World Autism Awareness Week

[Music]

yeah so i

am currently studying a level three as a

part of my role

it’s pub it’s an apprenticeship course

so i have 20 of my working week doing

that

um i think that

doing it with the college is definitely

really good because

i started working here probably about

six months before i started the

apprenticeship so

i had the opportunity to kind of to get

to know the place and to get to know the

people

the most sort of helpful kind of

adaptation i’ve had doing that

it’s definitely been that i have sort of

flexibility around timings and around

assignments because

i can often sort of panic when it comes

to deadlines when it comes to

assignments

[Music]

um so the big one i would say is don’t

feel like you have to do everything you

sell

i know especially if you’re sort of

living alone or even with other people

you can kind of feel like

oh i’ve got to be an adult i’ve got to

be entirely independent

but if you’ve got family friends support

in that can help you don’t

feel like you can’t reach out and you

can’t ask for help

and i don’t

[Music]

so i was looking on indeed as you do and

i saw about

an open evening at the college for

potential esw’s

and yeah and i arranged to do some

shadowing to kind of have a bit of a

look

see what the role is like and i decided

that i liked it so

that’s kind of what how i ended up where

i am

and i’ve been here over a year now

[Music]

it’s a good sport i would definitely say

is person-centered that is

something i will talk about till the day

i die

um person-centered support and

care and ins and that’s not just an

education that is across the board

actually looking at a person as an

individual and understanding what

helps them and what works for them and

also listening

and not everyone is going to know

everything that works and how

everything doesn’t work for them

[Music]

i think the support that i’m getting

isn’t

necessarily like doesn’t it it feels

very focused around

me it feels like i can do well and

people believe in me to do well

which is really useful uh i think

my teacher in my business course

is really really helpful and she’s been

pushing me to do as best as i can

when i have been worried that i don’t

think i can do

as well as i can uh people believing in

me

it’s is just the most important thing

for me

knowing that people think i can achieve

what i want to achieve

whether that be going on a run today or

whether that be

getting a good grade in college

[Music]

i think my top tip would just be to not

view it as hot as

being an autistic learner or artistic

member of staff

doesn’t make you any less or any more

than anyone else

and whether that’s autistic or not i

think

that is the biggest thing finding the

support that you need

will help better your journey through

[Music]

college

[Music]

i think it’s very important to develop

good relationships it’s because you

then got somebody to

[Music]

support you if that’s not

made me the tutor or the

the support people not that i’m saying

i think that’s what people have had i

definitely wouldn’t be

okay but it’s nice to have somebody else

just support you as well and

people that are especially

in doing that kind thing it gives you

a good feeling the fact that you

you get on well with people as well

[Music]

well i think it’s important to

tailor the support to the actual person

that is being supported because

what may work for me may not work for

the next person and so on so so

it’s very important to look at each

person as an individual

and be able to ask them what they

need and

be happy to change it for them if they

you feel that

they need a bit more or

leave it less that sort of thing

also what i think is very

helpful as well as to make it

more of a case of that they

really choose what they

canon can’t do in terms of work or

in terms of what they thinking

on their aspiration type of things

[Music]

so hello everyone my name is

will simpson i’m 21 years old i’m

studying

uh ict at the university of south wales

and it’s going extremely well

so having an ehcp

uh feast that enabled me

to do it over three years because of the

funding the support

and i i think it’s because i was quite

determined to do well i’m that person

who will never give up

like if someone said with me five years

ago where where do you see yourself in

five years time i wouldn’t expect to be

saying i’m starting a room here in south

wales doing a degree

that’s fun it’s all about

making that big step and make sure

you’re ready to go out a bit

there’s that much independence to you

there’s cooking there’s doing food

shopping

there’s partying that i do a lot of

partying

i do i’m not dedicated to what i’m

studying

so just making sure you have the right

support

and the right course as well and the

right university the right location

where dick wherever it is in the world

[Music]

to manage good health how i manage it

because my daughters might go running

i top five to take breaks i’ve got a

structure to my day like

for example uh i’ve got a i’ve got a

weekly

planner that i look at on

yeah i i chose university as my next

step from derby college

because it would enhance my

opportunities to go to work

it would help my employment and also my

understanding of ict would be more into

depth and stuff i want to do

and it’s quite challenging from the

stuff

i’m glad i’m i’m glad i made to move

south wales because it

for a boss from the bottom of my heart

it’s the best decision i’ve ever made

in terms of health it’s not if you’re

not okay

it’s okay



3:12

NOW PLAYING

[Music]

i would definitely advise that you book

an appointment with a member of the

counselling team

and the inclusion support team because

talking about

the struggles that you face will likely

make you feel less stressed about the

situation

and you will feel better about yourself

because you know that you will

always have somebody to talk to who will

help you through the tough situations

that you will face in life

okay so for me personally when i was

younger i was a shy individual

that preferred to stay isolated from

others because at that time i wasn’t

comfortable being around my peers

being at college for a couple of years i

have realized it’s okay to talk to

people who are the same age as me

and i sometimes think to myself the

friends that you have at college

are likely to are likely to maintain

you are likely to maintain the

relationships in the future

i was shy when i was in the level 2

performing arts course

but this year i have made it my mission

to talk to as many people as i possibly

can do

always ask it your teacher and tutors if

you’re unsure about what is being asked

of you

being autistic does not define you you

can do

anything if you put your mind to it and

work hard

no matter what people say having autism

is a gift not a burden i would suggest

that you find an

out of class group you can be part of so

you can meet new people

and feel more confident when

communicating with your peers

in your class book an appointment with

the inclusion team if you feel

overwhelmed and require support with

your coursework and your personal issues

if you have any

also make them aware of your support and

access any

access arrangements for exams

can i just say that the teachers at

derby college will do anything for you

and will go above and beyond to make

sure that you reach your full purpose

and potential

as well as supporting you in making

decisions about the next steps

after college



19:35

NOW PLAYING

[Music]

so

since i’ve joined derby college i have

been using quite a lot like quite a lot

of buses so i travel on through

three um local buses so um

it’s it’s quite stressful but with

paying

talking to the driver and then getting

off at the right destination

it actually has quite helped me with

growing my confidence in the

in the like public you know surroundings

um so that that’s one skill that i’ve

learned

and then i’ve got my own tv i’ve got

references from jobs that i’ve done

um and obviously with the support of the

derby college staff

that has been possible

[Music]

so my next steps after this year are

going to be

trying to look for an apprenticeship in

um a hospital

so a hta assistant and

derby college have gave me loads and

loads and loads of advice

and they’ve also helped me looked back

been looking

online for um apprenticeships for next

year

[Music]

so we’re forming relationships at

college it has been quite difficult

because i struggle socially

but with again with support of the staff

and the inclusion team

they’ve encouraged me and pushed me kind

of out of our comfort zone

so

[Music]

i say well last year i started with a

very

crazy start let’s say and with

the network that i have it’s been able

to adapt to my needs

specifically and work for me

so with let’s say ehcp or a support plan

that you’ve got from your school

or your previous job that will

be the basis of the support that you

receive at derby college

and it will all be around you so that’s

really good person-centered support at

college



19:35

NOW PLAYING

[Music]

yes

yes derby college has made reasonable

adjustments when i received my diagnosis

for high functioning autism

my line manager and hr were

straight away the first thing they did

was have a meeting with me to

to see if there’s any way that they

could support me in the workplace

um so that i could work to my best

potential

and really one of the main things is

that i have

a trusted member of staff that i can

talk to if i’ve got anything

that i want to clarify with them you

know maybe with social situations

um but it’s it’s it’s happy to have a

trusted person to talk to

um knowing that they don’t tell me what

to do but they

they just allow me to sort of speak with

them and work through

uh and find my own solution um

so so yes derby college has made

some reasonable adjustments for me

[Music]

yes absolutely feel like part of the

team

and the great thing is that i i

definitely feel

a part of the team but we’re all all

members of staff including myself

are treated as individuals and we’re

valued for

our own individuality and our own skills

and strengths that we bring to the team

so i i definitely do feel part of the

team yes

[Music]

okay so so what i would say about that

is um

if you’re comfortable speaking about uh

your autism

uh is to do just that to to

to talk to either hr or your line

manager or if you’re a student

to to talk to your teachers or the

inclusion and support team

and if there are any barriers um

that we can work together to to remove

those barriers

i would definitely say to to feel

comfortable

talking to people about it



19:35

NOW PLAYING

[Music]

hello my name is matthew naylor and

welcome to my brief

talk i’m from derby college broomfield

next steps pathways to independent

living

and today i’m going to be speaking about

the support i have

to become independent

[Music]

so so my social worker she helped by

finding me somewhere to live like she

found me this place

and she’s looking to find find my next

place where i should live forever

[Music]

for positive support i’ve received for

travel training

independently are travel training

sessions

from home to my college broomfield

and also in the lockdown i did some zoom

travel training to do all the fairy side

of things

staff support me with shopping in derby

or long eaton but leave me to shop for

what i want

on my own however i can access the local

co-op in



14:19

NOW PLAYING