To support with the national rollout with health and social care providers Autism Together is able to offer Tier 1 and Tier 2 at a competitive commercial rate.
All staff who work in Health & Social Care must complete the eLearning package regardless of the role they work in. The eLearning session takes 60 minutes to complete. Providers can access the eLearning session at the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism – eLearning for health. This session can be accessed for free, and a certificate will be issued on completion. Part 1 of the Oliver McGowen training must be completed before part 2.
For those staff who do not provide direct care
Tier 1 is for staff who require a general awareness of the support autistic people or people with a learning disability may need.
Tier 1 is delivered as a one-hour webinar led by three trainers, including two experts (in learning disabilities and autism) along with a facilitator.
This webinar is completed by the workforce at Tier 1 level after they have completed the elearning package. It forms Part 2 of the Tier 1 training.
It is a structured interactive discussion, built on questions that the learners send to the trio before coming onto the webinar.
It follows the following format:
For those staff who do provide direct care
Tier 2 is for staff who may need to provide direct care and support for autistic people or people with a learning disability. Tier 2 is delivered as a 1-day face to face session by two experts (learning disability and autism) and a facilitator.
Provides learners with an understanding of autism, best practices in health and social care settings, and how this is supported by current legislation.
Autism Together has several trained experts with lived experience of autism and/or learning disabilities. Our first cohort of experts were drawn from people we support.
The course has allowed them to share their experiences of how autism and learning disabilities have affected their lives. To celebrate their success, in summer 2024 we held our first awards ceremony from our Experts by Experience. This event involved family members of our Experts too, and showed the value and expertise each individual brings to the delivery of the Oliver McGowan programme.
Our organisation has already begun the process of recruiting more cohorts of talented experts from our communities, to support the further roll-out of this training. The initiative also creates important employment opportunities for our Experts, who are paid for each session they deliver.
Our facilitator team have a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with and supporting people with autism and learning disabilities. Most started their career at Autism Together as support workers on the front line of providing exceptional care and support. We have a diverse skillset as a facilitating team and are able to provide a range of Oliver McGowan training sessions. Our Lead Tier Facilitators can facilitate the delivery of all Oliver McGowan Tier 1 and Tier 2, they can also train experts. All our facilitators are passionate and excited to support our experts and provide exceptional training to you and your workforce.
Interested in Oliver McGowan Training provided by us? Fill out the form and one of the team will be in touch.
“We decided to use Autism Together after speaking with multiple training providers. We found that many had various hidden costs and were also not accredited to be able to claim funding from the workplace development fund.
Arranging the training with Autism Together was very straight forward and they were able to offer a block booking over 12 weeks to ensure we could accommodate all staff. As a small company of only 27 employees, we decided to collaborate with two other local business so that we could manage staffing and share the cost. Despite this taking some organising, it worked really well.
Before the training, a lot of staff questioned why this was relevant for their role as we do not primarily support individuals with Autism or learning disabilities. However, the feedback after the training was that they found it really interesting and enjoyable and it has helped them understand neurodiversity a lot more. Even though we personally don’t support clients who have a diagnosis at present, they feel they are now able to use the knowledge gained to support individuals who do not have a diagnosis but display similar difficulties.
We would 100% recommend Autism Together for future training needs. The trainers are knowledgeable and have a relaxed approach to learning which staff appreciated as it didn’t feel intense with information overload like some training can. The Experts with Lived Experience were fantastic and you can see they truly enjoy delivering the training and sharing their experiences.”
"Although I work with people with learning disabilities every day and have experience in my personal life, this has still been really insightful."
"The training was very enjoyable and informative. It was great having a co-trainer included in the delivery."
"Extremely knowledgeable trainer and I enjoyed listening to the co-trainers experiences."
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is the Government's preferred and recommended training programme for health and social care staff. It aims to improve understanding, knowledge and skills when supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability. It was developed following the campaign led by Oliver McGowan's family to improve the quality and safety of care.
The training is designed for all health and social care staff. Different training pathways are available depending on whether staff provide direct care and support or work in non-direct care roles.
Autism Together is an approved provider of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training and has extensive experience supporting autistic people and individuals with learning disabilities. Training is co-produced and delivered alongside experts with lived experience.
The training is completed in two parts:
Part 1: E-Learning
Part 2: Interactive Training
Tier 1 is for staff who need a general awareness of autism and learning disability but do not provide direct care or support. It is delivered as an interactive webinar led by specialist trainers and experts by experience.
Tier 2 is for staff who provide direct care and support to autistic people or people with a learning disability. It includes more in-depth learning and is delivered through an interactive face-to-face training session.
The course covers:
Are you looking to increase your knowledge about autism, to help you offer better understanding and support for your children? Autism Together offer a 5-week course designed specifically to help families and carers of autistic children, cover communication and sensory neds, behaviours and more.
Do you want to learn more about your autism or know someone who does? Our Autism Workshops cover a range of topics that could help individuals understand their autism needs better, from employment, to sensory or communication needs, to relationships and feelings.
We offer full and half-day training courses to businesses, aimed at improving autism awareness and acceptance. This is done through easy-to-implement strategies which will help employers to better support autistic staff. The training also engenders improved inclusion and acceptance for autistic people within the wider community.
The Autism Together Model (or ATM) Training is a specialist, Bild ACT-accredited training framework created to provide an in-depth understanding of how a person's autism diagnosis and their environment can impact on the person's behaviour. The ATM combines a theory-based understnaind of the Together Approach and our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) philosophy.
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