A Report from the young people of the group
Report on our meeting with Jayne Tilley of Careers Wales.
On 19/08/2011Laura, Tom and myself, representatives of the youth section of VDSG, had an interesting and useful meeting with Jayne to discuss some of the difficulties that young dyspraxic people may face when moving from school to work or further or higher education. Our views and experiences will be included in a leaflet to be prepared by Careers Wales for careers advisers to use with young people right across Wales WE also discussed the continuing difficulties faced by adult dyspraxics and the strategies they may use to overcome the effects of their dyspraxia.
We discussed how dyspraxic young people can develop skills which give them an advantage in the work place, for example
- good summarising skills developed to reduce the amount of writing required
- good problem solving skills due to the need to find a way to overcome obstacles
- empathy due to an awareness of what it is like to feel left out
Laura specifically advised on Key Stage 4 while I advised on Key Stage 5, Tom drew on his friend and his own experiences at university and post graduation.
We are reviewing the draft of the leaflet sent to us by Jayne and we welcome ideas of members of all ages, who may have other strategies, skills or obstacles to learning to mention This was a good example of working in partnership with an organisation that can really help dyspraxic young people to make their way in life. Our thanks to Jayne.
Feedback from our DVD Living with Dyspraxia/Byw gyda Dyspracsia
VDSG youth volunteers Charles, Ffion, Manon, Angharad and I have discussed this and I have now submitted a bi-lingual feedback form to the Vale Council who have agreed to send it out to all schools in September. I am currently working on a feedback form for other individuals and groups who have been shown the DVD.
Work Experience
I am currently doing research on opportunities for work experience for dyspraxic young people both via school and home. I have been lucky enough to have had four weeks of work experience over the past year and have enjoyed it all. Please let me know your thoughts. So far people have told me about their experiences in libraries, the Welsh Government, with political parties, trade unions, charities, in retail, at UHW, with local opticians, in local schools, local hairdressers, with local I.T. Service providers and with their family businesses.
Other News
Request from Contact a Family Wales
We have been asked to provide up to 10 tips or challenges managing the transition from primary to secondary school and from secondary to collage and beyond by Andrew Kirby, their Development Assistant. Andrew needs your ideas before the 5th of September 2011 please contact him on 0808 808 3555, Monday to Friday, 9:30-5 or directly using andrew.kirby@cafamily.org.uk. Thanks! Simon
Beechwood College Visit
Tom and I, representing the young people of the VDSG, visited the College on 27 July and were shown around the campus by Colin Howarth, who some of you may already know from our AGM, when Professor Kirby was our guest speaker. Beechwood College is a residential college for young people aged 16-25 on the autistic spectrum.
Tom and I learnt a lot from Colin as we were shown around the new buildings, the grounds and the student accommodation. We saw music and art rooms, outdoor classrooms, sensory rooms to chill out in, as well as cookery rooms and other life skill areas. We were pleased to have the chance to say hello to some of the students on our way round and we learnt that many have made excellent artwork on canvas and in ceramics, with paint, print, collage and fabric. They have also just put on an end of year Awards Ceremony which included a concert and a short play.
We learned that the students leave the campus regularly with staff to participate in a range of activities which include 10-pin bowling, swimming, cinema trips, trampolining, and shopping. We bought copies of the college newspaper in which students write articles describing their life at College as well as their home visits, their projects and their charity work (which is currently fundraising for Save the Children).
We could see that the focus is on education but the approach seems very flexible to allow for the individuality of each student. Tom and I liked the student rooms with their beanbag chairs, the study areas and lounges. I liked the views from some parts of the College of the sea, trees, fields and horses grazing. As well as creating a growing area for fruit and vegetables students will soon be planting out a sensory garden.
We would like to thank everyone at Beechwood for inviting us to visit and we will be reporting back to VDSG young people in the autumn, some of whom have aspects of autism themselves. We are grateful to Colin for showing us around and offering to speak at our next official meeting in September.
Simon (aged 16)
A day at the Dyscovery Centre
On the 28th July, Danielle and I attended a course on making the transition from school to further or higher education, devised by Professor Kirby at the Dyscovery Centre in Caerleon. Danielle was our speaker at our July meeting at the Civic Offices in July and it was great to meet up with her again.
The course provided us with some great ideas and strategies on organising our time, planning ahead, and building in extra time for activities. We made checklists, and considered how to prioritise. We thought about how to organise our coursework, for example by creating assignment templates, and using different coloured folders for each subject with detailed subject pages at the front. A very important point that I took from the day was the importance of getting the help of a friend or supervisor if I needed support with work assignments and not allowing things to snowball. I could also see the need to create a timetable for the week ahead. We had some interesting information on preparing for exams.
Other topics were money management, budgeting for meals, exploring the University campus viewing the student accommodation, more study skills, cooking skills (in which Danielle and I prepared and cooked our own lunch), journey planning, preparing a transitions assignment, finishing off with a quiz to reinforce learning.
From the icebreaker activities and the start to the end of day quiz we had a great time and would recommend this one day course to any other young people about to make the transition from school to further or higher education.
Simon (aged 16)