At Skills for Care, we take the position that good quality training in either learning disabilities, autism or both should involve the following elements.
- Each employer must decide on the level of training needed for each member of staff according to their role and previous learning.
- The training should be structured to use the two Core Capabilities Frameworks which are in three tiers:
Tier 1: People who require a general understanding of autism and/or learning disability and the support autistic or learning disabled people may need.
Tier 2: People with responsibility for providing care and support for a person with a learning disability and/or an autistic person or people, but who could seek support from others for complex management or complex decision-making.
Tier 3: Health, social care and other professionals with a high degree of autonomy, able to provide care and support in complex situations and/or may also lead services for people who have a learning disability and/or autistic people.
- Training should include interactive learning where the learner can consider how to apply their learning in their specific role.
- The training should include input from people with lived experience, ideally by being delivered by people who are autistic and / or have a learning disability.
- The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism covers all of tier 1 of both frameworks and some carefully selected items from tier two – the ones that everyone needing tier 2 will need. It’s one way that an employer could meet or partly meet their staff’s training needs.