Start by using your teen's EHC plan annual review (from Year 9) to set a paid-work goal and ask about a supported internship: a funded one-year work placement with a job coach for 16-24s with an EHC plan in England.
Around three in ten working-age autistic people are in paid work, the lowest rate of any disability group (National Autistic Society, 2024). That gap is why a structured, funded route matters more than a stack of job applications. There are three levers, and they work in sequence.
First, set an employment goal at the annual review
If your teen has an EHC plan, every annual review from Year 9 must focus on preparing for adulthood, including the outcome of paid employment, and the plan should be updated with provision that moves them towards it (Children and Families Act 2014, section 44; SEND Code of Practice 2015, chapter 8). At the next review, ask the school or college and your council's post-16 SEND team directly: "Can we set paid employment as an outcome, and is a supported internship available locally?" A supported internship is a study programme where your teen spends most of their time with a real employer, backed by a trained job coach, aiming to end in a paid job (DfE guidance). It is the single strongest funded route for 16-24s, but it requires an EHC plan, so name the plan when you ask. A government pilot is testing the model for young people with SEND but no EHC plan; that is not yet the national rule.
Build work experience, with adjustments in mind
Whether or not your teen has a diagnosis or an EHC plan, real work experience now is what employers respond to: a Saturday job, a volunteer role, a college placement, a work trial. When they apply, an autistic applicant can ask for reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process itself, because employers must avoid putting a disabled candidate at a substantial disadvantage (Equality Act 2010, sections 20 and 39). Things worth asking for:
- Interview questions sent in advance.
- A quieter room, or a named contact on the day.
- A short work trial instead of a traditional interview.
Once a placement is lined up, apply for Access to Work
As soon as a paid job, apprenticeship, work trial, supported-internship placement or self-employment is in place, apply for an Access to Work grant. This is the lever most advice misses: Access to Work needs no EHC plan and no formal diagnosis, only a disability or health condition that affects work, so a teen without a plan is not shut out. The grant is open to anyone aged 16 or over and can pay for a job coach, special equipment or travel, and does not have to be repaid. Apply early: the scheme has a long backlog, so the placement start date is the time to get the claim in, not after problems appear.
Where the law comes from
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This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.