I had been told that Jake can be quiet with new people, but can talk for hours about his favourite topics, “Skylanders” and animals. I had briefly met Jake one Friday so that I could get to know him but during this interaction he had been very quiet and reserved. The following Friday I shadowed another Community Learning Facilitator (CLF) with Jake, paying particular attention to how Jake responded to her. I noticed how he became more animated and excited when talking about these topics. That day I went with Jake and the CLF to the cinema so there wasn’t as much opportunity as I would have liked to get to know him better.
Over the next couple of months I worked with Jake on some Fridays, where he got to choose an activity to do in the afternoon, planning it himself with support from CLFs. Generally he chose to go to the cinema, which didn’t allow much communication between us. When asked, he would engage in some communication with me about the film, what he thought, why he chose it etc, but continued to be quite quiet with me, always answering in short sentences.
A couple of weeks ago I was informed that Jake was planning a free choice activity to an adventure park with a farm and it fell on a Friday that I was supporting with him. When I picked Jake up in the morning he was his usual quiet self as we went about his morning timetable, completing some English and Maths work, which he does very well. After completing the work we confirmed plans for the afternoon, and I started to see a different side to him... he became chatty and engaged, initiating conversations rather than just answering my questions. While on the way to the adventure park he spoke about the animals he had seen on the park’s website and which ones he was particularly looking forward to seeing. This was a completely different Jake!
When we got there I could see the excitement in Jake’s face. He quickly ate his lunch and was asking where we could go first. Throughout our visit Jake continued to initiate conversation with me, talking about the different animals, what he knew about them, and even going off on different topics which I’d never heard him talk about before! I was able to really find out about other things Jake was interested in throughout the afternoon and saw how relaxed he was the whole time.
This trip to the farm showed me how important it can be to think about where support takes place and the impact this can have on a person, their learning and the interactions we have. I know now that Jake benefits greatly from being in a place where he can feel comfortable and at ease, which in turns impacts on my ability to practice my facilitation skills and ensure Jake gets the best out of the day.
I really look forward to my next trip with Jake!
Christine Trim
Community Learning Facilitator
No Limits Berkshire