Empowering People

Empowering People Empowering People -Advocates for inclusivity and social reform for Neurodivergent people.
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A new Posturite report has surveyed UK professionals across HR, health and safety, occupational health, wellbeing and in...
03/07/2026

A new Posturite report has surveyed UK professionals across HR, health and safety, occupational health, wellbeing and inclusion roles to build one of the most detailed pictures yet of how employers are actually supporting neurodivergent staff. The findings reveal a clear gap between intention and delivery.

Only 26% of respondents felt confident that staff know who to contact for neurodiversity support. Nearly half said they were not confident at all. That matters because line managers are identified as the primary point of contact in 79% of cases, often without the training or escalation routes to handle those conversations well.

Support also tends to be reactive rather than proactive. Just 10% of organisations have adjustments in place before a new employee's first day, and only 17% within the first six weeks. For most people, the process starts only once a problem has already surfaced.

The Access to Work scheme, intended to bridge some of these gaps, is itself a source of frustration. Half of organisations use it regularly or occasionally, but 70% described the experience as mixed, difficult, or very difficult, citing long delays and complicated claims processes.

When asked what would actually move the needle, employers pointed to something practical rather than aspirational: training for line managers, proper Workplace Needs Assessments, and access to diagnostic assessments.

None of this is about good intentions being absent. It is about the systems underneath those intentions not being built to support them yet.

https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/neurodiversity/true-picture-employers-supporting-neurodiversity/

A great way to kick off the day! ☕I had the pleasure of starting my morning the "Red Way" at the Radisson RED Glasgow Sk...
30/06/2026

A great way to kick off the day! ☕

I had the pleasure of starting my morning the "Red Way" at the Radisson RED Glasgow Sky Bar, enjoying a fantastic breakfast networking event. The relaxed atmosphere, delicious food, and just-right group size made it easy to have meaningful conversations, reconnect with familiar faces, and meet some great new people.

A huge thank you to Nicole Judge for being such a wonderful host and keeping us well-fed! It was also great to hear more about everything the hotel has to offer.

Looking forward to the next one already! 👏

A recent study estimated that up to 97% of autistic people over 60 are undiagnosed. Experts have started calling them a ...
29/06/2026

A recent study estimated that up to 97% of autistic people over 60 are undiagnosed. Experts have started calling them a "neglected generation."

The Guardian this week published a guide for adult children who suspect a parent may be autistic or have ADHD. It is worth reading, but one thing stands out from the expert advice: you do not need a diagnosis to start helping.

Practical adjustments, clear communication, protecting routines, reducing sensory overload, and connecting someone with their interests and hobbies can all make a real difference without anyone having been assessed. As one clinical psychologist put it, we can support people's nervous systems without labelling them.

The article also touches on something we see in our work at Empowering People: how a diagnosis, when it does happen, can ripple outward through a family. People talk about feeling more understood, about things that were confusing or painful suddenly making sense. For some, it comes with relief. For others, it opens up conversations that were never possible before.

Neurodivergent people do not stop having needs when they turn 60. They just become less visible to the systems that are supposed to support them. That is something worth talking about.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2026/jun/26/how-to-connect-with-neurodivergent-parents-autistic-adhd

Autism Family Support Oxfordshire has served more than 4,000 families over 48 years. It is now at risk of closure due to...
25/06/2026

Autism Family Support Oxfordshire has served more than 4,000 families over 48 years. It is now at risk of closure due to a fundraising shortfall, and is appealing for a funder or benefactor to come forward before March.

One parent described what the service meant to her family. Before they found AFSO, her child had no friends, rarely left the house, and was experiencing severe anxiety. Through the charity's social groups and self-understanding programmes, things changed. She described watching her child smile, laugh, and make friends as beyond words.

This is not an isolated story. It is a pattern we see repeated whenever specialist support for autistic people and their families disappears. The gap left is rarely filled, and the people who relied on that support are left to manage without it.

Scotland is not immune to this. Specialist services are consistently under-resourced, and funding pressures mean that charities doing vital, practical work are routinely asked to prove their value in financial terms that do not capture what they actually do.

We would love to hear from anyone in Scotland who has experienced the loss of a service like this, or who is currently worried about one. These stories matter, and they deserve to be told.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70k4j4dnkeo

We are ending the week where we started it. With a question.Not a rhetorical one. A real one, directed at anyone reading...
19/06/2026

We are ending the week where we started it. With a question.

Not a rhetorical one. A real one, directed at anyone reading this who has the power to make a hiring decision, manage a team, or shape a workplace culture:

Do the people with a learning disability in your orbit feel genuinely seen?

Not accommodated. Not managed. Seen. Heard. Valued for what they bring, not just supported in spite of what they find difficult.

If the honest answer is no, or you are not sure, that is not a condemnation. It is a starting point.

Empowering People works with employers who want to get this right, and with individuals who deserve the chance to show what they are capable of. Both matter. Both are part of what we do.

Thank you to everyone who has followed along this week. The conversation does not end after today.

empowering-people.co.uk

Tommy Jessop has Down syndrome. He is also an actor, author, activist, Mencap ambassador, and a voting member of BAFTA.H...
18/06/2026

Tommy Jessop has Down syndrome. He is also an actor, author, activist, Mencap ambassador, and a voting member of BAFTA.

He was the first actor with Down syndrome to star in a primetime BBC drama. The first to professionally tour theatres as Hamlet. He has won Best Actor awards, appeared in Masters of the Air, and spent years campaigning for the Down Syndrome Act, which became law in 2022.

He has said, repeatedly and plainly, what drives him.

"People with learning disabilities cannot do things in life. I want to get rid of those labels."

What strikes us about Tommy's career is not the list of firsts. It is what each of those firsts reveals: that the barrier was never his capability. It was the assumption, made by the industry around him, that certain roles, certain rooms, certain opportunities were simply not for people like him.

He walked through every one of those doors anyway.

The people we work with are not trying to become actors or BAFTA members. They are trying to find meaningful work, a sense of purpose, and the chance to show what they can do. The barrier they face is the same one Tommy Jessop has spent his career dismantling.

The assumption that they cannot.

Today we want to talk about what being seen can look like in the workplace.One of our clients wanted to work. They had t...
17/06/2026

Today we want to talk about what being seen can look like in the workplace.

One of our clients wanted to work. They had the skills, the motivation, and a genuine desire to contribute, but following a recent diagnosis, they experienced anxiety about the recruitment process and how they would cope with their condition in a working environment.

When they started their employment journey with support, things began to change.

An employer took the time to look beyond assumptions and focus on their strengths.

The interview process was adapted so they could demonstrate their abilities with confidence.

Reasonable adjustments were put in place from the start, without having to be repeatedly requested or justified.

Their employer and colleagues checked in regularly, listened, and created an environment were asking for support felt safe.

Today, they are a valued member of their team, contributing every day and growing in confidence.

Their success did not come from lowering expectations. It came from being given a fair opportunity to show what they were capable of.

For many people with a learning disability, the barrier to employment is not ability. It is whether someone is willing to see their potential.

At Empowering People, we work with employers to help create workplaces where people are seen, valued, and given the chance to succeed.

empowering-people.co.uk

Here is a number that should stop you in your tracks.Only 26.7% of adults with a learning disability in the UK are in em...
16/06/2026

Here is a number that should stop you in your tracks.

Only 26.7% of adults with a learning disability in the UK are in employment.

That is roughly 1 in 4.

And yet 86% of unemployed people with a learning disability say they want a paid job.

Let that sit for a moment. The vast majority of people with a learning disability who are out of work do not want to be out of work. They want what most of us want: a role, independence, a purpose, a place to contribute, a reason to get up in the morning.

The gap between those two numbers is not a gap in ambition. It is a gap in opportunity, in access, and in the support systems that should exist to bridge the two.

Closing that gap is not someone else's problem. It is an employer problem, a systems problem, and a society problem.

It is also what Empowering People exists to do.

This week is Mencap's Learning Disability Week 2026. The theme, created by people with a learning disability themselves,...
15/06/2026

This week is Mencap's Learning Disability Week 2026. The theme, created by people with a learning disability themselves, is four words:

Do you see me?

It is a question that cuts right to the heart of what inclusion actually means. Not tolerance. Not awareness. Not a poster in the break room. Being genuinely seen, heard, and valued.

There are 1.5 million people in the UK with a learning disability. This week is about making sure the world hears what their lives actually look like.

At Empowering People, this question sits at the centre of everything we do. Before we look for a job match, before we advocate for a client, before we put a support plan in place, we listen. Because you cannot support someone you have not taken the time to see.

All week we will be posting around this theme. We hope you will follow along.

Guernsey has introduced a hospital passport for autistic people and people with learning disabilities, and we think Scot...
11/06/2026

Guernsey has introduced a hospital passport for autistic people and people with learning disabilities, and we think Scotland should be paying attention.

The document, launched by Guernsey's Health and Social Care committee, helps hospital staff quickly understand what matters to each patient. It covers communication preferences, how the person shows pain, anxiety or distress, and their sensory needs.

The people it is designed to support were central to developing it. Shelley Taylor, a specialist community learning disability nurse involved in the project, described the passport as reflecting the real experiences of people with a learning disability and autistic individuals, their families, and carers, and said that collaboration with those with lived experience was key to getting it right.

The result is a practical tool that gives individuals a stronger voice in their care and removes the burden of having to explain yourself from scratch at what is already a stressful time.

This is not a complicated idea. It does not require large investment. It requires the will to treat people as individuals and to build systems that work for them, not the other way around.

Many of the people we support at Empowering People live with exactly the kind of hidden needs a tool like this is designed to address. A hospital visit can be an overwhelming experience for someone whose communication needs, sensory sensitivities or anxiety responses are not understood by the staff treating them.

We would love to see this kind of approach adopted consistently across Scotland's health services. If it is already happening somewhere near you, we would genuinely like to hear about it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8ky4ygk9po

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