Congratulations – you have successfully created and advertised a volunteer role and now you are looking at engaging and meeting with a potential volunteer.

You may not actually know a potential volunteer is autistic, nor are they obliged to disclose this. However, you are able to provide the opportunity for an autistic volunteer to disclose and discuss any preferences and adjustments.

This resource is intended to illustrate key areas throughout the engagement process with all volunteers that allow you to be forthcoming with inclusion.

Within this section, we have provided questions and examples aimed at demonstrating how a conversation around one’s disability can be facilitated when expressing interest in a volunteering role. This opens the channels of communication and creates a dialogue with autistic applicants to discuss any support required in a volunteering role (if additional support is required at all!).

Being forthcoming with these questions is a key part of the process as it opens the conversation for potential adjustments, the focus of upcoming resources in ‘Step 3: Onboarding, Supporting & Retaining’ The information in the section is structured according to two different stages of an initial engagement following an expression of interest: before and after.