>> It's good to have a person along to guide me through, because I've never had
that before.
Coming here, smelling the wood, knowing that I have the freedom to do and create
anything I wish, it's really really really exciting.
My mentor Don, I like him a lot, he helps me out with my work, he helps me out with machinery.
>> Jimmy's a very affable character, very friendly. He's got very
artistic ideas. A lot of our materials are stuff that we've been given and it's
been used perhaps before. Jimmy sees a piece with holes in it, or something and he's like
"Oh that looks good, that could be blended in nicely." He sees it from an artistic point of view.
I've learnt to adapt to this, I think that's a pretty, kind of not a bad idea Jamie,
after, when you know think about it.
>> We call this person-centered practice, so recognising the client or the mentee as
the expert, playing to their strengths. Jamie's strengths are his creativity and
artistic side and he's been able to help his mentor Don, with the projects.
So when Jamie entered the Shed first, enthusiasm and motivation was never a
problem. The biggest thing was focus, concentration and developing his routine
of getting here on time. Catching the train and bus to the Shed. I can proudly
say now he's coming to the Shed on time, he notifies me or Don if he can't make it,
and because he's got that routine in place now, he's more focused and he's more aware.
This is a great place to develop foundational skills and
appropriate work-related behaviors.
>> When people finish school, I think for people
who don't have a disability, there are quite a lot of options available, through
further education, the opportunity to apprenticeships and even just probably
move into the mainstream employment market. That often isn't the case for
people of intellectual disability, who because of the nature of the disability,
may not have been afforded those opportunities. They don't often have a
skill set which employers would look at, they don't often have the opportunity to
go into further education, which for many young people is the pathway to an
employment option. So hence why there is a need to think about how do we develop
a skill set, that can range from technical skills through to social skills,
which would enable people to start entering the employment pathway.
Often people with disabilities might just need more support.
>> It's really really really exciting that I don't have to work by myself. It's a really
really really big burden lift off my shoulders and yes, I'm really really
really grateful for that.
>> If you provide a warm, calming space, the progress happens.