06. Autism and Employment

Family, Whanau and Disability

Research: Rebecca Armstrong
Presenter: Val Ockenden
Produced by Louise Ratcliffe and FreeFM89.0
Guests: Catherine Trezona M.A. Psychology (1st Hons) National manager at Altogether Autism
Catherine joined Altogether Autism as a researcher in 2014, and moved into a managerial
role in 2015. She is one of the programme developers and lead facilitators for PRISM.
Catherine takes the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ seriously and highly values the
input of Altogether Autism’s consumer reference group. In 2016, Catherine worked with her
son Kieran, a software developer at Powershop, to offer a two-day employment skills
workshop for autistic talent, and from this small seed, the relationship between Altogether
Autism and Specialisterne Australia has developed. Catherine is determined to establish the
proven and successful Specialisterne programme into Aotearoa New Zealand and has the
backing of Life Unlimited charitable trust to achieve this.
Timothy Folkema
Timothy currently works at Progress to Health. He is a Community Support Facilitator,
specialising in advocacy, peer support and peer mentoring for autistic persons and general
support for anyone with a long-term disability. Timothy has been serving the people at
Progress to Health for near-on five years. Timothy is a passionate advocate for the Autistic
community and the Vision-Impaired/Blind community. He chairs the Hamilton speakeasy
Jazz Club, is a keyboard/piano player in a Funk-Hip-Hop band called Funk Therapy, a keen
collector, and is interested in Japanese culture. He is a graduate of Wintec, "A" student
Music Producer and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages (TESOL). Timothy has previous experience with supporting Taekwon-Do for
persons with disabilities under the International Taekwon-Do Federation (HQ Austria).
Programme Synopsis

• The difficulties faced by Autistic people looking for employment
• They way companies can benefit from employing Autistic people
• Specialisterne

Music
“Just Us” by The Mutes (from Mars)
“For The Funk” by Funk Therapy
Tune in to Parent to Parent's podcast Connect, Inform, Support
Connect, Inform, Support features interviews with professionals and specialists on disability-related topics, and is a source of information and resources for families and whānau caring for people with disabilities.
Discussion topics cover a range of subjects related to disability and special needs, such as inclusive education, supporting someone with special needs, and the challenges and triumphs of living with disability.
Links

• Altogether Autism
• Specialisterne
• Progress to Health
• Safesquares
• Parent to Parent New Zealand Inc
• Altogether Autism
• Care Matters or 0508 236 236 freephone service for carers
• Mana Whaikaha – MidCentral only