NIHE Staff To Be Given Autism Training

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has announced a new initiative of staff training to increase their understanding of autism, to help them better support customers and tenants.

The specialised training programme is being launched to coincide with Autism Acceptance Week, which runs until 2 April.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Autism is a spectrum condition which affects people in different ways.

"Some may experience difficulty processing sensory information, others may experience challenges in communication and social engagement.

"We welcome the proactive approach that NIHE is taking to enable staff to be more informed about the challenges that autistic people experience.

"We hope that this increased knowledge will provide greater support and confidence for autistic people as they engage with services."

The training sessions will be held over the coming months, starting in April, involving approximately 600 NIHE staff.

Maureen Mawhinney, NIHE Disability Steering Group lead, explained the importance of providing autism awareness training for staff.

"We are committed to ensuring that there is a welcoming, supportive and inclusive environment for all our customers and tenants.

"This training will help to increase our staff's awareness and skills so that they can support autistic people to access services, employment, independent living and enjoy a life with the opportunities to live as active citizens.

"It will assist us in developing strategies and techniques to engage fully with autistic customers and staff.

"We hope that our staff will have increased confidence in engaging with these customer groups and understand how they can assist autistic customers to access services and retain employment and tenancies.

"The training will help us to be better at what we do and deliver a better service."