Aaron

Aaron, by Charlotte Armes,
Key Worker

Aaron arrived at Transition 2 in September 2013 having attended a school in Nottingham specialising in Autism.

He is a lovely young man but a typical teenager who thought the world revolved around him and made demands to that effect, especially during trips into town.  Aaron struggled with the idea that the purpose of the trip might be for another reason than to buy something for himself!

To support his understanding of the purpose of the trip, he was given clear instructions and a shopping list, for example buying food or equipment for college.  Aaron slowly began to understand that a trip to the shops could be for many reasons, and would only occasionally result in purchasing something for himself.

To improve his capacity to wait and his understanding of patience, we have also been supporting him to save up for something important.  At the end of every day at college, Aaron was encouraged to put aside his change and after a long period of time, he was able to buy the Game Boy he really wanted.  Aaron was so pleased and proud to finally reach his target.

An extension of Aaron’s ability to now access the community in a responsible, adult manner has given him the opportunity to start a transition to an exciting organisation in his local community who supports people with learning disabilities to enjoy sporting and leisure activities together, “Active Support”.  Aaron would not have been given the chance to explore this in the past as a result of his inability to manage his behaviour and a lack of interaction with his peers.  His end goal ‘Follow social rules and recognise and accept the consequences of his actions’ has been supported through the maintenance of a structured routine, natural consequences and positive behaviour management.  Aaron has made excellent progress and is now growing into a more mature young man.