It is #learningdisabilityweek2021 and the theme is art and creativity!

halow Buddies often have to think creatively and outside of the box when supporting young people 1:1. Together our young people and buddies come up with some individual and extremely innovative ideas.

One of our wonderful Buddies, Stefano recently supported Will and together they conquered Will’s anxiety of getting on the bus!“I had a 1:1 with Will a few weeks ago. We had a chat about his time at his mum’s house and how everything had changed since Covid-19. He had been away from his normal life and supported living house for 14 months.

Will can be quite anxious so I needed to calm and smooth things out with him. We talked about the rules making sure that he follows them, and he has peace of mind when we were out.

One of the things that were bothering him was to take the bus because He didn’t know how to do it anymore. Will was scared of everything from following the correct rules, knowing where to sit, how to pay or how to get into the bus. I explained everything to him, but still, he was scared.

I knew that the only way was to get on the bus, however, I also knew it was too soon for him. I brainstormed different ideas to help Will build his confidence and to show him that he could do it. I had the idea to recreate a bus in the garden, the seats were chairs and the recycling bin was the bus driver. We acted out every possible situation he could encounter when taking the bus.

When we finished, I didn’t expect him to take the bus for a few days after. But, he surprised me and told me that he wanted to do it minutes later. I asked him a few times if he was sure about it. He told me yes! So we went out and took the bus to town. I was so happy for him!"

Well done Will and Stefano

This is just one example of all the amazing work our halow Buddies do every day to help support our young people.