A few people have asked me how I chose the correct training centre for David.
When David was about to leave secondary school then a whole lot of new issues cropped up again in our family life. It was a stressful time and was more difficult than I initially thought it would be.
First of all I met with a team of teachers, resource teachers and year head of David’s secondary school and asked for their advice, where they would send David, what was his strengths, etc.
I then met with David’s team in Enable Ireland and asked them the same questions. We then had a new physiological report carried out to make sure the information is up-to-date. I was given a list of training centres that David could attend and it was left to me to take it from here.
So with my list in hand, I phoned up all the organisations and met with each of them.
You get a “feel” for the place, your “instinct” is so important. Prior to the meeting I would write down a lot of questions for the person who is in charge of the centre for example:
- How many people attend the centre?
- How many in each group?
- What is the age profile?
- How may trainers/helpers available?
- What are the entrance requirements?
- How could this service help David to reach his potential?
- Is lunch time supervised?
- What is the length of the course?
- What should he achieve after the course is finished?
If I and the organiser are happy with the outcome, I suggest that they meet David. I explain all about the training centre to David and suggest he looks at the organisation online. I then arrange another appointment with David.
David likes to look around at the facilities and meet with the staff, he always has a few questions of his own. While David is doing this, I am also looking at the response of the trainer and both his/hers and David’s interaction.
Key for me was finding a place that would challenge David, I didn’t want him in a centre where he would regress but I also didn’t want to overwhelm him either.
Fundamentally David has the last say in the matter and I’ll end it on this note: If David is happy so am I.
Until next time,
Dolores.