Themes:
1. Independence
“If he falls, he falls. If he gets his clothes dirty, he gets his clothes dirty. It's a learning thing. We have always said to J ‘never hold your self back from anything. If you can't do anything at that particular moment, never give up. You can try in a few days time!'”“Even talking to some kid's parents. Some parents do hold their children back if they have special needs and think 'they're not going to do this, they're not going to do that'. Just because, as I say, they have something the matter with them, don't put them into that wee bubble. Let them go out and explore. As hard as it is, even for us!”
“The first time J said to me 'I'm going to do independent travelling from school' I was like 'WHAT?!' You know he stopped me in the car, out of the blue, and must have seen the shock on my face. He was like 'I need to do that' and I said J, if that's what you need to do, I will be behind you." But, honestly, we were like 'ohmygod, ohmygod..'”
“It's not great going out on your own - even me going out on my own, it's not the best thing to be doing pal. People clock you, it's not great.”
“She's actually mentioned moving out, because of going for the job interview. We've said 'do you fancy getting your own wee flat?' and she's said 'I have to get a job first. Once I get my job, we can start looking for a flat'. That's really encouraging to know she wants to do something like that. She will need help to live independently but it's good to know she's planning.”
“He doesn't tell us if he's going to go and see you, he doesn't ask us. If he texts you or phones you, he just does it himself.”
2. Friendships
“It's really good for her to be socialising with other people. If she didn't have that support, she'd be sitting in the house all the time. She just loves going out.”“He'd do that now if he had a decent friend but there's nobody interested in going with him. He's asked a couple of boys but they don't want to go.”
“Because she doesn't have friends to socialise with she's going to a young women's group that meet on a Thursday night, which is really really good for her. A group of girls, they go and get their shopping, make their dinner and then they plan events for evenings out.”
“The long-term plan was that we were hoping there might be a couple of girls that connect and maybe, eventually... on a Friday, the door closes and they've not got any social activities during the weekends.”
3. The right support at the right time
“I think they're that statistic that think - you've got a disability, you have learning disabilities, this is the road you take! We go 'No, I don't want to take that road.' It's people like yourselves and us that help achieve that.”
“They made a class - there was you
and John and Malky and that - that was quite alright, but still no help. He
never came on any. They were there. He sat there, but J never learned a great
deal in either school that he was in. I didn't think he got a lot of help but
since he left and came to college he's come on a great deal.”
“He went to Mearns Street Centre,
with a girl called Mavis. She was amazing. It was her that said, he was very
young then, I would try and get him diagnosed so he doesn't get lost in the
system. Mavis helped him with loads of wee books and talking to him 1:1,
showing him how to do up his coat at 5 years of age, things like that. But she
left and the whole system fell back to square one, to try and get someone else
who understood these children. There were a lot of them there. All lovely kids.”
4.
Having ordinary choices
“A bit wary, unsure. The one thing I
have a weakness in is making a choice but I choose to because I have nothing
planned anyway. I want to give it a shot, well, I gave it a shot. I came this
far in getting the job so I may as well go for it.”
“I'd like to meet somebody and have a family.”
“Well the future for me is as bright
as that sun that's in my eyes! You see, the future I am looking at, hopefully,
I can do what everyone else is doing. Have a job. Have a life. That's what I
want and hope that I learn more as go along through life and I'd just like to
share it.”
5.
Fears for the future
“We're not going to be here forever, so what's his future going
to be like when we're not here?”
Interview
1
·
J is an 18 year old young man who has
a learning disability and has just left our schools service.
·
W is his dad.
·
D is his mum.
·
C is an ENABLE Scotland Employment
Coordinator.
C: Tell us about
your life experiences.
J: I have cerebral
palsy and my balance is bad. When I was younger, I felt the classes I took
meant I wasn't learning stuff. As I've got older I've managed to retain things,
since I went to (school).
D: He grew up when
he went to (school). Even though it was a special needs school, they wanted him
to do things for himself. His classroom assistant, who was lovely in (another
school), did too much for him. She wouldn't let him do things. Even if J did
want to do things, she would come home and say 'this boy doesn't want to do this and that' and we would have to
say 'let him do it'.
If he falls, he falls. If he
gets his clothes dirty, he gets his clothes dirty. It's a learning thing. We
have always said to J ‘never hold your
self back from anything. If you can't do anything at that particular moment,
never give up. You can try in a few days time!' Now he's a bit older, a bit
wiser, his mobility is a bit better. He can do the things he couldn't do when
he was younger.
W: And always tell
him never to be afraid to ask. The worst you can get is no!
C: When we first
came to the school to start working with you and get you ready for leaving
school. All the other young people at (school) were only focussed on doing the
Steplink course - but you didn't want to. Although you had barriers to face in
primary school and even in (school), you and your mum and dad, didn't let go of
the dream of you pursuing what you wanted to do.
W: No he
definitely didn't want to do that.
D: We've always
said to teachers, 'he has a voice, he has
an opinion'. If he doesn't agree with something and doesn't get anywhere,
he comes to us and we will speak for him if they're not speaking for him. I
think they're that statistic that think - you've got a disability, you have learning disabilities, this is the
road you take! We go 'No, I don't want to
take that road.' It's people like yourselves and us that help achieve that.
C: You've proven a
lot of people wrong as well. There were a few people thinking 'should you be
doing this?'
D: It's surprised
us a bit as well, how well he has done on this course.
W: I tell him he
has really, really surprised us aye. There's no pressure on him to pass either,
what he has done up until now has been amazing.
C: What services do
you currently use?
J: Sometimes I use
the bus if I need to go somewhere. I need to go with my dad or someone will
come and get me. Most of the time I've got the car and my dad will pick me up.
C: You're working
just now, so maybe soon you're dad won't need to support you to get the bus? I
know it's a difficult journey from here but that's something you can work
towards but there's no rush.
W: I'm quite sure
he could do it now no bother. He could get a bus from here into town and up the
top of the Port nae bother.
J: So if you could
do that now, do you think it's a bit like 'oh my dad will be there..' I think
if I knew my dad was there I'd probably get him to pick me up instead!
C: What service do
you get from us now you've left school? Is it different?
J: It's a bit
different now. If I have any problems or I want to try anything I come to you.
C: I suppose now
you are deciding when you want to come up. Before, you didn't have a choice, I
would come to the school on the days I was supposed to. Now it's more natural
and grown up - would you agree? That's the way it should be. It's the relationship
we want to have, one that suits you. You're a busy guy!
W: He doesn't tell
us if he's going to go and see you, he doesn't ask us. If he texts you or
phones you, he just does it himself.
D: He just says 'I went to see C today'
C: Well that's a
change then. I would say, although we still support you, you're making all
these decisions yourself now. You're also working at the Trust, so you get the
service where if say your wages aren't right, we will go and make sure your
wages are done properly. You are an
employee now, as well as getting support for college applications. Do you
prefer a service were you can pick and choose when you want it?
J: Yes, I can go
into town and come and see you.
C: What services
do you think you'll need in the future? Will you need ENABLE Scotland to
support you for as long as needed?
J: Probably. There
will probably always something I will need support with.
D: Whether it's a
job application or an interest.
W: I think it's a
good thing to have ENABLE there. He likes to come up and things and you know a
lot more than we do about college for example. He can come and bounce ideas off
of you.
C: We're hoping
your job will develop and when you leave college, what kind of service do you
think you'll need?
J: Job interviews
and job applications.
D: Hopefully
because he's volunteering at a school right now. I've said to him 'even after
college if you don't have a job, or have a wee part-time job somewhere
else...still volunteer your services at the school, keep that going. As soon as
there's availability, even in another school, you could get an interview.'
W: The thing is
for J, if you want to work with kids with special needs, he'll know what it's
like to be a kid with special needs. When they're maybe struggling, he'll be able
to talk to them and say 'I was there. I was you when I was a youngster' and
help them.
C: You'll be a
really good role model for those young people.
W: That would help
him swing a job a wee bit more
D: Even talking to
some kid's parents. Some parents do hold their children back if they have
special needs and think 'they're not
going to do this, they're not going to do that'. Just because, as I say,
they have something the matter with them, don't put them into that wee bubble.
Let them go out and explore. As hard as it is, even for us! The first time J
said to me 'I'm going to do independent travelling from school' I was like 'WHAT?!' You know he stopped me in the
car, out of the blue, and must have seen the shock on my face. He was like 'I
need to do that' and I said J, if that's what you need to do, I will be behind
you." But, honestly, we were like 'ohmygod,
ohmygod..' Now he's older and he is getting more independent and want to be
whatever and wants to start socialising and getting friends, instead of going
out at the weekend with his mum and dad. I mean, he'll never get a girlfriend
and we'll never get rid of him!
C: Do you like
going out with your mum and dad?
D: He loves going
out with mum and dad, but as I said to him, he'll not get bird under the age of
60 going out with us!
C: Thinking about
your future, what would your life look like in an ideal world? What are your
dreams?
J: I like working
with kids as a classroom assistant. I'd like to have kids as well and I'd like
to get a girlfriend.
C: In that order
mum!
W: Try and get a
job first. Plenty of time for women later on son. Plenty of time for lassies
when you're older!
C: Anything else?
A place of your own perhaps?
J: I'd like to
meet somebody and have a family.
W: Stay fit and
healthy?
D: Yeah he looks
after himself but sometimes we have to say to him 'take a step back, you're doing too much!' He likes to go swimming
or bowls but Saturday is time for the three of us to do what we like to do. Car
boot sales, going to the pictures, antiques fairs, chilling out. I say 'I don't
care what's on Saturday, you're not going to it'.
W: If he had a
good friend, he could go by himself.
C: Is that a dream
for the future? Relying less on mum and dad?
W: He'd do that
now if he had a decent friend but there's nobody interested in going with him.
He's asked a couple of boys but they don't want to go.
D: Like your
friend Andrew, he's gone to some things with you and you did say 'would you like to go out at night time?'.
He's like 'I'll ask my mum' and never
got back to us. So you don't know what the family situation is and he's away
done at Inverkip.
W: I would drop
him home or he could have stayed over...
C: Well I know Andrew
travels independently and goes to places like Edinburgh on his own.
D: We see him in
town. He goes to our local and it's my uncle that owns the pub and he says he's
known in there by the bar staff. I don't want him going out on his own; I want
him to go out with a friend.
W: It's not great going
out on your own - even me going out on my own, it's not the best thing to be
doing pal. People clock you, it's not great.
C: What kind of
services do you think you'll need to get your own place, to get a family?
J: Probably yourself
and my mum and dad will probably help me.
D: Doing your
washing! Coming to us for your tea!
W: You can always
come to us for advice J, and he does come to us when he has problems.
C: Do you think an
organisation like ENABLE would still be supporting you, but in different ways?
It might be tailored - because you might not want us as much or might not have
the time if you're working - but a lot you might handle yourself.
W: I think still
knowing you were there if he needed you.
D: Because if we
can't answer anything, who do we turn to? We even talk to you as well if we
have concerns.
C: Is there
anything else you'd like to add about your own future? This is a European
project looking at what services are needed in the future, because the future
is always uncertain.
D: Especially for
someone who's got special needs and maybe don't have a lot of support from the
family. Years ago there wasn't anything out there. You were put in a care home
and you were forgotten all about. There's thing out there now for J where if he
needs help, it's there. If he needs guidance, it's there, which is great.
Especially as J is growing up, we wonder what his future is going to be like.
We're not going to be here forever, so what's his future going to be like when
we're not here. He's just glad he'll have a roof over his head!
W: I think he will
be fine. I actually forget he has special needs because we don't treat him...
the word normal is not what I mean... he's just our boy. We don't look at him
like he has something wrong with him, he's just J.
Interview 2
·
E is a 22yr old young lady who has a
learning disability who uses our social work service.
·
P is her mum.
·
L is an ENABLE Scotland Employment
Coordinator.
L: Tell us about
your life experiences.
P: Some of the
problems that E has faced is being involved in bullying and some bad
situations. We had help with the community learning disability team to help her
recognise dangers, and how to protect herself and get away from it. That helped
a lot. She met them once a week for an hour and they took her through the
programme, making sure she understood it. First of all they came to the house,
then she went to Cathcart Street to meet with them there.
Because she doesn't have friends to socialise with she's going to a
young women's group that meet on a Thursday night, which is really really good
for her. A group of girls, they go and get their shopping, make their dinner
and then they plan events for evenings out.
L: What kind of
events do you plan?
E: Cinema.
Bowling. Staying in the flat, making dinner or watching TV just talking to each
other.
L: Socialising,
getting to know people and friends then. Do you enjoy that?
E: Yes
P: So you go out
for lunch with friends in bars. They have parties as well, it's made a big
difference. There's also the summer programme. E is busy with Guides and
activities at night time, but during the summer when college is not on, it's
more structured during
the daytime.
L: What do you do
with the summer programme?
E: Sometimes we
go bowling. We listen to music.
P: The ladies
group was organised through the social worker, Laura. She said this programme
came up when she was under adult protection, that they were trying it out, and
it looked promising so they increased the group.
L: Is it fair to
say that these programmes all came about after the incident?
P: Yes, apart
from the summer group. That was just something for E to socialise and see if
she can make friends. The long-term plan was that we were hoping there might be
a couple of girls that connect and maybe, eventually... on a Friday, the door
closes and they've not got any social activities during the weekends.
L: So they could
build on that themselves?
P: Aye, it's not
happened yet but she's thoroughly enjoying the Thursday night - which has been
great for her.
L: What other
services have you been involved in E?
P: Well, ENABLE
are supporting her to get jobs and she is working in the Trust on a Tuesday
morning.
E: We make pens
and put them into the wee shop in town.
L: The Dutch
Gablehouse? So your products are being sold for profit!
P: Sold all over.
Her dad took some into work and a few of the guys from Poland, or have family
in India, and they've been putting in orders for gifts for friends.
L: So what other
things have you been supported with?
P: Work
experience. What was your first one Erin? New Look and then at the Fitzgerald
Centre.
L: You're a very
busy young lady.
P: It's really
good for her to be socialising with other people. If she didn't have that
support, she'd be sitting in the house all the time. She just loves going out.
L: What services
would you expect for the future:
P: Initially,
travel. Getting used to travelling and the routes. Any changes, she'll probably
need that to get comfortable with it. Then the support would be about getting
her to settle in. Once she's settled in, she's fine. She just needs that
initial reassurance that she is doing well and to make sure she's comfortable.
L: What kind of
future do you want E?
P: She's actually
mentioned moving out, because of going for the job interview. We've said 'do
you fancy getting your own wee flat?' and she's said 'I have to get a job
first. Once I get my job, we can start looking for a flat'. That's really
encouraging to know she wants
to do something like that. She will need help to live independently but
it's good to know she's planning. It's excellent that she understands a job
comes first.
L: What do see
your future like E? Quite independent, working maybe with some support?
E: Yes
P: She definitely
can do it! Pass your driving test as well!
Interview 3
·
J is a 23yr old young man who has autism
and has just left our college service.
·
H is his mum.
·
L is an ENABLE Scotland Employment Coordinator.
H: We knew there
was something wrong, both his dad and I, that there was something wrong with
James. Trying to get someone to believe us was terrible. Basically no help out
there for anyone. It was really hard because we knew they were making up excuses...he
was lazy, he was this and he was that...we knew that he wasn't.
They didn't diagnose J with
autism until he was 13 years old. We got a social worker who basically wanted
to separate him from everybody. Before that, we went to school and him and
another young lad seemed to be separated from the rest of the school, which
didn't help any. We both had to fight to get him into mainstream school because
they said there's no place for them in the mainstream school. We eventually got
him there and he came on a bit with the help of other children, just speaking
to them. It was hard, very hard.
L: What help did
you get from the social worker once J was diagnosed?
H: Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
L: Were there any
other services you got to access?
H: We asked how
we go about getting into wee clubs or interacting with other children, because
we knew one of the biggest things was communication, but they never got back to
us with anything. We used to take him places ourselves but they never really
got anywhere - and then the social worker stopped being his social worker when
he went to secondary school. Again, we had to fight to get him into a mainstream secondary school because there
weren't really any facilities there. They made a class - there was you and John
and Malky and that - that was quite alright, but still no help. He never came
on any. They were there. He sat there but J never learned a great deal in
either school that he was in. I didn't think he got a lot of help but since he
left and came to college he's come on a great deal.
L: What kind of
help did you get at college J?
J: In college,
all I had is help with my friend Tony. He was the first person I met. He was a
good guy helping me out with a few bits. We liked chatting a lot about a lot of
things, like games.
L: Did you make
more friends in college that helped you communicate better?
J: Aye
L: What about the
college courses, did they help you?
J: It was
difficult. I did ask for help here and there but I knew I had to learn it on my
own. I tried my best to use my head and I did manage but I did ask for help in
the end.
L: Did J get any
help from other services for his communications skills?
H: He went to
Mearns Street Centre, with a girl called Mavis. She was amazing. It was her that
said, he was very young then, I would try and get him diagnosed so he doesn't
get lost in the system. Mavis helped him with loads of wee books and talking to
him 1:1, showing him how to do up his coat at 5 years of age, things like that.
But she left and the whole system fell back to square one, to try and get someone
else who understood these children. There were a lot of them there. All lovely
kids.
L: What services
do you receive at the minute J?
J: Today? Well I
get help off of you Leeann. You helped me get a job up at a Golf Course. I
always liked to do gardening, I did say that the first time, and I got the job
that you got me too. I met Paul, Frank, Tony, Don, Sam and Greg. I met them and
I got used to knowing them and talking to them. Like how I would get use to
knowing and talking to you and everyone else, and to my mum. The more I talk to
them, the more I understand and want to talk to them.
L: At the minute
you are accessing ENABLE's employment service with myself, at college. You
decided you wanted to move on and try a work placement.
J: At first I
wasn't too sure. I'll be honest, I wasn't too sure. All I though was here, and
discussions with my mum and dad and Lisa kept asking about what do you think
about me going to a new college, what do I want now? That's not what mum and
dad said. Everyone at college said 'you must do what you have to do, you need
to move on'.
L: So the new
college is because you're doing your modern apprenticeship now. Where's your
new college?
J: My new college
is in Bridgeton in Glasgow.
L: How did you
feel about going there when Paul from the golf club suggested it to you?
J: A bit wary,
unsure. The one thing I have a weakness in is making a choice but I choose to
because I have nothing planned anyway. I want to give it a shot, well, I gave
it a shot. I came this far in getting the job so I may as well go for it.
L: What services
do you think you'll get in the future?
J: Well hopefully
you L will help to guide me and help me understand about my job. Hopefully mum
to support me making my decisions right. I can't think of anything else.
L: You're
travelling every Tuesday into Glasgow, that's a big step for you.
J: It is.
L: When you have
a wee think about your future. What does the future look like for you?
J: Well the future
for me is as bright as that sun that's in my eyes! You see, the future I am
looking at, hopefully, I can do what everyone else is doing. Have a job. Have a
life. That's what I want and hope that I learn more as go along through life
and I'd just like to share it.
L: Are there any
services that you know J didn't get, that you think would help in the future?
H: I think if
people understand their needs, that they understand they are different and if
people understand that they need to have the time to give them 1:1. It's hard
to describe but this is a big thing, autism, with children and it's a shame
because it's not recognised so
much. It is now but then it
wasn't.
If it wasn't for yourself,
not giving up on J, helping us to show them the way...I don't know where we'd
be. We were stuck. We had come to a standstill at 22 years old. What do we do?
Where can we take him? We can go for walks, tell him about nature and trees
because he's interested in the garden side of things, because he loves it. But
without your help he wouldn't be doing what he's doing so we're grateful for
that - because he loves it.
