David is 21 years old and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning difficulties. He has been at Young Epilepsy, home to St Piers School and College, since he was 11, starting off as a 52 week residential student. At first, David struggled to settle in, as he found communicating difficult and displayed challenging behaviour as a result.
David went on to St. Piers College, during his first year he initially found the transition challenging and took time to settle. In his second year, David joined the Outreach Team and in that time he represented Young Epilepsy at a vast range of events and presentations including the Young Epilepsy Champions Awards, Staff Recognition Awards, Fundraising Golf Days and opening ceremonies. David also delivered presentations with the rest of the team to all new staff at Young Epilepsy every six weeks and helped David to increase his confidence and communication skills when speaking to unfamiliar people and whilst attending high profile events.
David was also able to develop his independent, social and work skills and has been able to extend these to all areas of his life as well as preparing him for employment. David was uncertain of what he wanted to do, so completed a range of placements in different environments to help him decide where his aspirations lay. David successfully completed his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and also became a qualified and paid football referee for the Football Association and referees games most weekends during the season, this has included travelling abroad for tournaments.
In his final year in the college David became more motivated and focused on his future finally deciding on a career path. Although initially nervous, David attended a mainstream college one morning a week for a catering links course and was able to build his confidence, spending time in another educational setting whilst being supported by familiar staff. In his Employability lessons David learnt how to complete an application form, an Occupational Health form and a DBS and also learnt how to search for and apply for jobs, deal with problems at work and communicate in a professional manner. He completed training in Health and Safety at a local hospital where and spent four months working there after successfully applying and interviewing for a placement in the kitchen and restaurant. His final placement was spent in a restaurant working independently where he was able to competently transfer all the skills he had learnt in a confident and professional manner.
David had spent a significant part of his life at Young Epilepsy, attending both St Piers School and College, he has worked on his transition to independent living with support from key members of Young Epilepsy staff who had supported him throughout all of his years there. With a belief in himself he independently applied, interviewed and successfully gained a place at his local mainstream college on a Level 1 in Catering and Hospitality and is proud of achieving 100% in punctuality and attendance since starting.
David went on to secure a part time job working as a trainee chef and bar staff.
Please note that we have changed the name of the individual on whom this case study is based for reasons of privacy and confidentiality.
