Jordan Davies – His journey so far…
Jordan, who lives in Mountain Ash, currently works at Dewis in Pontypridd and is part of the ‘Supported Shared Apprenticeship’ route. He is undertaking a Level 2 apprenticeship in Business Administration. He was diagnosed with ‘Aspergers Syndrome’ when he was four years old. He really enjoys his job role as he is learning new skills and knowledge all the time. He has found that all his colleagues were extremely helpful and patient while he was new to the post and learning what he needed to do.
Jade Jones, Jordan’s line manager says: “Jordan came to Dewis Centre for Independent Living through the ‘Supported Shared Apprenticeship’ programme. Jordan is a positive, polite, and helpful member of staff and he has overcome his initial anxieties about his new role by understanding that his colleagues are happy to support him, if he needs them to. He has settled in extremely well and is now competent with the tasks that have been given to him and his confidence with his work and with his colleagues has grown.”
Jordan explains: “The ALNCo (Debbie Lovatt) from Cambrian Training Company and the job coach (Lauren Harris) from Elite, took the time to find out about me and what my specific needs were during a meeting and afterwards. They found a variety of approaches that have helped me to succeed. I discussed that I needed support when having certain subjects or topics explained to me, by having it said in a clear and concise way or even having it re-phrased. When answering certain knowledgeable questions, I may need a little bit of prompting so I can understand what the question is asking. I also mentioned that I may need a lot of patience if I’m unsure of something as I sometimes get frustrated if I don’t understand. A ‘Personal Development Plan’ (PDP) was then developed to help the training officers support me.”
He goes on to say, “I’ve felt extremely pleased and delighted with the amount of support and patience that I’ve been given all the way through my apprenticeship studies from the training officers (Jonathon Hewitt and Claire Morris) at Cambrian Training. If I do not understand the question or the topic, there is no pressure given to me whatsoever. Sometimes, it may take quite a few minutes for me to understand certain things but there’s definitely, a lot of patience and explaining involved. The training officers explain specific questions and topics based on their own knowledge and experience, which certainly helps me to understand it far better and they make it extremely interesting and relevant to the role I do in the office too.”
Jordan believes that the research that he’s been undertaking to complete the apprenticeship units has given him more knowledge and understanding when working in a business environment and goes on to say: “I was unsure about of a lot of things when I first worked at ‘Dewis Independent Living’ and now I have a better understanding of certain office tasks which has actually made me feel more comfortable and enthusiastic when working in the office and I feel more confident at being able to complete more tasks.
“I would recommend an apprenticeship route to anyone with a learning need or disability as I have found CTC to be incredibly supportive in the help and guidance they have put in place for me. It’s such an outstanding way for people to start a new career. Also, it’s such a great way to build and develop learning skills and confidence. The help, support, understanding and training from the Cambrian Training assessor’s and the colleagues and management from Dewis are most definitely, second to none, – especially when they work so hard to get the employers / students to succeed. I also feel that they all have an outstanding knowledge, experience and understanding with individuals who have a variety of additional learning needs.”
Finally, the employer commented: “Dewis would like to express how proud we are to have this kind of programme accessible to us as we value all the people we employ, but it is wonderful to be a part of a programme to help and give new skills to people with disabilities or limitations in their lives. They have a great impact on our business as well as our service users. We hope we can continue working with this programme to give the same opportunities to others.”
