Patrick is 28 years old and has had a paid job at Hertfordshire PASS for over three and a half years. He has Asperger’s Syndrome, a learning disability which is a mild form of autism.

He is jointly responsible for running a Lottery-funded project called WorkABILITY. This is a user-driven employment preparation programme, run by and for young disabled people, providing apprenticeships, work experience, work tasters and a Summer Job Forum.

His main responsibility is apprenticeships, where they employ young people and mentors, who are placed with local organisations. The apprentices are given the opportunity to run projects within their placements, and also work towards and complete an NVQ Level 2.

He is passionate about his job and thoroughly enjoys it, it gives him the opportunity, as a disabled person and former apprentice, to enable others like me to overcome similar barriers to those that he broke down himself.