It seems simple but it’s not really is it? Aiden was shown that the right people will listen to you, think about what you’ve said and support you to achieve and do more.
Aiden attends college three days a week and some days are hard. College can be full of students who don’t understand, who can be friendly but easily misunderstood and who want to talk to their friends as they learn. Aiden struggled with this and we still have difficult moments, but with the support of the team Aiden overcomes every obstacle.
One of the biggest barriers to fulfilling a course on catering was Aiden’s aversion to touching raw meat, especially chicken. For months, it was a flat ‘no’ about touching chicken. The team worked on this step by step by using skills such as creativity, responsiveness and reflection. At first Aiden was encouraged to work with pork and beef and become comfortable with this. Next was fish which through a lot of discussion he managed. Soon the day of working with raw chicken was approaching. The team and Aiden reflected on the task at hand, why this was necessary and what it meant for the future. This helped Aiden to understand he had to accomplish this step to move forward. Aiden agreed to touch the chicken if he wore latex gloves and had a member of the team next to him. With a lot of advance notice and the plan in place, Aiden managed to work with the chicken!
We are all incredibly proud of Aiden. He has continued working with chicken and progressed to working with a whole chicken.
Aiden has always been so willing to listen and learn; he is incredibly friendly, polite and a joy to work with. It’s the right support resulting in Great Interactions that means… Aiden will be a baker one day.
Emily Hartley-Heaven
Community Learning Facilitator
No Limits, Wiltshire