Autism and Employment 2021 Webinar

Amaze is holding a webinar to help autistic people looking for meaningful employment opportunities.

At this one-day webinar, our speakers will give participants valuable information and advice about finding and keeping a job.

At the webinar, participants will:

• hear about employment from the perspectives of two autistic people
• receive advice on career planning and employability skills
• understand what the hidden curriculum of employment is and how working from home has changed how we work
• find out about the rise of the gig economy and what it can be like working for yourself

This free online event is suitable for autistic people looking for work or wanting tips on getting and/or keeping a job. It is also suitable for people supporting autistic people through employment. 

Event details:

• Date: Thursday, 27 May 2021
• Location: Online via Zoom Webinar 
• Time: 9.30am – 3.30pm
• Cost: Free
• Tickets: https://amazeautism.eventbrite.com.au/

About the speakers 

Bernadette Gigiliotti, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for Career Education (ACCE)

Bernadette Gigliotti is a professional career development practitioner with over 25 years professional practice in careers counselling in state, catholic and independent schools. She is the proud mother of two adult daughters with disabilities, her youngest daughter is autistic and is working in open employment.

Bernadette will talk about: 
– Career planning 
– Employability skills 

Session time: 9.40am – 10.40am (60 minutes) 

Headspace 

Headspace will talk about their work and study programs available to support 15 – 25 year olds to plan a career, find employment or work towards further education. This support is provided in a highly accessible, confidential and youth-friendly environment. 

Session time: 11.10am – 11.30am (20 minutes) 

Clem Bastow, Screenwriter, University Tutor, and Award-Winning Cultural Critic 

Clem Bastow’s writing appears regularly in The Saturday Paper and The Guardian, and she has contributed to many books including ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May (Edinburgh University Press) and the forthcoming Investigating Stranger Things: Upside Down in the World of Mainstream Cult Entertainment (Palgrave Macmillan). Her memoir of growing up as an undiagnosed Autistic person, Late Bloomer (Hardie Grant Books) is out 7 July 2021. She co-presents the weekly show Superfluity on Triple R FM, and in 2017 she wrote and co-presented the ABC podcast Behind the Belt, a documentary about the world of professional wrestling. She teaches screenwriting at University of Melbourne, and is currently undertaking a PhD in action cinema, autism and screenwriting at RMIT. 

Clem will talk about: 
– Her lived experience of being autistic
– Navigating different employment environments including the gig economy 

Session time: 11.30am – 12.30pm (60 minutes) 

Malcolm Mayfield, Founder and Managing Director of Autism STAR Pty Ltd 

Malcolm Mayfield has worked as a researcher and contract administrator in the engineering and construction industries. Malcolm is also the author of The Hidden Curriculum of Getting and Keeping a Job: Navigating the Social Landscape of Employment. He founded Autism STAR after his own autism diagnosis, with the aim to share his strategies for success with other autistic people. 

Malcolm will talk about:
– What is the ‘hidden curriculum’? 
– Executive functioning 
– Has working from home changed how we work?

Session time: 1.30pm – 3.00pm (90 minutes)