Bryan was diagnosed with Asperger’s which affects his confidence and he struggles with routines and adapting to new ones. He also finds sleeping difficult and travelling to new places, he lacks motivation as he felt he had lost control of his life.
Why Bryan joined Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) programme?
Bryan joined the IPES programme to get the support he needed, not only tackle his barriers but to also try and secure employment so that he could be more independent.
When Bryan first joined the programme in February 2020, his mum had to come with him to the initial appointment as he did not feel comfortable coming alone. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a nationwide lockdown soon after Bryan joined the programme and his specialised key worker, Lorraine had to adapt to a new way of supporting Bryan.
How IPES helped Bryan?
Lorraine initially continued support through telephone appointments and encouraged Bryan to change to video calls using Zoom. During the video calls, Lorraine could see Bryan grow in confidence and felt the time was right to set him a challenge to do some online courses.
Lorraine referred him to occupational inclusion specialist, Sophie to help him with his health and wellbeing barriers. Sophie discussed motivational strategies and developing routine so that Bryan could start preparing himself for when he gained employment.
Sophie and Lorraine supported Bryan to develop a routine that included dog walking, initially with his mum and then on his own, slowly adjusting the time he awakes each morning. Lorraine booked in weekly phone calls, set times for an IT course and health and wellbeing workshops.
Bryan was very nervous however he felt more comfortable knowing that Sophie would be leading. In his first health and wellbeing workshop he began as an observer and after attending multiple workshops he began to fully engage with conversations and ideas during the sessions. Bryan also began implementing what he had learnt in the workshops to his daily life including a sleep routine that allowed him to be asleep at night and awake during the day rather than being awake all night.
With the pandemic restrictions becoming stricter, Bryan began to feel low and needed encouragement to continue with the progress he had made. Lorraine suggested he keep a gratitude diary so he could write down daily, the activities or people he was grateful for. This seemed to help Bryan and he was soon ready to challenge himself again.
Bryan felt he was now ready to try and find work experience in which Lorraine supported him with his CV and Sophie helped him to apply for roles that would be suitable for and meet his needs. She made multiple calls for apprenticeships and work experience placements on his behalf.
Getting the job
After a few weeks of searching Bryan was successful in securing a four-week work placement with the prospect of a job at the end. Lorraine kept in contact with Bryan weekly and Sophie visited the work experience site on his first day to make sure he had the right support in place and to conduct a risk assessment.
Bryan’s confidence grew each day and with each weekly call with Lorraine he would explain the new skills he had learnt and how he was now seeing friends, going out on his own and how he had created his own social life.
Bryan has now completed his four-week placement is waiting to see if he will be offered a position. After the placement, Lorraine and Sophie were able to meet the Bryan face to face at an outside location - socially distanced. With Bryan’s newfound confidence he his own way to the meeting without his mum in tow.
Bryan talked through his next steps and although he would love paid employment where he had gained work experience, he is now open to exploring other offices and working environments.
During his time on the programme, Bryan has grown in confidence and said he now feels he is able to take control over his own life thanks to the support from IPES.
