Journey Skills Podcast

In this episode with Mel Simmonds from Hidden Gem Services, we dive into the world of job coaching, outlining the importance of support, understanding, and adaptability in creating successful employment options for young people with additional needs. Mel discusses the challenges faced, including inconsistencies in job roles and management as well as the positives that come from the cultural shifts that can occur within organizations. https://www.hiddengemservices.co.uk/  

In this episode, I share my journey of navigating parental fears and learning to trust my daughter's abilities. Despite her successful year in her job, my unspoken concerns about her future surfaced, impacting her more than I realized. This episode reflects on how difficult it is not to let our fears limit our children’s potential. I also talk about the importance of giving my daughter the dignity of risk, respecting her independence, and planning for a future where she can thrive, even when I’m not around.  

Every journey starts somewhere, and for most of us, it starts at home with those closest to us, encouraging us, and believing in us. In this week’s episode with Laura Davis from BASE we discuss the important role families play in shaping the future outcomes of children. We discuss the challenges of navigating the support available and the role of school in better preparing young people for work. We also talk about the enormous impact that specialized job coaches can have and how employment enhances life expectancy. https://www.base-uk.org

Collaboration can speed up change, but it requires coordination and management to make that happen. This week’s guest Laura Davis, Chief Executive of the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) knows all about this. In this episode, she not only shares her personal journey but also discusses the pivotal role BASE plays in championing employment opportunities for everyone. She also talks about the role of BASE in developing best practice standards around supported employment to enable their members to better serve the people they work with. Laura also discusses the need for a systemic change, driven by collaboration between employers, government, and supported employment services to create meaningful employment opportunities and foster inclusive workplaces. https://www.base-uk.org/home  

Having more opportunities for paid work for young people with additional needs relies on finding more employers to offer those opportunities. In this episode Andrea Randall-Smith from Little Gate explains the strategies they use to manage the relationships with the employers they work with to ensure more of these opportunities become available.  She discusses the value of storytelling and working with other local organisations so that the focus is on what employers need as well as what their future employees need and how the support they provide to employers can help them transform their employment practices. https://www.littlegate.org.uk/

When opportunities aren’t available, sometimes we need to create them. That is part of the reason that Little Gate came about. In this episode Andrea Randall-Smith, CEO of Little Gate, shares the history and ethos of the organization and how they work to change the future of the young people they serve by giving them to skills to move into paid work. We also discuss the importance of getting feedback, sharing best practice, and working with other organizations to maximize the opportunities for everyone. https://www.littlegate.org.uk/

In this episode, I’m talking about the importance of structured planning for children with additional needs and having short, medium and long-term plans for various aspects of their life around daily living, purpose, relationships, and finance. This ensures not only continuous progress but is also better preparation for their futures. A good plan has clear targets actionable steps, and a realistic timeline. I talk about each of these and how to use the Red Giraffe Route map and the VOCAL method (Vision, Options, Create, Assess, Legacy) to put together a plan that not only supports their future but give you piece of mind as well. I also share personal examples to illustrate how we have supported our daughter to plan her future and develop her own life plan. Find our more about the Red Giraffe Route Map & VOCAL Method 

We all want good neighbors but of course what makes a good neighbor differs for everyone. In this second part of a conversation with Ann Wilkinson from WeBUILT we talk about how they have built a neighborhood where people look out for each other when they need to. Ann explains how the focus on choice, predictability and autonomy has helped to reduce challenging behaviors. She also discusses how the WEBUILT community fosters empathy and support among members which in turn transforms lives and, in many cases, helps rebuild family relationships. Plus, we also discuss how other families can build their own communities using the WeBUILT model for ideas and inspiration.  https://www.webuilt.info/

When we live in a place that we like everything else is made just that bit easier. But sometimes finding that place can seem an impossible task. In this episode I’m sharing one family’s journey to find that place for their son. My guest is Ann Wilkinson from WeBUILT who shares her story from exploring various options and realizing these didn't fit his needs to creating WeBUILT. She shares how they built a collaborative community where people have ownership and control over their living arrangements. WeBUILT stands for We Build Unique Independent Lives Together which is exactly what they have done. https://www.webuilt.info/

 Self-employment is viable option, but it becomes even more so when there is clear evidence of how well it can work. In this episode Sam Everard, founder and CEO of Samee Charity shares some examples of where young people with additional needs have created great businesses based not only on their skills but also on their passions and often, because of their lived experience, an understanding of what others need. Sam also talks the benefits of self-employment in offering flexibility and control, which is not always possible with traditional employment roles. https://samee.co.uk/

One way into paid employment is to work for yourself and that’s the focus of this episode with Sam Everard, founder and CEO of Samee Charity. She discusses the organization's mission to support young people with additional needs into becoming self-employed. Sam also discusses the barriers, how to address these, and what supporting someone into self-employment involves.   https://samee.co.uk/

In this solo episode, I discuss what independence really means for young people like my daughter. Is it just about having the skills to do more for herself or are there other things that she should have the opportunities to consider? I discuss this using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory as a way to structure my thoughts on whether or not it's enough to just focus on those daily living skills and relationships for our young people or whether there are more things to consider when it comes to supporting our young people to be truly independent in the way that they choose to live their lives.  

Learning new things, having new experiences and giving back to our community build self-confidence and self-esteem. However, to often people with additional needs aren’t given the opportunity to do any of these things. In this second part of my conversation with Lex Ali, from Big Life Adventure, we talk about the value in lifelong learning and the idea that everyone should have the opportunity to give back to their communities and to society. We talk about how the Big Life Adventure project will help support this continuous learning and enable people to connect with others. https://peak15support.co.uk/bl-adventure

 For most people one of the great things about becoming an adult is getting to make their own life choices, dreaming about what they want to do, and making decisions about how their life will look now and in the future. But for many people with additional needs these opportunities aren’t easily available. In this episode my guest Lex Ali from Big Life Adventure talks about why this is happening and what can be done about. The Big Life Adventure project she discusses is definitely part of the answer.  https://peak15support.co.uk/bl-adventure  

Breaking down the barriers to inclusive employment opportunities is proving to be a challenge. But progress is being made and what that looks like is one of the things I’m discussing in this week’s episode with my guest Vinny De Falco from Think Forward. We talk about the programs that Think Forward have previously run, what they learned from those and how that information has guided their next program. We also discuss how to engage with employers and the external factors that also impact on the number of opportunities available. To bring about change means acting, learning along the way and changing what does not work and that is exactly what Think Forward is doing. https://thinkforward.org.uk/

The transition from education to employment for young people with additional needs requires planning in order to be effective. In this episode with Vinny De Falco from Think Forward we talk about the importance of early transition planning and how a structured and supportive transition program with personalized coaching can help young people develop the skills and confidence they need. We also talk about the need for collaboration and knowledge sharing among everyone, including families, involved in supporting the young person. https://thinkforward.org.uk/

It's a solo episode this week and I'm talking about the role that expectations have in the way we support and inspire our young people to achieve all they are capable of. Our expectations of them guide their expectations of themselves and can also help them to ignore the low expectations of others.     

The use of technology is embedded into our work lives and for people with additional needs it is often assistive technology that enables them to do their job. But often the right technology is not in place or provided by employers and that is one of the topics discussed in this episode of the podcast with my guest in this week’s episode Alex Barker from AbilityNet. Alex discusses why it is as much about mindset as it is about the technology itself when it comes to making sure that the right technology is provided for employees to do their jobs most effectively. https://abilitynet.org.uk/  

When we think of assistive technology or any technology that can support our young people with additional needs to become more independent, we often start at the point of thinking it could be expensive or complicated to learn to use. But the reality is that today the first bit of assistive technology that our young people should access is their phone or tablet. The built-in features of these devices have changed the way we think about assistive technology as my guest in this week’s episode Alex Barker from AbilityNet explains. Alex brings, his lived experience, and how he uses assistive technology, both in his role at AbilityNet and in his life to discuss why we need to make better use of what is easily accessible to all of us. https://abilitynet.org.uk/

When we think of community, we first think about the friendship element of being around other people. But there is more to being part of a community than just that. When we become part of a community, we have the opportunity to learn from those around us.  These are the other benefits of being in a community. And why this is such an important part of community is the focus of the second part of my conversation with Sarah Towler from CASPA. We all know community is important but it's not just about the people, it's what we learn from being around those people.  https://caspabromley.org.uk/