Our team is made up of both autistic and non-autistic professionals all with a vested interest in improving the prospects of autistic adults seeking employment.
Helen Attwood (Autistic graduate and job coach)
Helen Attwood is a nonbinary autistic graduate.
Their diagnosis came when they were 21 and coincided with their undergraduate Linguistics degree at university, which brought together a fascination with interpersonal interaction and a deep desire to see a shift in the way autism is seen and spoken about.
Helen works full-time and does job coaching and employment trainer for Living Autism in their spare time. They contributed to the overall design, the development of the scripts, and provided the voice-over for all the videos.
Carl Cameron (Trainer and Peer Mentor Lead)
Carl is a Training and Peer Mentoring Lead at Matthew’s Hub, Hull. He is autistic and has worked in the field of autism for over 20 years both in this country and the Irish Republic.
Carl has an MA in Autism from Sheffield Hallam University and is a qualified teacher with over a decade of experience delivering of autism training across Yorkshire and the East of England. Prior to his arrival at Matthews Hub he mentored autistic students at the University of Hull.
Carl is one of the authors of the pioneering neurodivergent text ‘The Neurodiversity Reader’ and is deputy chair of the Hull Autism Partnership Board. Carl contributed to the overall design and the development of the scripts.
Keren Coney (Careers Consultant, Liverpool John Moore and Disability Taskforce AGCAS)
Keren Coney is a Careers and Employability Consultant at Liverpool John Moores University and former Co-Chair of the UK’s AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) Disability Task Group. In addition, Keren is currently studying for a PhD that seeks to explore what is required to empower autistic students to successfully progress to employment when they graduate, based at the Autism Centre for Education and Research at The University of Birmingham, UK. Keren regularly speaks on this topic at conferences, events and training sessions.
Keren contributed to the overall design and the development of the scripts / additional materials.
Edmund Lewis (Careers Consultant working at the London School of Economics and Political Science).
As part of Edmund’s role at the LSE, he provides 1-2-1 appointments for disabled students talking through everything from career options to workplace adjustments. He has over 13 years’ experience as a careers professional. During this time, he has supported autistic students as a mentor.
Edmund also works closely with the professional body AGCAS, as Chair of its Disability Task Group. He oversees the group’s output and manages the active blog, contributing posts on a range of disability-related topics. With his knowledge of recruitment processes, he recently produced a comprehensive resource for disabled students giving tips on how to navigate psychometric tests.
He has contributed to autism research and has collaborated with organisations and sector agencies motivated by his desire to get disability and autism more on the agenda. Edmund contributed to the overall design and the development of the scripts / additional materials.
Brett Heasman (Senior Lecturer, York St John University)
Dr Brett Heasman is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at York St John University. His background spans psychology, communication and language sciences and he holds a doctorate in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Brett’s research examines the creative social abilities of autistic people. In 2018 he was awarded the ESRC’s inaugural prize for Outstanding Future Career Promise for project to promote autistic voice. He is a trustee of Matthew’s Hub charity based in Hull, East Yorkshire.
Brett contributed to the overall design and the development of the scripts / additional materials, as well as the evaluation.
Jonathan Vincent (Senior Lecturer, York St John University)
Jonathan is a Senior Lecturer at York St John University in the School of Education, Language and Psychology. He teaches on a range of courses across the Education suite and leads the Doctor of Education (EdD) programme.
Following a career in schools, he completed his PhD at Lancaster University in 2017 with a focus on transitions from higher education for autistic students and graduates. Over the last decade he has worked collaboratively with autistic people to develop improved educational experiences, increased understanding, and better employment outcomes. He has published in a range of international journals and has spoken at various conferences around the world.
Jonathan received funding from The Churchill Fellowship in 2017 to complete a fellowship in the United States and Canada, where he gathered evidence of good transitional provision and practices for autistic graduates seeking employment. In 2020 he was awarded further funding from The Churchill Fellowship as part of the Covid-Action Fund to lead the development of the employability course for autistic students and graduates. You can find a link to the course on the homepage.
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The employability course was funded by the Churchill Fellowship. You can find out more information about the Trust or how to apply for funding yourself, see link here: www.churchillfellowship.org/