Max’s story
From 18 years of age, disabled teens/ young adults are shifting between formal education into their next stages of independent learning and working.
Max is 20 years old and is very social, likes cooking, basketball, dogs and currently enjoys making wood designed objects. He has Down’s Syndrome. His hearing is aided, he requires assistance with the use of tools in the workshop/ kitchen and is driven to complete a task. He has some reading skills but prefers verbal instructions, he can record numbers accurately as written text but finds spreadsheets confusing. Max is great at sharing ideas when making and relies on one other person for problem solving and decision making when he is making.
Having finished his high school education and at 18 years his key worker ceased (just-one-norfolk service for teen-18 years) and he wanted to join other young adults in social and work related enterprises in his local area. He was then connected with Build charity (https://www.buildcharity.co.uk/) to discover what his next steps for work and leisure opportunities could look like. Max and his family are great advocates for young disabled adults to have their voice in community.
Max’s mum, Cheryl, wanted to keep planning ahead for services and opportunities and found information on transition for her teenager into young adult services most helpful when she had Max’s current view of his interests (https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/about-us-0/networks/transition-information-network).
He joined a local group of learning and physically disabled adults who make small crafted products for sale in their high street shop in King’s Lynn and his mum is connected via Facebook to keep up with the day centres events (http://forwarddc.org.uk/category/uncategorised/charity-news/ and https://www.facebook.com/ForwardKingsLynn/ ).
Although Max can use public transport and he has a disabled person’s travel pass (https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/61359/Eligibility-for-a-disabled-travel-bus-pass) he needs accompanying by another adult. Max’s mum found the use of charity information helpful with finding the best alternatives for her son in West Norfolk (e.g. https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/education-learning/transport-to-school-and-college/transport-in-england/transport-for-young-people-over-16-in-england/).
He joined a community group for beach walks taking his dog and enjoys regular meetings with a mixed ability basketball team (https://www.activenorfolk.org). In the future, Max would like to live independently from his family home and short breaks with charities such as Scope (https://contact.org.uk) have given him experiences to develop his confidence with away stays.