Autism Peer Support Worker

NHS; City Of London; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A health service organization is seeking enthusiastic autistic peer support workers in London. Your primary role will be to provide support to autistic individuals facing mental health challenges, leveraging your lived experiences. You will also train staff and carers on effective support practices. Applicants should have completed or be willing to complete peer support training and have personal experience with autism and mental health services.

Qualifications

• Personal experience of autism and mental health difficulties.
• Willingness to share life experiences with service users.
• Commitment to ongoing learning and training.

Responsibilities

• Provide caring and non-judgemental support to autistic individuals.
• Train staff and carers to support autistic service users.
• Use recovery tools to assist service users effectively.

Skills

Compassion

Positive thinking

Self-motivation

Communication

Education

GCSE or equivalent

Peer Support Training

Job description

Job Overview: The Transforming Care in Autism (TCA) service was developed to meet the needs of autistic individuals at risk of admission to, or within, mainstream mental health services. An exciting new opportunity has arisen for autistic peer support workers to be part of a sensory Quality Improvement (QI) project aimed to support autistic people as part of the Transforming Care in Autism (TCA) team.

We are looking to recruit enthusiastic, compassionate, positive thinking and self-motivated individual(s) with lived experience of autism. This may include some lived experience of mental health problems and recovery. The primary role is to provide caring and non-judgemental support to autistic individuals experiencing mental health challenges. The role will also involve providing training to staff and carers to impart knowledge and skills to support autistic service users.

The successful candidate will have completed an accredited Peer Worker training course or be willing to complete training shortly after starting their role. They will be a member of a multidisciplinary team, working alongside autism-specialists and mental health professionals.

Main duties of the job

• To use lived experience to inspire hope that change is possible.
• To share lived experience safely and effectively.
• To work in a way that acknowledges the personal, social, cultural and spiritual strengths of the person.
• To use a number of agreed recovery tools that are person-centred in a flexible way to support the service users.
• To support the service users to understand the role of autism and mental health services and how they can support their treatment alongside other community resources.

Person Specification

Qualifications Essential

• Educated to GCSE or equivalent level/or evidence of competency specifically in English and Maths
• Lived Experience / Peer Support Training (or willing to complete)
• Commitment to obtain further underpinning knowledge through work based learning and mandatory training

Experience Essential

• Personal experience of autism and mental health difficulties and recovery
• Experience of using autism and mental health services
• Willing to positively share your own life experiences, with service users, carers, and colleagues
• Experience of working or volunteering with autistic people and mental health difficulties (paid or voluntary)

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.