Autism: ‘You’ve got to give people a chance to work’

“With ADHD and autism, I’d always get the interview, but never get the job.”

For Cameron Clarke trying to find work after university was a familiar pattern; application, interview, rejection, repeat.

The 26-year-old spent more than a year searching unsuccessfully for employment after graduating – and he is not alone.

According to a recent review, external there are around 680,000 people of working age with an autism diagnosis in the UK, but just 30% of those are employed.

Report author Sir Robert Buckland said the lack of autistic people in work meant employers and the wider economy were “missing out on the skills and energy that autistic people could be contributing, to the detriment of us all”.

In North Yorkshire, one charity is aiming to change that.

York Community Furniture Store runs the IT ReUse Project – which refurbishes old phones and computers – and offers volunteering and job opportunities to the long-term unemployed or disadvantaged.

For Cameron, his time volunteering at the project has helped him land a job on the IT service desk at a major insurance company.

“I understand computers better than I normally understand people,” he says, before calling for more support to “give these people a chance”.