Upskilling the team: Autism Hampshire training for Navigators
March 24, 2023
Gavin Salter, Employment Navigator, BANES
Blog by Gavin Salter, Employment Navigator for Bath and North East Somerset.
As a team of Employment Navigators, working on a daily basis with participants with a learning difficulty, learning disability and those who identify as autistic, we are encouraged to take part in regular training as part of our continued professional development (CPD).
As professionals, we always welcome the chance to reflect on our practice and improve our knowledge and skills. So, when we were invited to some training sessions offered by Autism Hampshire, we jumped at the chance!
Autism Hampshire is a well-established charity that has been actively involved in all aspects of autism since the 1960s. The charity specialises in providing support in all areas of autism: parental support, autism in schools, autism advocacy and training in understanding autism.
The sessions were led by Dave Serpall Stevens, a long-standing staff member of Autism Hampshire, who was himself diagnosed with autism later in life. It was fascinating to learn about his experiences of working life and the impact autism has had on him.
I found the sessions enjoyable and engaging – in particular, it clarified a lot of the different terminology around understanding autism, knowledge that I can feel more confident applying in my own daily work with autistic participants.
