Digital Advantage Placements: Supporting Neurodiverse Talent
Screenshot from Reframing Digital Inclusion: Understanding Digital Volunteers, the video case study produced by DISC interns.
To build a digital future that benefits everybody, it’s crucial we embrace a diverse range of voices.
Last year Manchester City Council partnered with Digital Advantage, a charity that helps young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) start careers within the digital sector, to offer two placement internships on the Digital Strategy team.
Interns from DISC, a specialist college in Manchester that provides work-based learning opportunities for young people with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, were tasked with creating a video case study transforming a research paper into engaging and exciting content accessible to a wider audience.
The study, conducted by Manchester City Council in partnership with Open Data Manchester, explored the motivations of digital volunteers in choosing to give up their time to support digital inclusion programmes, and the support required from the council to empower volunteers to fulfil their role effectively and in a rewarding way. By better understanding the reasons behind volunteering, service providers would be empowered to build more successful, impactful, and sustainable volunteer programmes that offer longer-term aid to local communities.
Interns employed the technical and creative expertise gained through their learning at DISC to produce a video study bringing the research project to life, exploring the stories behind the research and the impact of the volunteers’ time and dedication on ordinary people’s lives. Interns interviewed members of the research team and volunteers on the programme to portray a wide range of experiences and connect data and statistics with human experience.
Providing opportunities to neurodiverse talent can help fill skill gaps, foster innovation and creativity, and increase diversity of perspectives within the workplace.
Visual media is a powerful tool to influence perspectives and inspire change. Interns’ work enabled our communication campaigns on digital inclusion to reach more people, and further spread the message on the critical importance of enabling everybody in Manchester to access the technology needed to wholly participate in modern society.
Throughout their placement, interns developed the industry knowledge and expertise vital to securing future employment in the digital sector, while applying their specialist skills to projects with meaningful, real-world outcomes. The benefit to our storytelling equalled the benefit to interns’ professional development, with the calibre and professionalism of the work produced invaluable to communicating research to the public in a way that was more compelling, impactful, and human-centric.
In working to build a more inclusive culture in the digital sector, we are leading by example. Internship placements support the professional development of neurodiverse youth, enabling skilled digital creatives to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions. For organisations and businesses, providing opportunities to neurodiverse talent can help fill skill gaps, foster innovation and creativity, and increase diversity of perspectives within the workplace.
By supporting the work of DISC and Digital Advantage in providing early career opportunities for young people with SEND, we want to pave the way in shaping a culture of inclusivity within Manchester’s wider digital ecosystem that enriches the industry with a multitude of talents and experiences.
Watch the Video Case Study
We believe that the digital sector is strengthened by a diverse array of perspectives and voices. Find out more about how we’re working to create a more inclusive and equitable employer culture in our city:
