Autism - costly medical condition

According to a research (June 2014) conducted by London School of Economics, “Autism is the most costly medical condition in the UK. It costs more than heart disease (£8bn), cancer (£12bn) and stroke (£5bn) combined. Autism costs the country at least £32 billion per year in treatment, lost earnings, care and support for children and adults with autism.” More information can be found here. 

Most people in this world like to lead meaningful lives. They want to be contributing members of society. People with autism are no exception. It is estimated that out of 350,000 people with autism of working age in the UK; only 15% are in full-time employment; 61% of those not employed are desperate to work and 79% of those on Incapacity Benefit want to work [Source: National Autistic Society]. There is no doubt that for people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) finding paid employment is a major challenge. This affects them mentally, physically and financially.

Our vision at Harry Specters is to enable young people with autism to become contributing members of society. Harry Specters will live this dream by creating employment opportunities and by partnering with other organisations working within the field of autism. After working with many young people with autism, we now know that they love making and packaging chocolates because the tasks are very structured. Our experience show that people with autism are loyal and like to contribute and what makes them really unique is their attention to detail. And since it is a spectrum, we discovered that some of them are very creative and others like a very structured approach. In general, we know that by creating an environment suitable for their working needs, we can help them become very productive workers.