Workshops to champion inclusivity

AUTISM advocate and consultant Bryce Pace will be in Ballarat next month to discuss autism, neurodiversity and how people can make their business and city more autism-friendly.

There will be a variety of sessions centred around tourism, employment and the community held across Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 July at Ballarat Library.

“I’m doing a total of six workshops and they are focused on three different industries,” said Mr Pace.

“The main goal of these workshops is to provide the participants with resources and tips to assist in making these areas more accessible for autistic individuals.”

Mr Pace was diagnosed with autism when he was eight years old and founded his business in 2016 with the aim of changing the stigma around autism.

“I actually kind of joke a lot about this that I accidentally got into this line of work,” he said. “When I was in year 11 at a high school in regional Victoria I was hearing a lot of my peers use autism as a derogatory term.

“One day it got to the point where I got sick of hearing this negativity about autism.”

After posting on Facebook expressing his frustration, Mr Pace decided this is something he could turn into a career.

Mr Pace said it is particularly important employers think about making the job application and onboarding process more inclusive to people with autism.

“Those of us on the spectrum actually have one of the highest unemployment rates in Australia and it’s actually three times higher than the disability unemployment rate,” he said.

“Businesses have a lot of unconscious bias around disability in general but when it comes to autism, they usually assume we can’t do the jobs we can do.

“It’s about thinking outside the box when it comes to employment and not being in the mindset that you have to do stuff.”

Each session costs $50 and can be booked at brycepaceautismadvocate.com.