Research
The Economic Consequences of Autism in the UK (2010)
Autism has life-time consequences with a range of impacts on the health, economic wellbeing, social integration and quality of life of individuals with the disorder, and also on their families and potentially the rest of society. Many of those impacts can be expressed as economic costs.
The purpose of the research detailed in this report was to estimate the full costs of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the UK. You can read the document in full here...
User-Driven Social Enterprise: What does it mean in practice? (2010)
This piece of research was produced by Nigel Fenner after he was given a grant from Social Enterprise East of England (SEEE) to write a paper (representing his views alone) on user-driven social enterprise. This was based on his experiences of working with disabled people as well as referring to other examples of user-driven social enterprises identified through a literature review written by Margaret Martin. You can read the document in full here...
Disability, Skills and Employment: A review of recent statistics and literature on policy and initiatives (2010)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission recognises that many disabled people experience barriers in entering and succeeding in employment. The Centre for Research in Education,
Inclusion and Diversity (CREID) at the University of Edinburgh was asked to review all the current work in this area to help the Commission narrow the employment and skills gap between disabled and non-disabled people. You can read the document in full here...
The impact of Pathways to Work on work, earnings and self-reported health in the April 2006 expansion areas (2009)
Pathways to Work (or ‘Pathways’) aims to support people on incapacity benefits in finding work. This scheme began in some areas in 2003 and by 2008 was in operation throughout the UK. Pathways offer a range of financial and non-financial support to help people back into work and this report looks at how successful this has been. You can read the document in full here...
What works? Transition to employment for young people with learning disabilities (2008)
This piece of research found that young people with learning disabilities who wanted paid work when they left school or college still faced barriers in achieving this. There appears to be a lack of personal support to help people try out jobs while at school/college, and too few organisations that can help find people jobs when they leave. The report said that there is a need to provide help for young people with learning disabilities between leaving college and entering the world of work. You can read the document in full here...
An easy-read copy of the document is available here...
How is it going? A survey of what matters most to people with learning disabilities in Scotland today (2006)
This piece of research was carried out by SCLD. It found that mainstream employment is not yet the experience of most people with learning disabilities. Barriers to work include problems related to health or disability, not being able to find a suitable job and the benefits trap. In order to overcome these there is a need for more information and support to help people with learning disabilities get a job and keep it. More employers need to be made aware of what people with learning disabilities can offer and be encouraged to create suitable jobs. You can read the full document here...
"Go for it!": Supporting People with Learning Disabilities and/or Autistic Spectrum Disorders in Employment (2005)
This piece of research was funded by the Scottish Government to find out about the employment support available for people with learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in Scotland. It looked at people's experiences of paid and unpaid work and provided examples of good practice. You can read the full document here...