Our Blog

Building a truly inclusive workplace means understanding and supporting the diverse needs of your employees, including those who are autistic. While progress is being made, there's still a long way to go. This blog aims to shed light on the challenges autistic individuals face in employment and offer practical strategies for fostering a supportive and inclusive environment.

Criticism often carries a negative connotation, but is it always a bad thing? As someone naturally critical—especially of myself—I have long struggled with the idea that feedback equates to inadequacy. For a long time, I viewed criticism as a reflection of imperfection, leading to feelings of self-doubt. However, I have come to realise that expecting perfection from anyone, especially from oneself, is an impossible standard that only leads to frustration and failure.

We are now celebrating World Autism Acceptance Month, yet only two years ago, we were marking Autism Awareness Week. What led to the move from Awareness to Acceptance – and are we moving to a position of more acceptance of autistic people using South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust services?

Oliver’s Training

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism was established following the tragic death of a young man named Oliver McGowan in hospital. Oliver was an autistic person with a learning disability. His death could have been avoided. In his memory Oliver’s parents campaigned to make it a requirement for all health and social care staff to undertake training to enable them to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to people with a learning disability and autistic people. Every part of Oliver’s Training is delivered in partnership with co-trainers, experts with lived experience of a learning disability or being an autistic person.