The modules were co-produced with a neurodivergent advisory panel and the team at Middletown Centre for Autism, Co Armagh, with significant input from service users with lived experience
Autism and neurodiversity awareness training is now available for all health workers in Northern Ireland.
All staff within the Health & Social Care system, including the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, will have access to regionally consistent, neuro-affirming training.
The training, which was commissioned by the Department of Health in collaboration with the HSC Leadership Centre, is available to HSC staff across all organisations that have access to the LearnHSCNI learning platform.
The modules were co-produced with a neurodivergent advisory panel and the team at Middletown Centre for Autism, Co Armagh, with significant input from service users with lived experience. Forty percent of the training is delivered by people with lived experience of using the Health and Social Care Service.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “I am delighted to say that this training is available to all staff across our Health and Social Care system with the key aim of ensuring that our services are more accessible and can help meet the needs of autistic and neurodivergent people. It has been designed to be relevant to all staff, including mental health professionals, in their working environment.
“Neurodivergent people work in, and use, HSC services on a daily basis. They should feel supported and have equal access when they do so. My Department commissioned the Middletown Centre to design and produce regionally consistent training modules that are research, practice and strengths-based, to enable all staff to better understand and support our neurodivergent community.
“I would encourage all HSC staff to complete this training to help improve the quality of care and services that we provide.”
The training is designed to improve HSC staff understanding and therefore service user experience by focusing on the following three areas:
- Autistic differences – insight into how autistic people experience the world and an opportunity to reflect on how an autistic person might experience a public service / environment;
- Providing supportive environments – insight into how the environment can impact on the autistic service user. There is also an analysis of the difficulties experienced by the autistic person across a series of likely environments and interfaces, with supports and materials provided to create more supportive spaces;
- Promoting a neuro-affirming culture – how to integrate neuro-affirming practices into a work environment, from the language used to the culture in the workplace both for service users and team members.
It is expected in particular that the training will be an element of induction for new staff in mental health services, to embed autism and neurodiversity-specific training across the mental health workforce.
Ema Cubitt, Northern Ireland’s Independent Autism Reviewer, said: “These high-quality modules are grounded in current research and shaped directly by autistic and neurodivergent HSC staff and people in Northern Ireland.
“This training programme signals a shared commitment to connection, understanding and empathy across our system. It is both personal and professional development, strengthening staff insight at work and everyday life.
“I would encourage as many staff as possible to undertake this valuable training. I hope that this is the first of many such training programmes across HSC and beyond.”
Stephen Douthart, Chief Executive of Middletown Centre for Autism, said: “This training shows what is possible when lived experience, clinical insight and system leadership come together with a shared purpose.
“Middletown’s role has been to translate the voices of autistic and neurodivergent people into practical tools that everyone working across Health and Social Care can use immediately. I am deeply grateful to the autistic and neurodivergent contributors whose honesty and expertise shaped this programme. I encourage colleagues to seek out this training.”
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