Ideas for future, working with adults with learning disabilities ...

[AllGoodNamesGone]

Hi, not sure of the best place to post this so putting it in employment as well. Hope that is OK.

My son is coming up to 16 and in year 11. He is thinking that he would like to work with adults with learning disabilities. He did his year ten work experience in this area, really enjoyed it and got great feedback. He?s hoping to do some volunteering in the Easter holidays, working with teenagers.

He?s looking into what he needs to do next year, A Levels/college wise.

He sees himself working in education, perhaps helping people with life skills/into employment etc rather than the care/nursing side.

We?ve been doing some online research but does anyone work in this area? Or are you/ your DCs training for it? Would you be able to post a bit about what you do, what qualifications you needed, how you got into it etc?

He?s thinking about going to university, but is pretty open minded.

Any sort of volunteering/work experience, possible gap year ideas (thinking ahead a bit here!) would be most welcome too.

Thanks :)

No idea how I've managed to get question marks instead of apostrophes in there. I do know how to punctuate really! Please ignore them

I went into care work at 18 from sixth form with no qualifications but had done work experience in a SN school. I didn't do any qualifications whilst I was there but I think they now push NVQs whilst in the job. Health & social care courses would be best to go in at the bottom otherwise aim for LD nursing or Social Work.

Work Experience may be difficult to get with adults but Special Schools often offer it and things like befriending & youth clubs are always looking for volunteers.

Are there any social groups, drama clubs or sports centres for people with disabilities, either physical or learning, locally that he could volunteer with ? There is usually a volunteer bureau asssociated with council which will hold a list of specific opportunites - this sote may be a starting point. Maybe he could learn sign language or Makaton. If he wants to teach he'd still need the relevant qualification (Cert ed. or PGCE) and perhaps specialise in Skills for Life. So good A Levels would be a start.

Thank you both. Will be following up these ideas

Ds1 has a number of male TA's and teachers at his SLD school. They are highly sought after (after all most kids in the school are boys so male TA's are good).

I have previously employed a 6th former to help me out with my severely autistic/learning disabled son using direct payments. Mainly involved helping us get out the house and go and do things, so never unsupervised.

Oh I missed the adults bit- there are more young adult education centres opening, so they could be worth looking at.

I work in HR in social services. I agree that more men are needed in the workforce as it tends to be 80-90%women. So its great that your son is interested in this.

Try contacting the HR manager in your local authority to see if they can offer any volunteering - he'd need CRB check but it would be worth it. You might need to persevere a bit to find out who the relevant HR person is, but try! Thye might be able to give you some other names eg managers who run large sectors and might have arrangements in place.

The Diploma in Health and Social Care would be useful. Depending on his academic ability, he could also consider A levels in subjects such as Psychology, Sociology and a degree in social work.

Our local authority has a special team working on helping adults into work, so you could see if your's has a similar team. If so they'd be helpful I think.

Learning sign or Makaton is a good idea.

HTH

Hi, sorry I took so long to reply.

MrsTurnip, thank you, yes, he definitely wanst to work with adults but supporting young adults/teens in further education or in the community could well be a possibility. Also the type of work you mention with your son could suit him while he's studying - something to look into when he's in sixth form/college.

Sandripples, he probably will do A levels so will encourage him to look at the subjects you suggest - just the sort of advice he needed, so thank you for that. Have to admit he's a bit vague at the moment and finds it hard to resist the lure of MSN etc in the evenings but he does need to start applying soon (hence mum helping out, t'was ever thus!)

We are on the border of two LAs and he could go to college in either so, once we know where he's going, will look at the voluntary work side. Knowing where to start looking was the tricky bit so all these ideas are great.

Thanks to all who've replied