>> It's the first time that I actually felt like I was supposed to be there and do
something important. I've had a job before, I used to be a delivery driver
for a Red Rooster restaurant. Managers decided to let some of the staff go,
including myself. It was a bit heartbreaking at first.
>> We know in employment, the opportunities enables people to participate socially,
they meet people,
they gain income and they develop a whole set of skills. It also gives people status.
When you're employed, people recognise that and that's an important role
we have in our community.
>> Got this guy has been mentoring me for a while, his name is Bernie, he's very kind person,
he has many ideas that can help me out with my project. There's lots of different
things that I like about the guy but he's a very good person.
>> Declan was quite reserved, but he's a very nice guy.
And once you get through that kind of,
little wall that he has, you're okay. And you treat him with respect, he treats you
with just as much respect.
>> Ciarain Hoey, I'm an occupational therapist. My role, it's called positive
behaviour support, so created a supportive environment which promotes
positive functional behaviours. The biggest concerns that we had at the
start was just his social interaction. So very nervous, very shy, very reserved.
A couple of weeks ago he attended a social function at a restaurant by himself,
independently, which is huge.
Declan has some challenges with processing, so I sort of said to
Bernie, we'll work on this together. When you ask him a question or when
you're working on something, just give him five to ten seconds to process
something. We provided that opportunity of him to think and communicate. That was
a massive step, when I think we got that down pat, that's when we saw the growth.
>> Do something to help people, that's the sort of thing that I want to do in life.
>> By enabling people to actually develop the skills, hope that'll help
them gain the outcomes they're actually looking forward to. Ultimately, here it's
about paid employment.
>> Keep plugging ahead and see where you go and always be
positive about. Whatever it is.