Extra training for our staff with Autism Unlimited

We recently enlisted Dorset charity Autism Unlimited to train our customer service team in Understanding Autism - and we hope to roll out the training across the company.

We contacted Autism Unlimited as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the experience of all our customers.

Sara Davenport, our Customer Service Manager explained: “We want all our staff to have a better understanding of autistic people. We began the Autism Unlimited training with our customer service team and speaking personally it completely opened my eyes to some of the challenges autistic people face on a daily basis.”

She continued: “Through the training’s thought-provoking video interviews with autistic people, our customer advisers were able to learn more about what autism is and how the autistic community experience the world.

“In terms of the way we can improve our service to autistic people we learned about the importance of giving succinct information on our services, journeys and timescales, about being as specific as possible and also of following up with customers.

“Following the training staff members said the course was very well put together.

“It was an extremely positive experience and we now hope to roll-out the training across the wider company.”

Click here to see how Sara got on!

Claire Causley, Training Manager at Autism Unlimited, said: “Autism is a neuro developmental condition which means an autistic person’s brain works differently.

“For example, an autistic person may find it difficult to communicate or interact with unfamiliar people in public areas which can be too loud, busy or new to them, So, ‘everyday’ things for a neuro-typical person, such as buying a bus pass, or making a travel inquiry at a bus station, can be a potentially very stressful and even something an autistic person may avoid altogether.

“Our training is bespoke and tailored, sharing real, lived experiences relevant to the industry. We find this adaptive approach is thought-provoking and embeds the learning quicker.

“It is great that Morebus has started this journey to becoming autism inclusive.

“Everyone has a right to work, meet friends and enjoy life, and travel is a vital part of this. In seeking out our specialist training, inclusive companies like Morebus will hear directly from autistic people how they can make the improvements needed to ensure they are included.” 

Other organisations which have already enlisted Autism Unlimited’s Understanding Autism training include the local NHS, Gallaghers Insurance and Lighthouse Poole.

The charity has also launched four other courses which have been designed and built in conjunction with its autistic community: Recruiting Autistic Talent, Workplace adjustments, Signalong Foundation and Signalong Essential Vocabulary.

For more details, visit the website https://www.autism-unlimited.org/support/training/