for recruiting and managing neurodivergent employees. This includes a resource hub for sharing good practise.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory Service worked with autistic adults to develop a booklet with guidance for employers on how they can support autistic people in the workplace. This booklet describes autism and gives suggestions for how to adapt workplaces for autistic workers.

AtkinsRealis produced a publication 'Neuroinclusive Office Design' to explore the importance and benefit of designing inclusive spaces for neurodiverse employees. It includes illustrations of how the physical workspace can be adapted. 

In this podcast, researchers from the University of Nottingham discuss how to make workplaces more inclusive for neurodivergent people and the importance of understanding and making workplace adjustments.

Employment is for Everyone is a social movement aiming to improve employment opportunities for people with autism and learning disabilities. Their website includes information for employers and shares positive employment stories. 

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