Here’s our story:
What do we think of when we hear the phrase “Great Interactions? A fulfilling moment with a student , a positive communication, a shared moment, someone with encouragement putting on their shoes for the first time, being able to spend time comfortably with others, even something as small as making eye contact with a staff member can be a breakthrough moment for the people we support.
Here at Wingrave a lot of staff feel that it’s often the small things that need to be celebrated by staff and students. We are aware that the big achievements must be celebrated too, but it’s the small steps in young people’s lives which will set them up for their journey into adulthood.
In House 6 , we know just one moment of sustained eye contact, followed by a smile, can be one of the most rewarding moments we have ever had in our job role. For a child with autism, eye contact can be a difficult task to achieve as can a lot of day to day interactions, but with trust building and patience these moments can happen.
In group 7 we have had a student who found spending time with others one of the most difficult challenges to overcome. We worked very hard to plan a whole day of activities and made sure the conditions were right for the young man to spend a day trip with his peers. That day, the young man was able to achieve this, 12 people (staff and
students) went to Wendover Woods, he had a wonderful time. The interaction we had with this young man during this great achievement was one of the most rewarding moments we have had at work.
We both decided within our work setting that it’s the small interactions that are sometimes forgotten, it’s the positive moments in our day that can sometimes be brushed over because of the more diverse challenges we are facing. We decided to make Great Interactions books for our students and staff team, a place where they can write down the positive interactions they have had and so we can celebrate them. We feel that these books have had a brilliant effect on our services as we now remember, recognise and show others all the fantastic work our teams do on a day to day basis and also the achievements both big and small that our students make.
Lexi Theobold, Senior Support Worker and Clint Dixon, Learning Support Assistant - Wingrave