Carole Jean:  What does accessibility mean to you?

Emily Elsworth:  Accessibility means finding ways to include more people in public spaces to open these spaces up to people that wouldn’t usually be able to go to them.

Carole Jean:  What is your big "why" for advocating accessibility in public spaces?

Emily Elsworth: Prior to doing the work I do now, I worked in a lot of public spaces and whilst I loved the work I did in those spaces, I saw just how many barriers there were for autistic people being able to access them. I don’t like the injustice of these spaces being there and not being accessible, so I wanted to change that.

Carole Jean:  What has been the biggest accessibility challenge you have faced in your own access to public spaces in the past?

Emily Elsworth: Not having any information available about the accessibility of sites for autistic visitors in advance and in some cases all the information relating to autistic children. In some cases the accessibility information is aimed at parents of autistic children – this excludes autistic adults that want the information for themselves.

Carole Jean:  What are your best tips or insights into creating more accessibility from the public spaces organization side?

Emily Elsworth: 

• Involve autistic people in the decision making process
• Provide training for all staff (not just some) on neurodiversity
• Don’t make assumptions about what might be accessible

Carole Jean:  What tips or best practices would you like to share to help aid other ND humans?

Emily Elsworth: Be flexible in your approaches and make sure to regularly review any adjustments you put in place.

Carole Jean:  What is the most important point you'd like to share around accessibility in Public Spaces?

Emily Elsworth: Whilst you might want to be – there is no way that you will ever be fully accessible to everyone but what you can do is put things in place to increase access for more people.

Join us LIVE on Tuesday, April 18th at 12 pm EST for our conversation on Accessibility in Public Spaces and Beyond

About the Amazing Emily Elsworth and Where to Connect

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to make a difference and make sure that the people can learn from my previous experiences in both education and employment.

I qualified as a Primary School teacher in 2015 and gained experience of working in many schools through placements. I took these skills and pursued work with museum education, working in two large national museums in West Yorkshire. I also worked within a Primary School supporting SEND children in areas of the curriculum where they needed extra support.

Whilst doing this job, I received my own Autism diagnosis at the age of 27. I realized that the narrative of what Autism is that I had been given at university and in employment didn't reflect my experiences at all.

This is where Emily: Autism and Me was born. I now run my own independent business offering Autism Training, Consultancy and Peer Support. Everything I do is delivered from the perspective of being autistic and every session is unique to the business.

Emily Elsworth

IG: https://www.instagram.com/emilyautism/ 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-elsworth-502a60212/