A Dundee-based care provider is the only service in Scotland to reach the final stages of a prestigious industry competition.
Gowrie Care’s Student Support Service, which supports people with autism and other disabilities to attend college and university in Dundee and Perth, has been shortlisted for a 2015 Autism Professional Award in the Autism Accreditation Excellence Award category.
Caroline Brown, Student Support Project Manager said: “I am so proud of the team and how we work with our students with autism.
“We are the only service from Scotland to be shortlisted in the category and to make the final 4 from a large number of other excellent services is quite overwhelming.”
The service faces stiff competition from the other services in the category. Also in the running are a community support service based in Liverpool, and schools in London and Yorkshire.
Gowrie Care’s service is classed as ‘outstanding’ by the Care Inspectorate for their work with students.
Iqbal Mohammed has been supported by the service through his college education into university, where he is about to complete his third year in Scots Law at Dundee University.
He said: “I need support because I have Asperger’s Syndrome and sometimes being in a lecture theatre with between 70 to 130 other students can be very intimidating. It can make me feel submerged, which makes me want to draw into myself.
“Gowrie Care has supported me to manage this feeling so it doesn’t get in the way of my studies.”
Caroline said: “Iqbal is just one example of the many success stories we have at the Student Support Service. We currently support 74 students all of whom are pursuing learning opportunities that they might not have been if it wasn’t for this service.”
It is estimated that over 695,000 people in the UK may have autism however there is no register or exact count kept. For people with autism, college and university can present challenges not facing your average student.
Caroline said: “Around half of our students are on the autism spectrum and many of them can struggle in big groups such as lectures or tutorials, this is where the Student Support Service can help by providing a support network that facilitates positive learning.”
The winner will be announced at a prestigious awards dinner held on Tuesday March 3 at The Royal Hall in Harrogate.