I arrived early and had time to read as much information as I could about the people who lived at the house, not that my poor brain could retain much of it. Then I was on shift for the evening. I fell into my comfort zone and asked the other staff if they would mind if I cooked for the house whilst they supported the young people through their leisure activities. Fortunately for me the staff were only too pleased as they were not so keen on cooking.
I was alerted to the fact that one young person, “Charlie” (not his real name) was extremely wary of staff changes and would be anxious and may push, pinch or hit me if I came within his personal space. This made me quite anxious too. However the good thing was that Charlie was also very interested in food and that whilst I prepared and cooked dinner he would be happy.
As I began to chop and slice the vegetables I could feel Charlie’s intense gaze. I decided to put a chopping board and a knife on Charlie’s side of the counter along with the other half of the pepper I was slicing. Gradually and without any verbal communication between us Charlie approached the counter, picked up the knife and perfectly mirrored my actions, slicing the peppers and putting them into a pan. We worked together slowly and steadily, chopping and slicing all the vegetables I could find to incorporate into the vegetable curry I had planned. This lasted for what seemed like hours but was probably about half an hour. When we had finished Charlie went back to the dining table and sat and watched whilst I cooked and served the dinner.
There had been no incident, I had not placed any demands on Charlie but we had worked together doing something we both enjoyed. I was relieved and pleased that I had broken the ice with Charlie and that he had had the time to get to know me without any pressure on him to participate.
Lou Mitchelmore
Quality Coordinator
MacIntyre No Limits