Neurodiverse Work Experience – Build Your Own House

The project team have partnered with Think-Forward to offer online work experience sessions to neurodiverse students from various specialised schools. This tailor-made programme consisted of 8 sessions, one hour per week, with the last one being their final presentation of their project to the contractor. All the materials, language and interactions were taken into consideration for the needs of this group.

Each week a guest speaker presented about a different topic (engineering, planning, environmental, community, etc.) with lots of practical activities and break out sessions to keep them engaged. The final presentation was delivered on any format they would feel more comfortable with such as Lego, Minecraft, drawings and cuttings.

This activity promotes self confidence among young people to get them into the world of work or to pursue further education and work placements. They have noticed that the students have evolved and grown during their time on the programme. They became more secure of themselves, more open and more sociable. This programme opened their minds to a world of possibilities, if not in construction, in other areas of their lives. Some students have got jobs, work placements and are pursuing apprenticeships after finishing this programme.