Menu
The IMAGE Project
  • Project Overview
  • Our Resources
  • Feedback
  • Publications
  • Contact Us
Improving Employability of Autistic Graduates in Europe
The IMAGE Project

IMAGE Conference: Reducing the employment gap for autistic graduates

Posted on 15/10/202102/03/2022

The IMAGE project concludes at the end of 2021 and to celebrate and share the project outcomes, we hosted a free virtual conference in Amsterdam, attracting more than 160 registrations.

The conference brought together professionals and autistic people wanting to reduce the employability gap faced by autistic university graduates. The programme featured talks by autistic and non-autistic speakers from across Europe. Following each talk, the presenter took part in a live questions&answers discussion. You can watch the videos below.

Dr Marc Fabri, IMAGE project lead, gave a preview of the tools and resource created by the IMAGE team, which will be freely available from January 2022 (see further below for details).

The conference was organised and run via Zoom by the IMAGE project team at Free University Amsterdam, led by Dr Mitzi Waltz.

A note on language and subtitles

The conference speakers come from a range of cultures and backgrounds, and for the majority English is not their native language. All speakers are either autistic themselves or highly respectful to autistic people, yet the choice of words to express this differs in each culture. Please consider this when listening to the talks.

All talks are available with subtitles in English, Finnish, Dutch, German and French. These were translated automatically and then checked manually. Sometimes the subtitle wording was changed slightly to bring the meaning of a statement across, rather than a word-for-word translation.

Conference programme and video recordings

All times are Central European Time (Amsterdam timezone)

SESSION 1:Chaired by Dr Mitzi Waltz, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
11:00-11:30Dr Marc Fabri, IMAGE Project Lead
Welcome to the conference and introduction to the IMAGE project and outcomes
11:30-12:00Fabyenne Borloz, France
A reverse mentoring scheme and the Aspie-Friendly project
 
12:00-12:30Kate Dean, Engage, UK
The transition of autistic graduates into employment
 
10 minute break
SESSION 2:Chaired by Prof Timo Lorenz, Medical School Berlin
12:40-13:10Keren Coney, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
What should be done to ensure autistic graduates succeed in the workplace?
 
13:10-13:40Dr Beatriz Lopez, University of Portsmouth, UK
Development of profiling tools to support autistic students in HE and employment
 
20 minute break
SESSION 3:Chaired by Prof Bertrand Monthubert, University of Toulouse
14:00-14:30Roy Houtkamp, Netherlands
The student support scheme at Fontys University of Applied Sciences
 
14:30-15:00Lars Backstrom, Auticon UK
No jobseeker is an island
 
10 minute break
SESSION 4:Chaired by Dr Henri Pesonen, Helsinki University
15:10-15:40Dirk Mueller-Remus, Germany
Economical Added Value through neurodivergent people
 
15:40-16:10Heta Pukki, Finland
Autistic people’s organizations and employment: Contributions to research and ethical perspectives
 
16:10-16:30Dr Marc Fabri
Closing remarks and event evaluation

IMAGE project outputs

We also presented the 4 Good Practice Guides we have created for Careeers Advisors, for Academics, for HE managers and policymakers and for Employers. From 2022, these guides will be available in 5 languages and with the option to personalise their content. The guides include examples of good practice, detailed case studies, tips for improving one’s professional practice, and links to further resources.

We have created training materials for careers advisors to learn about, and teach others, the best way to advise student on their career options and the process of applying for and securing a job. We provide tips that careers advisors can easily adopt.

Finally, we will launch an online toolkit for autistic students and graduates, to learn about the steps and challenges involved in choosing a career, selecting and applying for a job, and settling into the workplace. The toolkit includes “How to…” advice for various situations, case studies and first-person accounts from other graduates. It also includes tools for drafting emails and letters to employers.

Recent Posts

  • IMAGE Conference: Reducing the employment gap for autistic graduates
  • Free Webinar for Careers Advisors: Supporting autistic students during the transition into employment
  • What we learned from training careers advisors
  • Neurodivergence in Learning, Teaching and Assessement
  • Employment aspirations and experiences of autistic graduates in Finland

Archive

  • January 2022
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018

Categories

  • Event
  • News
  • Partner Introduction
©2025 The IMAGE Project | WordPress Theme by Superb WordPress Themes