Journey Skills Podcast

Accepting ourselves by embracing our strengths and understanding our weaknesses is key to our own happiness. How to do this is the theme of this episode with Alis Rowe founder of The Curly Hair Project.  Alis talks about her own journey from when she was diagnosed in her early twenties with Asperger syndrome. She explains why she created The Curly Hair Project, what is does, and how it aims to help people on the autism spectrum and their families. Alis also shares some practical ideas that she has implemented to enable her to navigate difficult situations and live the life she wants. Some of the ideas are simple, and could apply to any young person with additional needs, but they make a massive day to day difference to someone’s life once they start using them.  Alis also advocates the importance of putting yourself first and making decisions around what is best for you, not others. She acknowledges this won’t always be the easiest option because it requires you to sometimes be very honest with those around y

One of the best things about becoming an adult is that no one can tell you what to do, when to do it and what time to be home. However, that’s not always the case for young people with additional needs. Often they still have rules in place that don’t apply to their peers. Stay Up Late is all about changing that and making it easy for anyone to stay up late, stay out late and enjoy the social they want on their terms. Paul Richards the founder of Stay Up Late explains where the idea from stay up late came from when he saw first-hand what happens when people are not able to have choose how they spend their evenings. Kate Ogden the manager of Gig Buddies which buddies people up so they can go to gigs in a safe and supportive way discusses how gig buddies works, how they make sure people are safe and how they are expanding the model around the world though a franchise model.  Stay Up Late is such a simple idea but one that does so much more than what it says it does, it promotes integration, acceptance and provid

Did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? Most of us didn’t but we figured it out along the way because we were given opportunities for part time work or work experience. For many young people with additional needs this doesn’t happen, meaning they don’t always have a clear idea of their options. In this episode Guy Chaudoir from Scope explains why this shouldn’t be the case, and discusses some ways to help young people increase their options. This includes changing theway they approach applying for jobs and the interview process. It’s also about changing the perceptions of employers and Guy explains the work Scope has been doing in this area. Scope provides a bridge to employment by helping young people with additional needs find their own path into work. They also help open doors with employers, so the path can continue forward for both the young person and their employer. Visit our sponsor site for resources to support you to build a better future for your child https://redgiraffesolutions.com/

It’s fine to be aware and even try and understand autism but actually what matters most is acceptance. This is the view of Kieran Rose, also known as The Autistic Advocate. Kieran has autism so he speaks from personal experiences and explains why he believes that acceptance is what is needed even more than awareness. Kieran shares his personal journey and provides practical advice for both parents and young people with autism on how to manage the challenges they will face. He also discusses the way people with autism are often stereotyped and the impact that has. He also talks about what he sees as an industry that has been built around autism, and how that is actually contributing to delaying real change. Kieran might be talking specifically about autism, but the really his message applies to everyone with an additional need. Barriers would fall much quicker, especially in things like employment, if people focused on positive acceptance of each individual’s strengths and their weaknesses, not just passive aw

It's not only about finding work, but it's also about matching the skills of the person with the job. This is the view of Derek Groves, from Employment Futures, who discusses the idea of vocational matching and the many benefits it brings to a young person with additional needs and employer. He also talks about how employers still have some way to go in terms of being flexible in their employment practices, especially when it comes to the use of a traditional interviewing process which simply does not allow some young people to showcase their strengths. Another issue that Derek addresses is positive disclosure, that is how much to disclose to an employer about an individual's additional needs. Although, as he says, its a personal choice in many instances, it can help the employer match the person with a job role and ensure that reasonable adjustments are possible without being costly or disruptive to the workplace. The work of organizations like Employment Futures is so important in breaking down the barriers

What next? is a question we constantly ask ourselves as we help our young people navigate through the education system. As they get older and age out of the system, this question becomes more urgent and often the answer isn’t as easy to find. This week’s guests Adeel and Anthony asked that exact question and when no answer was obvious they created their own solution: Able Coffee Roasters. Able Coffee Roasters is on a mission to create sustainable paid employment for young people with additional needs. Through the use of innovative techniques like point of view video modeling and focusing on making accommodations so that each young person can excel at the tasks they are given, Able Coffee Roasters is answering for some young people the question of what next. What Anthony and Adeel are doing is not only inspiring because it has the potential to help so many young people on their journey to independence but is inspiring because it shows what is possible if we focus not on the question but on looking around for p

Finding a supportive safe space for our children to have a variety of social experiences is so important. In this episode, we hear about CASPA which is providing that space and doing a whole lot more. Helen Dyer from CASPA explains not only how CASPA came about and what it does in terms of providing social experiences for a range of age groups. Importantly as CASPA has grown and the young people who started with them have gotten older CASPA has realized the needs of its young people are changing. So CASPA is expanding what it does now focusing on not providing a space to build social skills but also developing programs which help their young people develop those key skills which are transferable into the workplace. CASPA provides a vital link for young people to begin the journey into work and greater independence. What the world needs is more organizations like this so that an independent future can become a reality for more young people with additional needs. Visit our sponsor site for resources to support

Only successful organizations can provide sustainable, long term paid employment and expand to provide more job opportunities. This weeks guest Patrick Bardsley and Tim Howe from Spectrum Designs certainly understand this. Spectrum Designs is a social enterprise making custom apparel, such as hats, hoodies, and T-shirts. Spectrum Designs focusses on the enterprise as much as the social, and in doing so continues to expand and create more employment opportunities for young people with autism. Patrick and Tim share the story of Spectrum Designs, how it grew from an idea into a business that now provides custom made apparel products to some of the biggest companies in the world. This didn't happen because Spectrum just focused on just providing employment opportunities: it happened because it focuses on quality and on-time delivery as this is what matters to the end customer. By doing this the business has grown to now provide even more jobs for people with autism. Spectrum Designs is the perfect example of how

We all understand why work is an important step towards independent living, but all to often the employment opportunities are limited for young people with additional needs. This weeks guest Pascal Fintoni is not only helping to create employment opportunities in digital marketing, but he is also having the conversations around reasonable adjustment that will help create a greater number and a wider choice of employment options. Pascal talks about his work with the North East Autism Society, in the UK, around developing an internal marketing program designed and developed by young people with autism. This not only helps them to develop digital marketing skills but also offers them a voice in determining where the future of the organization lies. In addition, as an employer, Pascal is making sure that he has the kind of conversations with other employers that will help change perceptions and make the term reasonable mean exactly what it should mean: 'Reasonable'. As he points out most employers make and have b

For most of us being part of a community is essential for our wellbeing and often starts where we live. This week’s guest is Jillian Copeland from Main Street, an organization not just building a community but actually building the space where that community can grow and thrive. However, as Jillian explains, Main Street is much more than about building an apartment block where people with and without additional needs will live. Main Street is about creating opportunities for independent living, for work, for socializing and for learning from each other. The best communities are those where everyone feels an equal part of that community and Main Street is certainly creating that kind of community. Visit our sponsor site for resources to support you to build a better future for your child https://redgiraffesolutions.com/

Accepting ourselves and being more kind to ourselves are the themes in this episode. Anna Pinkerton from Kindness Incorporated talks about her personal and professional journeys and how she has combined them to help her daughter build the life she wants. Anna shares not only the journey she has been on with her daughter but also how that has crossed over into her professional life. She shares her thoughts around why we aren't kind enough to ourselves and the long term impact that can have on our lives. Anna also suggests ways we can help our children learn to be more kind to themselves as well as how and why we need to all start with genuinely liking ourselves. Listening to Anna might just help you analyze how you feel about yourself and whether you need to change the message you tell yourself. For resources to support you on your journey visit redgiraffesolutions.com.

Any journey is made easier by walking with others. That is the focus of this episode - the impact of collaboration with, in this case, the theater as the space where the collaboration starts. In this episode, Katie Sweeney, a parent and board member of the CO/LAB Theater Group in New York, talks about her individual journey and the role musical theater has played not only in her life but also her son's life. Katie talks about CO/LAB and how they help young people with additional needs change the way they see themselves and, through reaching out to the wider community, change the way others see them as well. Here collaboration is about bringing people together and using everyone's individual strengths to create something more than one person alone can create. Katie also talks about the wider impact that finding and building a collaborative community around her son has had when it comes to planning and imagining what the future might be like. For resources to support you on your journey visit redgiraffesolution

Days out and going on holiday are an important part of family life, but when a young person has additional needs they can be much more of a challenge. How to make the process easier is the focus of this podcast episode with Lizzie Murphy, from A Curious Journey, offers some tips and ideas on traveling with children who have additional needs. Lizzie talks about the importance of preparation and making sure that everyone understands what is going to happen, and preparing for the unexpected. She suggests some useful tools which can help manage expectations. Lizzie also discusses practical ways to prepare for each journey, including talking to airlines and researching what destinations are already able to offer in terms of assistance. As she highlights, there are tools out there already which can help make the whole experience much easier for parents and children. The benefits of having new experiences are obvious in helping build a young person’s confidence and social skills, as well as creating family memories.

What might be the future uses of virtual reality, and how do we need to manage this to stop potential dependence on technology? These are the main themes of this episode. In part 2 of this interview Dr. Nigel Newbutt, who is researching the uses of virtual reality and virtual worlds, talks about what the future uses of virtual reality might be and how it could be used to help young people with additional needs live more independent lives. He also addresses some of the concerns that have been raised about the use of these types of technologies. The future uses of virtual reality are exciting but as Nigel cautions we need to remember that is it simply another tool. We will need to make sure we monitor its actual effectiveness to ensure it has the desired impact of helping our young people develop the skills which will enable them to live more independent lives. For resources to support you on your journey visit redgiraffesolutions.com.

The use of virtual reality and virtual worlds can be used to change the future for our young people and just how this is happening is the topic of this episode. My guest this week is Dr. Nigel Newbutt who is researching how virtual reality and virtual worlds can be used to help young people with additional needs access and manage real-world situations that they often find overwhelming. Nigel explains the work he is doing to develop programs which can be used to help develop employment skills, prepare young people for social situations and provide a way to rehearse situations which could otherwise be overwhelming without a prior opportunity to experience what the encounter might be like. This is the first of a two-part episode and in the next episode, Nigel talks about what the future of virtual reality might look like and also addresses some the concerns that people have around using these types of technology. The work being done by Nigel is helping make these technologies accessible and relevant to our young

All around us are people working in their local communities to make the lives of young people with additional needs better. This week’s podcast guest Sue Clark is one of these people. Sue talks about her work with Pegasus Playscheme which is located on the south coast of England. Pegasus Playscheme provides activities for young people with additional needs in the summer over a 3 week period. The purpose of this is to help young people experience independent activities where they make new friends. Pegasus also aims to reduce the isolation that many young people can experience when not at school. Sue explains not only the history of Pegasus but provides from her own experience practical advice and insights into how to set up a similar scheme, which could provide a social outlet for young people in your own community. Sue shares her story and also discusses the practicalities of fundraising and the logistics of running a scheme like Pegasus. Sue provides a great example of what can be done by a few people with d

Getting to know any young person is the essential first step in understanding what they need when it comes to helping them achieve greater independence. This is the core ethos of this week’s podcast guests Trudy and Darren Dzirasa-Payne from Impacting Lives. Impacting Lives provides housing and associated support services for young people with additional needs.  What they focus on is providing services that work for the individual and balance this with running what is a business by keeping their costs under control through the use of technology and keeping administration costs low. This combined with clear processes helps ensure they can provide what is needed by the young people they support whilst continuing to run a sustainable business. There is no doubt that services that provide accommodation for young people with additional can often have a bad reputation. impacting Lives and Trudy and Darren show that the residential care home model can be less about the home and more about the care. It ultimately com

Rather than waiting until we have to act the better option is to start exploring what is already out there and start actively working towards creating solutions. This is exactly what this week's podcast guest Mike Sweeney is doing. Mike talks about the various projects that he has become involved in as he looks towards finding a community for his son Dustin to live in when he is ready for independent living. Mike talks about how he has moved from thinking of housing as being the most important focus of his efforts to the realization that work would as he puts it "changes people’s perspective". He also discusses how the system in the USA is changing towards young people with additional needs being given more control over their own futures through what is known as self-direction. Mike also reminds us how important integration is in terms of ensuring that our young person with additional needs can have an independent future even when we are no longer around. Although Mike's journey is not a unique one, there is

At some point in all of our journeys, we need support. Some of us find it in family and friends, others look to support groups. In this week's podcast, Elaine Kelly, who runs a support group, talks about how support groups can help when maybe others around you simply don't get it. Elaine explains how her support group is run and what she believes is important to consider to provide a supportive and welcoming environment. She reveals how support groups can help against isolation and also make people aware of organizations and resources they can use. Elaine also addresses why some people don't seek out support groups and explains how for many people they are only used for short-term support and for others provide a long-term space to share. Sharing our knowledge and experiences makes all of us stronger. It doesn't have to be in a support group setting, of course, but wherever we do it we are making the journey of those following us that little bit easier. For resources to support you on your journey visit redgi

This is a celebration episode, celebrating reaching 50 episodes, celebrating all the amazing guests who have been on the podcast and are out there changing the lives of young people and helping ensure that they will have the kind of independent lives they want. In this episode, rather than talk to a guest as I usually do, I share my own key takeaways around Purpose, Relationship, and Daily Living.  For resources to support you on your journey visit redgiraffesolutions.com.