(UK) NI: Housing Executive staff to take part in autism training

Mar 29, 2023, N. Ireland, Coleraine Chronicle: Autism training for Northern Ireland Housing Executive staff https://www.colerainechronicle.co.uk/news/2023/03/29/news/autism-training-for-northern-ireland-housing-executive-staff-41916/

Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) staff are to take part in a series of training sessions to increase their understanding of autism.

The initiative, arranged by NIHE and jointly delivered by the Department of Health and the Cedar Foundation, will assist NIHE staff in supporting their customers and tenants.

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

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.”

Judith Finlay (DoH), Maureen Mawhinney (NIHE), Tara Kelly (NIHE), and David McLaughlin (Cedar Foundation) at the launch of the autism training programme.