Transition from university into employment is a huge step towards the next phase in students’ life. Many graduates make the transition with ease but for some it can be challenging. Minja Lahdelma examined the support structures of this transition phase from autistic graduate’s perspective in her master thesis. Previous research shows that the number of…
Author: Minja Lahdelma
Day 7: Case Studies
All good things must come to an end. Last but not least we want to take a look at case studies that we have gathered during our research. Over the last few months, researchers at IMAGE have been conducting interviews with students, graduates, university support groups, job coaches and more, to find examples of good…
Day 6: Training material for career advisors
Our project aims to give professionals the tools they need to succeed in supporting autistic students and graduates. Today we want to share a glimpse of our training material for career advisors. How the training material came to be As we interviewed students and graduates for the IMAGE Project, it soon became clear that some…
Day 5: Employability Toolkit for autistic students and graduates
Today is World Autism Day and we’re celebrating it with a sneak preview of the IMAGE Employability Toolkit, one of the key outputs from our project. What is the toolkit? The Employability Toolkit is an online resource that helps autistic students and graduates better understand their career goals, develop employability skills and advocate effectively for…
Day 4: Higher education managers as promoters for inclusion
We start April by introducing our last but not least Good Practice Guide. It’s designed for higher education managers to help them make their institution more inclusive. Introduction to Good Practice Guide for Higher Education Managers More and more higher education managers (i.e. people with a responsibility in the university organisation whether they be deans,…
Day 3: Autism-friendly careers advice – small changes, big impact
During Autism Awareness Week we want to give you a sample of the materials produced in the IMAGE project. Our third Good Practice Guide is designed for careers advisors. It gives you a basic background in autism and lots of tips and techniques to support autistic career-starters. Employment of autistic graduates Autistic students and graduates—like…
Day 2: Three things you can do today if you want to employ autistic employees
In the course of the Autism Awareness Week, we want to give you a sneak peek of Good Practice Guide for Employers. It is designed for employers who want to employ and include autistic workers in their organization and gain some insight and awareness of autism. Introduction to Good Practice Guide for Employers There are…
Day 1: Academics at the heart of employment support
This week we are giving you a sneak peek into our research-based materials that are designed to support autistic graduates to gain employment. We begin the week by introducing our Good Practice Guide for Academics. Introduction to Good Practice Guide for Academics This Good Practices Guide has been written especially for academics, by academics with…
World Autism Awareness Week is coming! – Are you ready?
In the IMAGE project we aim to support autistic university students to gain employment after graduation. Our focus has been on creating support material for skills development, self-advocacy and also gathering good support practice among universities and employers. During World Autism Awareness Week (29 March – 4 April) we want to give you a first…
Meet Daniela Del Carlo Gonçalves, Masters Student in Amsterdam
My name is Daniela, and I am currently pursuing my Global Health Masters degree in the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Among the reasons for which I decided to join the IMAGE project, I would highlight my great interest in scientific research in the context of Mental Health and interventions for diverse populations. This theme is in…
Meet Monserrat Vásquez, a junior researcher and lecturer from Amsterdam
My name is Monserrat Vásquez or Mona, and I’m a junior researcher and lecturer at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Together with Mitzi, Daniela and Elena, we are working on the training material for career advisors. I am very happy to have joined this team and to contribute, share knowledge and raise awareness for more inclusive work…
Brief overview of IMAGE project’s autumn 2019
It’s a new year and our Co-creation workshops are at full swing in all our partner countries. We are gathering information for our 3 intellectual outputs. But what has happened before that? Let’s have a look at the last six months of 2019. Partner Meeting in Helsinki In June we had our second Transnational Partner…
Meet Minja, our new research assisstant!
The IMAGE project has a new research assisstant in Helsinki. Meet Minja Lahdelma, who has been helping us with the data collected in the project! ”Hey! I’m undergraduate student majoring in Special Education at the University of Helsinki and I’m working as a research assistant for IMAGE Project. Like Juuso, I have a background in…