Part of the Government's Strategy to get more disabled people into employment is to develop a hidden impairment toolkit (for things like autism) and the task force to achieve that is HING - Hidden Impairment National Group.
The website for HING is one of those tantalising sites where you have to be a registered member to read about anything it says, and the categories don't include people with autism looking for work/in work. Surely we have a right to know what is being done for us?
But you do come across HING's inputs on other sites. One I've looked at recently is South west Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust's "Employment Matters Toolkit for Managers" March 2013.
HING provided them with definitions of hidden disabilities. Apart from mentioning the three headings under the Triad, the gist of HING's definition of autism is:
"Many people with ASD, especially those with Asperger syndrome appear very able yet face real difficulties getting to appointments on their own, coping with change in routines and performing well in interviews. People with ASD may also experience some form of sensory sensitivity or under-sensitivity for example sounds, touch, taste, smells, light or colour".
OK, nothing wrong with that, you might say, but is that all there is to it? Is this adequately explaining the difficulties people on the autistic spectrum face in the workplace. And is it helping us?
This is followed by a definition of Dyspraxia, also provided by HING. How does this differ from autism (yes I know they overlap but this stuff isn't in HING's autism definition):
"Coordination difficulties may affect everyday life style. Individuals may present difficulties in writing, typing, learning to drive a car, riding a bike and self care tasks. In addition individuals often may have difficulties with organising and planning skills".
If this is what HING is doing for us, I've sadly little faith in there being any productive outcome. Just another talking shop. The website's only big news is they have appointed a managing director.................