Ms Barbara Ringwood:

Yes, those meetings are to support the company with any questions it might have. Often there is a lot of fear around understanding what either intellectual disability or intellectual disability and autism are, what that could mean, how the company should work with the person and what it can do. Often the company does not know how to pitch the post to the person or at what level the person might come in. That is why we have developed the skills profile as something that joins a CV in respect of skill sets and abilities. It is focused on the students' strengths and the way they can come in and then how and at what level the tasks can be pitched to support the person. Often there is an understanding of something, but doing it and the practicalities of it can be a challenge. The skills profile supports the company with that and takes away the fear as to where to start. We always ensure we tell the company that this is just a baseline and this is where the person is coming in the door. The students will demonstrate to the companies what they are able to do themselves after a period in learning. Each person learns at his or her own pace. That is part of what we do. Then the company meets the person. The student comes in and talks about himself or herself and why he or she wants a job at the company etc.