This talk was presented at the conference "Autism in the Family: Can Dogs Help" held in London on the 22nd June 2013. Ann Memmott is an adviser on autism. She helps companies and groups who would like to use the skills and talents of people who are on the autism spectrum. Ann is the author of the national guidelines for welcoming and including those on the autism spectrum for churches and access guidelines for the Royal Palaces, Houses of Parliament, English Heritage, crown Prosecution Service, the police and many other national organisations. She is also an advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism.

1. BY ANN MEMMOTT
Adviser to the Government All
Party Parliamentary Group for
Autism (“APPGA”)
and Adult on the Autism
Spectrum
DOGS AND AUTISM:
HOW TO GET DECISION-
MAKERS TO TAKE NOTICE

2. Adults with Autism:
Key Areas
• Employment – only
15% are in full time
work
• Shopping – few can
access a supermarket
• Travel – many find
trains, buses and
planes very
challenging to access

3. COSTS OF AUTISM
UNEMPLOYMENT
• Only 15 out of every 100 autistic adults are
in full time paid work: That’s over 250,000
autistic adults who would like to be
employed.
• Cost of keeping them unemployed = more
than £6 billion a year in lost income at an
average wage.

4. Average salary
£26,000 a year in the
UK
Cost of
providing an
assistance dog
= estimated
£1500 a year

5. Identifying people can
be very difficult.
Social situations often
don’t work well as a
result.
Social Situations and
Workspaces: Why a
calm companion helps

6. Autistic brain
thinking about social
language/body
language
Non-autistic brain
thinking about social
language/body
language
Why we get exhausted so quickly

7. Office Space.
How you may
see it.
How I
see/sense it

8. Social Pressures at Work
Intensely scary. How
do I join in with this
conversation? What
will encourage others
to talk with me?
Dogs are great
social enablers
and sources of
calm

9. Public Policy Debates:
• Get good research
evidence
• Show how savings can be
made
• Be utterly professional in
delivering what you say
you will.
• Work in collaboration with
professionals and charities
on Government
awareness, e.g. All Party
Parliamentary Group for
Autism