Dov Richman, EmployAble’s Supported Employment Manager, was excited to attend Belonging Matters, the Jewish Neurodiversity Conference arranged by The United Synagogue, Norwood and Gesher School, and sponsored by The Seneca Trust with media partner The Jewish Chronicle.

Dov said: “The event brought together powerful conversations, thoughtful discussions and meaningful connections – giving a real sense of shared purpose around inclusion. It also made me realise how important the work is that EmployAble is doing.

“I heard parents and carers expressing real anxiety about the cliff edge that exists when their children with SEND reach the end of their education. EmployAble has been established to change that, addressing a critical societal failure: the 4.8% employment rate for adults with learning disabilities and the 30% employment rate for autistic people as opposed to the 82% rate for the general working age population.

“Over the past 18 months we have run a successful pilot and have placed 30 people in real jobs and now we are ready to scale. We have plans to facilitate hundreds of jobs for this cohort in the years ahead. So, we look forward to building on the conversations from the day to share our expertise and experience in this vital area.”