Then one day, out of the blue, Miles said "I want to learn how to dance". We assured him that he already knew how dance, but the following week our soon to be regular one hour dancing sessions began in the sensory room at the gym. This progressed to twice weekly sessions of limbs and laughter as we shook loose to his choice of music (think Gangnam Style) in a room filled with coloured light (usually blue, his favourite). After several weeks of some spectacular shape throwing from all three of us in the sensory room, Miles was ready to tackle the challenge of a two hour "danceathon" and raised at total of £85 for Comic Relief.
The last day of spring term ended with a visit to the cinema and just by chance it was the animated film "The Croods" which is about a man who overcomes his fear of trying new things! He grinned from ear to ear throughout the entire film and has since returned with his keyworker for his third visit to the cinema.
This summer term we have seen Miles as a mostly happy young man, free from the fear of trying new things. He exercises at the gym almost every weekday, is choosing and cooking new healthy foods, has visited the local college twice with a view to attending in September and he has succeeded in losing a stone in weight!
Little did we realise when we first met him that the freeing medium of dance, for Miles, was literally a milestone!
By Lucinda Woods and Natasha Garrod
Community Learning Facilitators - No Limits Berkshire – Reading.