Autism awareness training for frontline GWR staff

[jimm]

Text is taken from First Group news item, linked to below

Train operator GWR has provided bespoke autism awareness training for front line staff, allowing them to be better prepared to help people living with the condition use public transport.

Looking to provide the best possible experience for all passengers, GWR has worked with autism charity Anna Kennedy Online to create a bespoke autism awareness training package to help its staff better meet the needs of those travelling with autism.

For those with the condition, some of the more commonly experienced issues are the presentation of anxiety and processing information as well as the need for structure and reassurance.

The video features Austin Hughes, who wrote the training programme and is autistic.

 

[DarloRich]

This seems to be a good idea. Well done GWR.

 

[cambsy]

The video was really good in explaining what’s it like for someone with Autism, I learnt new stuff, and Kudos to GWR for doing this training for its frontline staff, maybe if successful it could be rolled out by all TOC’s.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Great video - even if you're not a GWR guard!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

This is good news. My youngest half cousin is severely autistic and my uncle has to drive her everywhere. This could make train travel a whole lot easier for him, just a shame he lives completely miles and miles away from GWR’s territory.

 

[Master29]

Definitely a good thing. Hats off to GWR and here`s hoping other TOC`s will follow suit or may already have something like this in place.

 

[Bromley boy]

Definitely a good thing. Hats off to GWR and here`s hoping other TOC`s will follow suit or may already have something like this in place.

100% agreed. Good on GWR.

 

[plymothian]

This is part of a GWR programme of disability awareness, dementia has been a previous topic and there are more to be covered.

 

[Ianno87]

Wonderful news. My wonderful wife is on the autistic spectrum, and I'm still on the learning curve as to how those on the spectrum deal with what are 'ordinary' situations to the rest of the population.

Autism is a condition that many people *think* they understand when they in fact don't have a clue (I was probably one of those people before meeting my wife) - the key is spotting the signs and knowing how to react accordingly. Not something that is easy, and the more training/awareness, the better.

 

[Bromley boy]

Wonderful news. My wonderful wife is on the autistic spectrum, and I'm still on the learning curve as to how those on the spectrum deal with what are 'ordinary' situations to the rest of the population.

Autism is a condition that many people *think* they understand when they in fact don't have a clue (I was probably one of those people before meeting my wife) - the key is spotting the signs and knowing how to react accordingly. Not something that is easy, and the more training/awareness, the better.

It can be a baffling and complex condition at times. Also a diverse one in the sense that the autistic spectrum is so broad. It can be wonderfully enabling as well as disabling.

I suppose the key to it is that, to the sufferer (if that’s the right word), it is just they way they are. It just so happens that their version of “normal” isn’t aligned to the rest of the world’s normal!

 

[_toommm_]

It's incredibly hard to understand the autistic spectrum entirely. Whereas someone with Asbergers doesn't like physical contact at all (a great book on this is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time), my brother who is severely autistic and has severe learning difficulties, will come up and hug you every 10 minutes.

While this training as a whole to get the basics down, some things can't be applied to all strands of autism. Even though I've had 18 years of first hand contact with autism, i only understand one bit of the spectrum I.e. my brothers

 

[Chouette]

That's good news, I had a GWR guard snap defensively at me after I told her she'd already seen my ticket - she thought I was being rude, rather than just giving her a piece of information. It turned out she would have preferred me to wait for her to work it out herself. Due to my autism, my emotions don't show on my face, so people can perceive me as being aggressive or rude when that was the furthest thing from my mind. My worst nightmare is getting on the wrong side of an RPI, as I'm likely to fail the attitude test while doing absolutely nothing wrong. I do carry cards to explain, but those rely on people bothering to read them, and understanding them.

 

[muz379]

It's incredibly hard to understand the autistic spectrum entirely. Whereas someone with Asbergers doesn't like physical contact at all (a great book on this is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time), my brother who is severely autistic and has severe learning difficulties, will come up and hug you every 10 minutes.

While this training as a whole to get the basics down, some things can't be applied to all strands of autism. Even though I've had 18 years of first hand contact with autism, i only understand one bit of the spectrum I.e. my brothers

I would definitely agree with this but in reverse . I have a lifelong friend with Asperger's and whilst over the years I have learnt to understand and assist him in feeling more comfortable in social interactions ,other encounters with people at different places on the spectrum have highlighted perfectly what you have just said about the approach not being the same for all . Autism is such a broad disorder that whilst stuff like this is a pointer in the right direction for helping some autistic customers it is definitely not going to be helpful for all interactions with people on the spectrum .

The cynic inside of me also says that it probably wont make a great difference because the staff who already cared enough to endeavour to go the extra mile would already know how to deal with someone manifesting different characteristics of autism . The staff that dont care or dont endeavour to go the extra mile wont pay much attention and continue as they always have done .

 

[Bromley boy]

I do carry cards to explain, but those rely on people bothering to read them, and understanding them.

Doing this is a very good idea. I should have thought an RPI (if they're doing their job correctly) would certainly take the time to read and understand them.

 

[KashmireHawker]

Delighted GWR are undertaking this programme - as someone with a Mild Diagnosis in my younger years I was not good at being on stations. That maybe the opposite now, but I can still sometimes feel a bit nervous about stuff, so I hope this gets rolled out across all TOC's!

 

[r37]

That video really explains what having autism feels like, in a way that makes it much easier for others to understand. People often don't realise how much it can affect you, even when nobody else can see it! I especially worry about being questioned about my ticket by an RPI or a guard because I have a tendency to sound rude or aggressive, even when I'm trying my best not to, and the video puts it across very well. I'm glad GWR are doing this and I hope that other TOCs will follow suit.

 

[50031]

This is great! My lovely wife and 14 year old son have Aspergers. Certainly when my wife comes with me on rail trips, she needs lots of reassurance, especially when trains and platforms are crowded

 

[185143]

That video is a great watch-and mostly things I can personally relate to.

It's often the little things that surprise you most-the picky little details that I notice (a very useful thing when looking for Routeing loopholes!).

To give another example-if I get on a Stagecoach E400MMC, I have my favourite seat which I always sit in. I'm not really fussed if I don't get "my" seat-but if it's free (and 99% of the time it is), I'll sit in it.

If I board a First Volvo B9TL, my favourite seat is somewhere totally different! And on any other bus I couldn't care less as long as it's upstairs! (Unless it has tables fitted...)

It's really quite surprising how things can happen and play on your mind literally all day. That's certainly the unpleasant side of things, from my point of view at least.

I'm thankful that I'm fine when on public transport-although when things go wrong that could seriously bugger things up I do get a little anxious at times-be that a missed connection on advance tickets, or-as happened yesterday, missing my stop on Cityzap (which admittedly wasn't my fault-and the driver couldn't have been better about it, not that I knew that when hurtling down the M62 with a Greater Manchester weekly bus pass!)

People think they know the Autistic Spectrum, but in reality most people don't know it at all. A lot of things which I'd previously dismissed as 'that's just me so meh' suddenly made a lot of sense when I was diagnosed.

One thing I know other people find frustrating is the fact that because you don't 'look' disabled, you are assumed to be 'normal' (I HATE that word...). I'm not saying I want to be treated differently-but it would be useful at times.

I don't know wether this is just me-but I have no trouble remembering really trivial stuff (such as eating my first Toblerone bar on a Singapore Airlines flight age 6) yet day to day am quite forgetful-I managed to lose my tablet twice in 2 weeks in December! (You can't imagine the stress that caused...!)

If I can think of anything else to add, I'll be sure to come back and do it.

 

[whhistle]

Hmm.
I hate thinking like this but is this new training just because they've seen what happened on EMT?

 

[jimm]

Hmm.
I hate thinking like this but is this new training just because they've seen what happened on EMT?

Seriously? Does it look like this training is something cooked up in five minutes on the back of a few seconds of shaky mobile phone footage posted on Twitter last Thursday?

 

[whhistle]

I don't know as I haven't been on the course.
Maybe it was planned, but it's fairly easy to get an external company in to provide training...

 

[jimm]

The First Group press release make it clear this is a tailored course to meet GWR's specific requirements - ie not a five-minute rush job.

 

[antharro]

This is great news. I hope they train their RPIs as well though...

 

[jimm]

As well? Since when have RPIs not been frontline staff?

GWR has something like 5,000 staff, so about 70 percent of them are getting this training.

What would be even better is for the Welsh orange wallet scheme for autistic people to be extended to other parts of the UK.

http://www.asdinfowales.co.uk/orange-wallet/

 

[Master29]

Hmm.
I hate thinking like this but is this new training just because they've seen what happened on EMT?

I don`t think it was anything to do with the EMT gripe as this started well before this happened, although it certainly must be to avoid similar situations.