Dylan has recently been supported by our Youth Hub programme. When he first started with our service he would not engage at the beginning, relying on mum during the sessions for his responses.
Chris, one of our Youth Hub Progression Mentors worked with Dylan to understand what he enjoyed the most. We learnt that he enjoys music and was learning to play the guitar. He also had an interest in archaeology and heritage sites. Chris showed interest in these areas and engaged in conversations about them; what castles had he visited, what he learnt about them, and told us about his guitar skills.
“We have seen so much development from Dylan since he started with Autism Plus”
We worked with Dylan to create a CV focussing on transferable skills due to lack of work experience. It was at this point Chris mentioned volunteering to increase his skills base and confidence. Dylan said this was something he would consider. Chris found out that St Luke’s Crookes or Hillsborough were the nearest to Dylan and contacted them.
Several correspondences later with St Luke’s, Dylan was called for an informal interview. The feedback was not encouraging. Leah (St Luke’s volunteer co-ordinator) said, “During the tour, it was observed that Dylan didn’t display significant interest in the shop environment, and Dylan relied on mum a lot for communication”
Chris, our Progression Mentor did not give up there and suggested a trial shift and that Chris would accompany Dylan to. This was agreed with St Lukes and on trial shift day, Dylan did the task well and efficiently, resulting in offer of induction. Dylan has been doing an hour’s shift per week for a couple of months now to slowly build his confidence and independance and we are now looking to doubling his time.
“Dylan has surprised us by the confidence he has gained. Before his placement started a few weeks ago, he would never get on the bus. He now catches the bus home by himself every week. We are so proud of him and can now see him having a positive future. He can now communicate by writing. I have never seen him do this before. Fantastic!”
